State Review VI Student
Teaching
Swarthmore College Education > State Review
|
| |
The requirements of the student teaching semester are described in the Student Teaching Handbook, (enclosed), which includes a section on the Responsibilities of the Student Teacher, the Cooperating Teacher and the College Supervisor. The procedure followed in placing student teachers begins the semester prior to student teaching, and is described in detail in Standard VIII: Advising and Monitoring. Each student discusses possible placements with the Education Program Director and meets with his or her potential Cooperating Teacher before a final placement is made. The Program in Education places student teachers in a variety of public and private schools in the local area, including both suburban and urban schools and schools that represent a range in terms of social class and ethnic diversity. The public school districts with which we work most frequently include Wallingford-Swarthmore, Chester-Upland, Philadelphia, Upper Darby and Radnor, though occasionally we place student teachers in other local districts such as Springfield, Lower Merion, Ridley or Rose Tree Media. Students placed in private schools most frequently teach at Friends Select, Media-Providence Friends School or at the School in Rose Valley. Prior to student teaching, the cohort of students who will teach the following semester meet as a group with the current semester's student teachers to discuss a variety of issues and questions they have about the student teaching experience.
Twelve weeks of student teaching are required for certification, although many students opt to teach for up to a week longer in order to complete units or other teaching assignments. During practice teaching all students are in their school assignment on a full-time basis. For the first one to two weeks, student teachers mainly observe in their assigned classes. They also observe in the classes of other teachers both within and outside their subject area and in a variety of grades and ability tracks. By the end of the first two weeks, but often more expeditiously, students are expected to assume responsibility for teaching two classes, and by the last month of student teaching they take on responsibility for teaching a third class. Occasionally student teachers take over a whole roster of classes, but this is not required. During the term, they also continue to observe in some of their Cooperating Teacher's classes. Most student teachers teach at least two different preparations during the semester, and in some cases, three different preparations. They also often teach different levels of the same course. In the classes in which they teach, students are responsible for all of the duties of the regular teacher, such as lesson and unit planning, development of materials and methods, student assessment, and classroom management. In addition to their classroom responsibilities, practice teachers are expected to participate in other aspects of the professional teacher's role, such as faculty and department meetings, extra-curricular activities, parent conferences, homeroom duties, etc. (See the Student Teaching Competency Checklist, Appendix B, for a complete listing of the competencies that are assessed during and at the conclusion of student teaching.) Swarthmore's certification program requires that students exhibit the acquisition of professional competencies in nineteen areas during the course of practice teaching. These competencies develop over the course of the certification sequence but are systematically assessed, both formatively and summatively during student teaching. The knowledge, skills and attitudes included in the checklist are drawn from the competencies listed in the Topics in the Professional Sequence, Appendix A. The Topics in the Professional Sequence, however, do not necessarily overlap on a one-to-one basis with the competencies on the Student Teaching Checklist.
At the beginning of practice teaching students receive copies of the Student Teaching Checklist, which requires both a numerical rating and illustrative documentation for sixteen generic competencies. The competency checklists are discussed in the Curriculum and Methods Seminar and also given to Cooperating Teachers for ongoing reference during practice teaching. Acquisition of competencies is assessed in supervisory conferences which occur after every classroom observation by the College Supervisor. At least one, and often two full classes a week, are observed by the College Supervisor. Often the weekly supervisory conferences are attended by the Cooperating Teacher as well, if his or her schedule permits. Outside of formal supervisory meetings, students meet regularly with the Cooperating Teacher to discuss lesson planning, classroom management and receive feedback on specific lessons. In-between classroom observations, the College Supervisor also discusses lesson plans and emerging classroom developments with the student teacher either on campus or by phone. During the last month of student teaching, a faculty member from the student's major department also observes the student teach one or two classes. In preparation for this visit, the departmental faculty member meets with the student to discuss the context of the classroom in which he or she will observe and to go over the lesson plan for the class(s). After the classroom visit, the departmental faculty member gives feedback to the student orally and/or in writing. (See Appendix I, for a copy of a letter the departmental faculty member receives before observing which outlines the responsibilities of the visit.)
