The Placement Conundrum: Finding the Ideal Fit for Student Teachers

The Placement Conundrum: Finding the Ideal Fit for Student Teachers Douglas Busman Nancy Dausman Carly Alexander Warnshuis

Objectives of Today’s Presentation • To describe the background leading up to the survey and the method used to complete the survey • To present the findings of the survey • To discuss the implications of the survey findings • To share common observations

Perceptions can be Stereotyped and Out of Date • Meetings with K-12 district administrators to clarify the role of student teachers. • Administrators may be unaware of the rigor of the teacher preparation process. • Colleges may be unaware of the political pressures in the K-12 schools.

Placement Facts • Requirements in some districts • One student teacher every three years • Limits on the number of student teachers in a building • Competition with other institutions • 4,281 student teacher placements for area institutions in last three years • Number of student teacher placements • 1,785 for GVSU in last three years • 41.2% of area’s total placements

Discussion with Placement Coordinators • Concerns • Number of student teacher placements continues to increase • Placements are farther from GVSU campus • Suggestions • Offer tuition waiver for cooperating teachers • Stipend for classroom materials • Gift card • Tickets to GVSU events

Three Questions Leading to the Research Project • How do we increase the number of quality placements? • Why do teachers take student teachers? • Why have some teachers not taken student teachers?

Methods and Procedures • Worked closely with the Statistics Department • 1200 teachers from public schools • 382 responses (31.83%) • Approximately equal K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12 • 76 (20%) special education and 304 general education

Key Findings (Section 5)Perceptions about supervising student teachers • Almost all teachers (>90%) agreed with the following statements but the strength of their agreement was noteworthy • Strongly Agree (>27%) • Teachers grow professionally when they supervise student teachers. • Student teachers bring fresh ideas to the classroom. • Student teachers bring enthusiasm to the classroom. • Student teachers provide extra help in the classroom. • Supervising student teachers requires extra work from teachers. • Supervising student teachers requires a lot of time from teachers

Key Findings (Section 7)Motivations for supervising or not supervising student teachers • Strong positive influence • Showing student teachers what the profession is really like (23%) • Providing a place for student teachers to gain experience (21%) • Positive influence • Sharing my knowledge about teaching with student teachers (71%) • Serving as a role model for student teachers (70%) • Strong negative influence • Lack of commitment from student teachers (11%) • Lack of preparation on the part of student teachers (10%) • Negative influence • Potential problems with student teachers (54%) • Lack of preparation on the part of student teachers (45%) • Time required to supervise student teachers (42%)

Key Findings (Section 9) • Incentives for taking a student teacher • Training in student teacher supervision/mentoring techniques • 65% of teachers who had not had a student teacher • 49.5% of teachers who had a student teacher • More information about expectations for supervising student teachers • 75% of teachers who had not had a student teacher • 57.8% of teachers who had a student teacher • More information about expectations for student teachers • 74.8% of teachers who had not had a student teacher • 64.4% of teachers who had a student teacher

Key Findings (Section 11) • What do teachers want? • Informational meeting before deciding to supervise a student teacher • 49% yes; 51% no • Training in preparation for supervising a student teacher • 49% yes; 51% no • Credit bearing seminar for teachers who supervise student teachers • 57% yes; 43% no

Further Research • Since Cooperating Teachers already view student teachers as a source of professional development… • Would it be possible to develop a professional development partnership (ala professional development schools) that utilize the cooperating teacher/student teacher partnership as a catalyst for school reform? • What university resources would best meet the needs of cooperating teachers? • What types of professional development activities would most interest cooperating teachers? • How can we better identify teachers that are good role models and encourage them to take student teachers? • Finally, is there reason to believe that teachers in the Grand Rapids Public Schools, the largest school district in the area, would differ from our survey results?

Professional Development Pilot • Administer pre and post tests to determine cooperating teachers’ perceptions of professional development activities for cooperating teachers • Work with cooperating teachers in two area elementary schools • Regular meetings with university field coordinator • Align GVSU student teacher requirements with professional development activities

Dissemination to Faculty • Presentation to PTEAC • Article submitted to Teacher Education Quarterly

Discussion

The Placement Conundrum: Finding the Ideal Fit for Student Teachers