Design, Implementation, and Evaluation

Admission to student teaching in the graduate programs requires completion of the Application Packet, evidence of passing the ICTS Elementary Content Area Test or ICTS Art Content Area Test as appropriate, submission of the Digital Internship Placement Portfolio, recommendation for student teaching from 80% of all course instructors, and completion of the Disposition Self-Rating Sheet. (Table 3.1)

Admission to student teaching in the undergraduate program requires an overall GPA of 2.5 or higher, a grade of B- or higher in all ECE courses taken, one college level math course with a grade of B- or higher, passing score on the ICTS Basic Skills Exam, 60 or more credit hours, and recommendation of the faculty. Students must also submit a formal application which includes a short essay and a self-assessment of dispositions. Prior to this point, students have submitted two letters of recommendation, completed Writing ant Rhetoric I & II with a grade of B- or higher and submitted a negative TB test. (Table 3.2)

The unit, its school partners, and other members of the professional community design, deliver, and evaluate field experiences and clinical practice to help candidates develop their knowledge, skills, and dispositions. The unit and its school partners jointly determine the specific placement of candidates for clinical experiences. The school and unit share expertise to support candidates’ learning in field experiences and clinical practice.

One or more of the IPTS is included in all of our graduate programs’ course objectives. Guided by these standards as our knowledge base and the organizing framework for teaching, graduates become: Choreographers of Instruction, Designers of Learning Environments, Production Managers of Learning Experiences, and Professional Educators. The professional education unit has adopted the Framework for Teaching (Danielson, 1996) and adapted the major components as a way of organizing, monitoring and assessing the delivery of content, professional and pedagogical knowledge and clinical experiences for all its teacher candidates. Empirical studies have shown that the four major areas/domains (Planning and Preparation; Classroom Environment; Instruction; and Professional Responsibilities) around which the Framework is built, encompass the primary responsibilities of teachers that promote improved student learning and creative development (Danielson, p.1).

Multiple IPTS are included in each of the undergraduate program’s course objectives as the program’s curriculum is tightly integrated and spirals in order to revisit objectives as candidates are more prepared to address the concepts. The program’s conceptual framework depicts From Knowledge to Reflective Practice in Educating Young Children, and is structured to provide many opportunities for reflection. Our goal is to prepare teachers of young children who are knowledgeable, have extensive pre-service experience under the guidance of strong mentors, and are reflective about their role as educators. We believe that this approach fosters both a practical and theoretical understanding of research based education.

Specific courses in technology (42-6192 Using Multimedia to Teach Content Matter and 42-6191 Using Audiovisual Equipment in the Classroom) are required in the graduate programs.  Technology standards are included in each professional education syllabus.  Section III of the lesson plan includes a Materials and Technology list, APT Educational Technology scores are tracked, and the portfolio rubric has a technology component.

The undergraduate program requires the 3 semester hour course 38-3400 Technology for Teachers.  This course is directly informed by Shifting Boundaries: Technology in the Early Childhood Classroom, an ongoing research project in the Early Childhood Education program. Findings from this project are regularly presented at national and international conferences and incorporated into the Technology for Teachers course. Students learn to use Chalk and Wire in this course and develop their required electronic teaching portfolio on this platform. They also employ strategies learned in presentations in other courses and in their field work.

Undergraduate candidates are required to post their lesson plans for their field supervisors on Chalk and Wire no less than 72 hours prior to an observation. Seniors journal collaboratively online during both fall and spring term in The Role of Art in Development I and II.

Criteria have been established for selecting and training cooperating teachers and college supervisors. The elementary student teaching internship is 14 weeks in duration at a site and with a cooperating teacher approved by the Elementary Education Field Experience Director.  The visual arts student teaching internship is 7 weeks in duration at an elementary school site and 7 weeks in duration at a high school site with a cooperating teacher approved by the Art Education Field Experience Director.  The cooperating teacher must be tenured, State certified with a minimum of three years of experience in the grade or grade cluster in which he or she is teaching, and hold a Master’s degree or a Bachelor’s degree plus 15 credit hours of additional coursework.

Potential college supervisors are interviewed by the Field Experience Directors.  They must be former practitioners who have successfully taught for three or more years in the grade cluster of a given teacher candidate’s placement.  Once a supervisor has been hired, he or she is expected to attend an orientation meeting where practice is given in using the ETS Pathwise Teacher Performance Assessment. A staff development workshop is provided each semester.