Twice during the twelve weeks of student teaching (at the midway point and the end), the student teacher, College Supervisor and Cooperating Teacher, use the Student Teaching Checklist in a formal three-way conference to evaluate the student's performance. The first three-way conference is used to affirm the student teacher's strengths and to identify areas and strategies for development in the weeks ahead. In preparation for these conferences, all three members of the practice teaching team fill out the rating and documentation sections of the form independently. Included below are the general criteria levels for the grade equivalents for "Superior," "Good," "Satisfactory," and "Unsatisfactory" performance in Practice Teaching.
|
Superior: |
Displays competency consistently and at a level superior
for a teacher at this stage of his/her career. |
|
Good: |
Displays competency consistently and at a level better
than the average for a teacher at this stage of his/her
career |
|
Satisfactory: |
Displays competency frequently and at a level adequate
for a teacher at this stage of his/her career. |
|
Unsatisfactory: |
Displays competency infrequently; displays competency at a level below that acceptable for a teacher at this stage of his/her career. |
These rubrics correspond to letter grades in the following manner:
|
Superior: |
A+/A |
|
Good: |
A-/B+ |
|
Satisfactory: |
B/B- |
|
Unsatisfactory: |
C+ or below |
In the three-way conferences, ratings and documentations are discussed. If a student does not exhibit satisfactory progress in acquiring the skills and competencies required by the conclusion of student teaching, the College Supervisor, in consultation with the Cooperating Teacher and the student, can decide that the student continue in the placement for up to three additional weeks in order to demonstrate competence in areas of weakness. At this point, expectations are discussed regarding what the student teacher must still accomplish to meet the requirements for certification.
During the course of student teaching, certification candidates reflect on their experiences and teaching practice in several ways. As discussed above, as part of the clinical supervision process and in preparation for the formal three-way conferences, student teachers identify areas of strength and weakness and develop goals and plans for future practice. Student teachers keep a student teaching journal or engage in an alternative mode of reflection, and they are expected to analyze their teaching practice on a daily basis, using feedback received from their Cooperating Teacher, College Supervisor and/or students. During the course of the semester, a class or two are videotaped, and the student teacher then discusses reactions to the videotaped class with members of the Curriculum and Methods seminar and either their College Supervisor or the faculty member teaching Curriculum and Methods. Finally, each student develops a student teaching portfolio which must include written reflection pieces on observations, lesson and units; assessments of selected learners; and teaching approaches they used. Examples of portfolios are available on-line at www.swarthmore.edu/SocSci/Education/ and hard copies will also be available in the Document Room.
At the completion of practice teaching, the College Supervisor, the Cooperating Teacher and the departmental faculty representative who observed the student teach a class all write letters describing areas of strength and weakness in the student teacher's performance and recommend whether or not the student should be certified. These letters become part of a dossier that the Teacher Education Committee reviews to recommend certification. The multiple perspectives on a student's work ensure the validity of the assessment process. Checklists are reviewed by Education Program faculty, and where patterns of weakness are consistently identified with regard to a specific competency, additional instructional opportunities are provided in the Curriculum and Methods Seminar. The College Supervisor assigns the final grade in Practice Teaching with input from the Cooperating Teacher. After reviewing the dossiers of individual students, which include letters from the College Supervisor, the Cooperating Teacher, the major department faculty member who has observed the student teach, as well as an additional letter from a faculty member of the student's choice, written approval from the department chair and a transcript, the Committee recommends approval for certification. (Examples of student dossiers, including letters and checklists, will be available to Review Team members in the Document Room.)
The process of selecting Cooperating Teachers varies with the policies of the school or school district. In some cases, after checking with the principal, we contact the teachers directly, especially those with whom we have worked before, and ask them whether they would like a student teacher; in other cases the principal makes the initial inquiry of the teacher. In some school districts an official request is made to the Superintendent's Office at some time during the process. In all cases, the Program has had direct communication with the Cooperating Teacher before student teaching begins. The prospective student teacher meets with the potential Cooperating Teacher during the semester before practice teaching, and only after both the Cooperating Teacher and the student agree to the pairing is a placement finalized. If the Cooperating Teacher is new to our program, a member of the Program, usually the Director, contacts the appropriate person by phone, or more typically goes to the school the semester before student teaching begins to explain the philosophy and requirements of our program as outlined in the Student Teaching Handbook and to answer questions about the program.
Because we have had ongoing relationships with many of the principals and teachers in the schools in the districts as well as in the private schools in which we place student teachers, we usually are able to use a personalized process for Cooperating Teacher selection. Even in districts with heavily bureaucratic procedures, we are fortunate to be able to communicate directly with teachers and administrators as we make placements. Our goal is to enable student teachers to have a choice in terms of subject area, grade level, and pedagogical approaches to ensure a successful learning experience for the student as well as an engaging professional experience for the Cooperating Teacher.
We require that Cooperating Teachers have three years of teaching experience, one of which is in the teacher's current district; that the teacher is certified and experienced in the discipline the student will teach; and that the teacher is willing to spend the time necessary to work closely with us in the preparation of a new teacher. We check with principals about the number of years that new Cooperating Teachers have taught in their discipline and in their school, if we have not previously worked with the teacher.
