The Effectiveness of Urban Teacher Education Programs: Listening to the Voices of Cooperating Teachers
Location
Room 210
Proposal Track
Research Project
Session Format
Presentation
Abstract
The cooperating teacher has long been referred to as the most significant person in the education of teacher candidates. However, the voice of the cooperating teachers has been largely missing in teacher education evaluation research. Our study focused on obtaining feedback from the cooperating teachers about the effectiveness of our teacher education programs in emphasizing our college’s conceptual framework focused on social justice and equity. This mixed methods study utilized survey data from cooperating teachers over two academic years. The early childhood education (ECE) cooperating teachers gave significantly higher ratings to their programs than the middle secondary education (MSE) cooperating teachers. Cooperating teachers perceived extensive field experiences, effective supervisory support, and clear and consistent communication from faculty as a strength of the ECE programs. The MSE programs which were rated lower than the ECE programs were perceived as needing improvement in the structure of field experiences and in communication of expectations from the university.
Keywords
Teacher education evaluation, Cooperating teachers, Surveys, Program improvement
Recommended Citation
Tanguay, Carla; Bhatnagar, Ruchi; Barker, Kim; Thomas, Clarice; Jones, Morgin; Ball, Marissa; Favors, Shaneeka; and Many`, Joyce, "The Effectiveness of Urban Teacher Education Programs: Listening to the Voices of Cooperating Teachers" (2014). Georgia Educational Research Association Conference. 48.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/gera/2014/2014/48
Proposal
The Effectiveness of Urban Teacher Education Programs: Listening to the Voices of Cooperating Teachers
Room 210
The cooperating teacher has long been referred to as the most significant person in the education of teacher candidates. However, the voice of the cooperating teachers has been largely missing in teacher education evaluation research. Our study focused on obtaining feedback from the cooperating teachers about the effectiveness of our teacher education programs in emphasizing our college’s conceptual framework focused on social justice and equity. This mixed methods study utilized survey data from cooperating teachers over two academic years. The early childhood education (ECE) cooperating teachers gave significantly higher ratings to their programs than the middle secondary education (MSE) cooperating teachers. Cooperating teachers perceived extensive field experiences, effective supervisory support, and clear and consistent communication from faculty as a strength of the ECE programs. The MSE programs which were rated lower than the ECE programs were perceived as needing improvement in the structure of field experiences and in communication of expectations from the university.