Early Childhood Education candidates complete two fifteen-week student teachings, one at the preprimary level and a second at the primary level. The cooperating teacher must be recommended by the principal/director and have a minimum of three years teaching experience at the teaching level. Potential college supervisors are interviewed by the Early Childhood Field Experience Coordinator. They must have a minimum of three years teaching experience at the level at which they are to supervise and strong recommendations. They are oriented by the Field Experience Coordinator and asked to attend an all-faculty meeting with a field experience focus.

Once a cooperating teacher has been selected, an information packet explaining our program requirements is sent. College supervisors are encouraged to discuss the packet with the cooperating teacher during the initial visit/observation. Orientation meetings for cooperating teachers have been held. 

At the end of each student teaching experience, the teacher candidate and college supervisor are asked to complete a Cooperating Teacher Evaluation Form.  The responses on these forms are also used in determining whether to place other teacher candidates with the cooperating teacher.

At the end of each student teaching experience, the teacher candidate and cooperating teacher are asked to complete a College Supervisor Evaluation Form. The responses on these forms are used to help determine whether to continue to hire of each college supervisor.

Clinical faculty observe candidate performance in their student teaching placements a minimum of seven times.  In addition to using assessment items from the ETS Pathwise system, clinical faculty also script one of the candidate’s lessons.  Clinical faculty critique both content knowledge and pedagogical knowledge.  Contact with the candidates is maintained by email and phone calls, journal exchanges, seminar discussion, in addition to the site visits.  

For the graduate programs, before observations are made by the college supervisor, the candidate sends the lesson plan to the college supervisor electronically for review and feedback. During the initial student teaching observation, teacher candidates receive systematically scripted formative feedback. Each observation is followed by a conference during which the college supervisor aids the teacher candidate in processing the lesson. The candidate then reflects on the lesson and completes the reflection section of the lesson plan and sends it electronically to the supervisor.  A weekly journal is also e-mailed by the candidate to the supervisor. 

After the initial supervised student teaching visit, the scripting method is replaced by the use of the Department’s adaptation of ETS’s Pathwise: Teacher Performance Assessment. Two observations are recorded without scoring. Three more scored observations are completed after mid-term.

A summative report is prepared at the mid-term and final evaluations by the cooperating teacher and college supervisor, with input from the teacher candidate.  As part of the summative evaluations, candidates are rated on their dispositions for teaching. Growth plans are also constructed and progress is assessed at the midterm and final conferences.

In instances when a teacher candidate experiences difficulty beyond the normal challenges of student teaching internship, the Department’s Intensive Support Unit (ISU) convenes to analyze and assess the candidate’s performance and the internship placement.  A set of strategies is developed and implemented by the ISU in order provide all viable opportunities for the candidate to succeed.

Student teaching seminars are conducted concurrent with clinical practice.  At least one lesson is videotaped and peer reviewed in the seminar setting and group discussions are conducted about management, assessment, teaching strategies, and other pertinent topics.

For the undergraduate program, candidates are introduced to their field placement by their supervisor. Seventy-two hours prior to each subsequent visit, they post their lesson plans to Chalk and Wire. Supervisors provide candidates with written feedback using a format designed to correspond with the Undergraduate Clinical Evaluation Form. This feedback is reviewed with the candidate.

Two observations are also videotaped by the supervisor so that the candidate has the opportunity to view herself/himself teaching. The second videotape is always reviewed with the candidate. It is at the discretion of the supervisor as to whether it would be most advantageous for the candidate to view the first video privately and then discuss it with the supervisor, or to view the tape together. A segment of one of the tapes, typically the second, is selected by the candidate for the “Reflective Practice Assignment” in which the candidate reflects upon the teaching seen in the tape; writes an analytical paper; and presents a clip and analysis to peers, faculty, and invited classroom mentors.

When a teacher candidate experiences difficulties beyond those expected in a teaching internship, the program faculty convenes to analyze and assess both the candidate’s performance and the placement. A set of strategies is developed and implemented and all efforts are made to afford every possible opportunity for the candidate’s success.

Weekly seminar sessions are conducted concurrent with the student teaching experience. Candidates are provided with ongoing support from the faculty member teaching the seminar and members of their cohort. Seminar topics are related to the issues encountered in the field.