Much of the orientation and preparation of Cooperating Teachers—regarding observation and feedback processes, evaluation strategies, and issues that commonly arise in the developmental process of becoming a teacher—is done on an individual basis by the College Supervisor or Education Program Director. We find an individualized approach to the preparation of Cooperating Teachers beneficial because our program's size affords the opportunity to tailor the process to the Cooperating Teacher's experience, abilities and to the contexts of the diverse schools in which we place student teachers. Whenever we are working with a Cooperating Teacher who is new to the Swarthmore Program, the Program Chair and/or College Supervisor meet with the teacher in the semester prior to the student teaching placement to go over the Program's philosophy and goals, the place of student teaching in the student's development, and the role and requirements of the Cooperating Teacher, and the supervision and assessment processes. The College Supervisor explains the Program's expectation of a clinical model of supervision and the use of the Student Teaching Checklist. In all cases, during the first full week of student teaching, the Cooperating Teacher, College Supervisor and student meet in a three-way conference to discuss expectations for the semester and to clarify the roles and responsibilities of each member of the team. This meeting also includes discussion of how and when the student will be observed, when conferences will occur, and the use of the competency checklist for mid-term and final feedback sessions. In cases where the student is experiencing unusual difficulty, the College Supervisor and Cooperating Teacher also often meet separately or talk on the phone to discuss ways to support the student's progress and to effectively promote the development of the particular student teacher.
In addition to our individualized approach to Cooperating Teacher orientation, we provide training and opportunities for development through group workshops at the College for new Cooperating Teachers. The workshop, conducted most recently in Fall, 2001 and Spring 2002, explores strategies the teachers can bring to the position of mentor or Cooperating Teacher. We generate discussion about successful strategies for supervision (including the observation and conferencing processes), the developmental phases of student teaching, and the logistics of carrying out one's own teaching while simultaneously working closely with a student teacher. In past years, teachers were provided handouts from Robert Goldhammer's book, Clinical Supervision and from the Academy for Educational Development on "Phases of Teacher Development." Education faculty also share information about the Program, the work students do in preparation for student teaching, and the support and materials provided to student teachers during the Curriculum and Methods seminar that accompanies a student's twelve-week practice teaching. These workshops have been successful as a forum in which to share information, generate ideas, and maintain the communication and relationships that characterize our work with Cooperating Teachers. The Program draws experienced Cooperating Teachers into the planning of these workshops when possible.
Regular Education faculty and individuals hired specifically as College Supervisors all have had requisite experience as elementary and/or secondary teachers. In most cases we are able to pair a student teacher with a College Supervisor who has taught in the particular subject area in which the student is being certified or who has had other professional opportunities (e.g. as a consultant, curriculum specialist, or researcher) in the students' certification field. The vita of the four regular Education faculty, all of whom supervise student teachers, though not every semester, and those of the adjunct College Supervisors we have hired consistently in the past two years, describe the range of relevant teaching experiences the individuals in this role possess. Beginning in the Spring 2001 semester, regular Education faculty and the adjunct College Supervisors have met as a group one to two times a semester to discuss supervision strategies and the specific development of the particular individuals doing practice teaching. This meeting includes the Program Director and the faculty member teaching the Curriculum and Methods seminar that particular semester, so that feedback from these sessions can be incorporated into the planning of seminar sessions. As the situation demands, adjunct faculty also discuss individual student teacher needs with the Education Program Director and/or the faculty member teaching Curriculum and Methods.
The student teaching requirements, supervision process and the Student Teaching Competency Checklist that we use in the certification program have evolved over the past fifteen years, during which time all three of the tenured Education faculty have been members of the Swarthmore faculty. The core elements of the student teaching process have been strengthened but the overall features of the process have not changed markedly during this time. Discussions of, and modification to, the student teaching semester occur mainly as a result of discussions among regular and adjunct Education faculty, with occasional input from departmental faculty and professional educators who serve on the Teacher Education Committee. Feedback from our students, Cooperating teachers and departmental faculty who have observed our student teachers is also a source of some of the modifications we have made. Since the feedback we get from local educators and our students is overall quite positive, we see no need to redesign student teaching on an ongoing basis. The two questions that occasionally have been raised about our program's structure relate to the number of classes student teachers are required to teach and why we pair the Curriculum and Methods seminar with practice teaching, rather than requiring it prior to practice teaching. Our response to the question of why students do not teach five classes is that from a developmental perspective we believe it is more important to enhance the quality of the student teaching experience and ensure the time necessary to prepare and teach classes effectively, than to simulate a full-time teaching load. Our response to the timing of the Curriculum and Methods seminar is our belief that this arrangement provides a powerful opportunity for the integration of theory and practice, as discussed in more detail in Standard IV.
