Teacher Quality

Understanding and Improving Clinical Practice in Teacher Preparation

Over the last two years, the Temple University College of Education has made a deliberate effort to reform the process for assigning preservice teachers to clinical practice experiences. Presently, nine schools in Philadelphia and one in Norristown are cooperating in this effort; others are being considered. Whereas the college traditionally placed student teachers individually—almost entirely by student choice and placement availability—at schools across the district and the region (in more than 40 school districts), cohorts of student teachers are now being assigned to schools in which the college has established relationships with specific school leaders and their entire staffs to provide a variety of teacher candidate (and eventually in-service teacher) supports.

Additionally, elementary education students—who are required to complete semester-long methods courses in reading/language arts, mathematics, and science, as well as the related practica in these subjects—are taking methods courses in school-specific cohorts and completing their practica in the cooperating schools. This coordinated grouping of preprofessionals creates new opportunities for college faculty to increase their knowledge of and work with school personnel and site supervisors and facilitate context-rich, practical discussions of educational theory in the college classroom. Such a grouping stimulates candidates’ purposeful interactions with their professors, with their Temple supervisor, with members of their cohort at site meetings, and, increasingly, with teachers and leaders at the school. These exchanges and the accompanying development of expert knowledge are expected to improve both the quality of college-based methods courses and field-based clinical experiences. Furthermore, many students are completing their student teaching in a school where they completed at least one of their practica, continuing their relationships with the whole school, not just a single classroom. As part of the effort to continually monitor and improve these cooperating school relationships and other changes in the preservice teacher preparation experience, a web-based survey is administered to all Temple student teachers each semester.

Although the current research literature argues that preservice clinical experiences significantly influence teacher efficacy, sense of preparedness, and plans for a teaching career, links to specific program characteristics (e.g., relationships between student and cooperating teacher, preservice coursework, field supervisor, site-based school supports) are limited. Consequently, UEC has engaged in a study of preservice preparation within the context of Temple University College of Education’s reorientation of its teacher preparation program. The study seeks to further describe some of the clinical practice design variables generated by qualitative studies and assess their specific relationship to outcomes for Temple’s aspiring teachers, particularly urban educators. More specifically, this study examines how changes in the design of clinical experiences affect (a) sense of teacher preparedness and sense of teaching efficacy and (b) plans for a career in teaching, particularly in the urban context of the Philadelphia School District. Findings will continue to inform College of Education’s program improvement, while also contributing to the knowledge base on the preparation of urban teachers.

E=mc2 (Transition to Teaching)

The College of Education at Temple University, in collaboration with the Temple University College of Science and Technology (CST) and the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE), has developed this statewide model for the preparation of middle-grade math and science teachers. The alternative certification program, E=mc2: Educating Middle-grades Teachers for Challenging Contexts, is focused on training cohorts of mid-career and early retiree math and science professionals as middle-grade teachers in order to help meet the state’s high need for highly qualified teachers in these areas and at these grade levels. The program, which draws on both considerable research and experience, serves as a demonstration project for several promising approaches to teacher preparation in high-need areas. Because the State of Pennsylvania does not currently have a middle-grades teacher certificate or standards and guidelines for such teacher preparation programs, E=mc2 serves as an important demonstration project for PDE and the state’s nearly 100 teacher preparation programs. The project builds the capacity of both Temple University and PDE to promote and support the development of teacher preparation programs in high-need areas while training approximately 230 new math and science teachers for high-need districts over five years.

Study of Teacher Recruitment and Hiring in Philadelphia Schools

As many states and districts struggle to increase the number of quality teachers in their low-performing/high-need schools, policies that provide for financial incentives and other inducements continue to flourish. Among such policies that have gained favor in recent years are teacher incentives for teaching in specific schools or districts and/or content areas, as well as site-based selection of teachers. However, little is known about the role that districts and principals play in implementing these policies and affecting teacher recruitment.

Toward their mutual goal of improving overall teacher quality and, particularly, experience balance (more than 70% of teachers with 5 or more years of full-time teaching experience) across Philadelphia schools, the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers and the School District of Philadelphia agreed to a set of innovative approaches. The four-year teachers’ contract, agreed to in the fall of 2004, set the terms and conditions of employment for teachers in the Philadelphia public schools that included new policies for the school-based selection of teachers, incentives for teachers to seek employment in selected “incentive schools” (including hard-to-staff schools) and in selected subjects, and incentives for attracting new teachers to the district’s schools.

A UEC study, which relies primarily on survey and interview data, examines the efforts of the School District of Philadelphia to communicate and support new policy implementation, including information and awareness campaigns with principals and teachers. It addresses the questions of what role principals see themselves playing in the overall recruitment, selection, and hiring of teachers and why principals highlight or fail to highlight available incentives in their recruitment efforts. Such information is important to understanding and improving implementation of specific policies and improving the supply of qualified teachers in hard-to-staff schools and districts.

Professional Development for Master Teachers: Center for Teaching Excellence

In the fall of 2006, Temple University’s College of Education was named one of four regional sites in Pennsylvania to recruit and support candidates for national board certification. The Center for Teaching Excellence, housed within UEC, serves expert teachers from Philadelphia to Harrisburg by guiding them through the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) requirements; supporting their ability to describe, analyze, and reflect on their practice; and fostering a professional learning community through which they can both improve their teaching practice and achieve national board certification. Candidate supports likewise engage College of Education faculty in discussions of NBPTS-defined standards of accomplished teaching and promise to influence the nature of Temple’s teacher and school leader preparation programs and the work of the UEC. In addition, Center for Teaching Excellence’s close relationship with existing National Board Certified Teachers provides a direct link to master teachers who will increasingly be engaged in program improvement efforts.

Tuteach

TUteach is a new program designed to respond to the critical need for highly qualified teachers in southeastern Pennsylvania schools and districts. Funded through a grant of up to $2.4 million, one of a handful across the country, by the National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI), TUteach represents a collaborative endeavor of the university’s College of Education (CoE) and the College of Science and Technology (CST) to recruit and prepare secondary mathematics and science teachers.  TUteach recognizes that strong content and pedagogical knowledge are essential for student achievement in mathematics and science. It also recognizes that a successful program in science and mathematics education must invite science and mathematics undergraduates to explore teaching early in their collegiate careers and ensure that early experiences are both positive and meaningful.