71-22,510
MILLER, Sandra Waggett, 1940- INDEPENDENT STUDY UNITS: THEIR EFFECTIVENESS IN PREPARING COOPERATING TEACHERS FOR SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY.
The Ohio State University, Ph.D., 1971 Education, teacher training
University Microfilms, A XEROX Company, Ann Arbor, Michigan
© 1971
SANDRA WAGGETT MILLER
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
THIS DISSERTATION HAS BEEN MICROFILMED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED INDEPENDENT STUDY UNITS: THEIR EFFECTIVENESS
IN PREPARING COOPERATING TEACHERS FOR
SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY
DISSERTATION
Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University
By
Sandra Waggett Miller, B.S., M.S.
* * # # *
The Ohio State University 1971
Approved by
Adviser School of Home Economics ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Grateful acknowledgment is made to Dr. Marie M. Dirks, my major advisor, Professor and Chairman of the Division of Home Economics
Education, for her cooperation, patience, and positive attitude through out the planning, administration, and writing of this study.
Deep appreciation is expressed to all who in any way assisted with the study, and particularly to the following people:
my committee members. Dr. Julia I. Dalrymple, Professor
in Home Economics Education; Dr. L. 0. Andrews, Professor in
Teacher Education; and Dr. Willard H. Wolf, Professor in
Agriculture Education, for guidance in planning the study,
for reading the dissertation and offering suggestions;
the panel members, Miss Janet Fentress, Mrs. Lillie
Glover, and Miss Mary Lou Thomas, who so graciously critiqued
the conference tapes;
the cooperating and student teachers for so kindly
providing the research data;
and my husband, whose convictions about higher education
provided the initial inspiration for me to pursue the doctoral
program. VITA
July 7, 1940 Born - Sharon, Pennsylvania
1958-1960...... Wittenberg University, Springfield, Ohio
1962 ...... B.S.in Home Economics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
1962-196 3 ...... Home Economics Teacher, Copley Junior High School, Copley, Ohio
1963-196 6 ...... Home Economics Teacher, Lakewood High School, Hebron, Ohio
1966-196 7 ...... Teaching Assistant, Home Economics Education, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
1967 ...... M.S., The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
1967-196 8...... Home Economics Teacher and Department Chairman, Lakewood High School, Hebron, Ohio
1968-196 9 ...... Research Associate, The Center for Voca tional and Technical Education, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
1969-197 1...... Lecturer, Home Economics Education, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
FIELDS OF STUDY
Major Field: Home Economics Education
Studies in Home Economics Education. Professor Marie Dirks
Studies in Family and Child Development. Professor Claribol Taylor
Studies in Teacher Education. Professor L. 0. Andrews
i i i TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS......
VITA ...... i
LIST OF TABLES ...... v
LIST OF FIGURES...... x
Chapter
I. INTRODUCTION AND STATEMENT OF PROBLEM...... I
Purpose of Study ...... 6 Research Questions ...... V Definitions of Terms ...... 8
II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE ...... 10
The Cooperating Teacher...... 10 Role of the Cooperating Teacher...... II Qualifications for Cooperating Teachers...... 12 Needs and Problems of Cooperatinn-Teachers...... 15 Preparation Programs for Cooperating Teachers. . . . 23 Status of Programs ...... 23 Descriptions of Programs ...... 28 Evaluation of Programs ...... 33
Independent Study in Teacher Education ...... 39 Pre-Service...... 40 I n - S e r v i c e ...... 47
Summary...... 49
III. METHODOLOGY...... 51
Pre-Active Phase ...... 52 Definition of Population ...... 52 Development of Independent Study Materials ...... 54 Determination of Topics...... 54 Design of Learning Activity Packages for Cooperating Teachers...... 55 Development of Measurement Instruments and Techniques...... Cooperating Teacher Attitude Scale ...... ^8 Confidence Scale for Cooperating Teachers...... Conference Evaluation Form ......
iv Cooperating Teacher Satisfaction Scale: Help Received from Special Materials...... 61 Interview Schedule ...... 63 Areas of Assistance Checklist...... 63 Anecdota I Record L o g ...... 65
Active Phase ...... 65 Contacts with Cooperating Teachers ...... 66 Initial Contacts ...... 66 First Visits to Cooperating Teachers ...... 67 Second Visits to Cooperating Teachers...... 68 Third Visits to Cooperating Teachers ...... 69 Final Visits to Cooperating Teachers ...... 69 Student Teacher Measurement...... 70
Post-Active Phase...... 71 Panel of Judges...... 71 Criteria for Selection of Pane! Members...... 71 Training Sessions for Panel of Judges...... 72 Rating Sessions...... 73 Analysis of D a t a ...... 74
IV. ANALYSIS OF DATA ...... 77
Supervision Attitudes...... 78 Supervisory Confidence ...... 85 Supervisory Performance...... 90 Satisfaction with Approach ...... 105 Teacher Interview Statements Concerning Learning Activity Packages for Cooperating Teachers...... 117 Concluding Statement ...... 122
V. SUMMARY, CONCLUSION, IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ...... 123
Summary...... 123 Conclusion ...... 132 Implications and Recommendations ...... 133
v TABLE OF CONTENTS— CONTINUED
Page
APPENDIXES ...... 137
A. Table 25 - Years Classroom Experience of Beginning and Experienced Cooperating Teachers ...... 138
B. Table 26 - Number Student Teachers Previously Supervised by Experienced Cooperating Teachers .... 139
C. "How To Help Your Student Teacher Through Evaluation" Learning Activity Package for Cooperating Teachers ...... 140
D. Cooperating Teacher Attitude Scale ...... 148
E. Confidence Scale for Cooperating Teachers...... 152
F. Conference Evaluation F o r m ...... 154
G. Cooperating Teacher Satisfaction Scale: HelD Received from Special Material for Cooperating Teachers ...... 157
H. Interview Schedule Questions ...... 162
I. Areas of Assistance Checklist...... 163
J. College Supervisor's Introductory Letter to Beginning Cooperating Teachers ...... 166
K. Letter Notifying Beginning Cooperating Teachers of Interview Schedule Questions...... 167
L. Case Studies of Cooperating Teachers ...... 168
M. Case Study Evidence...... 207
N. Table 38 - Categories of Questions in Cooperating Teacher Attitude Scale ...... 224
0. Tables 39-42, Activities Cooperating Teachers Reported Doing in Learning Activity Packages for Cooperating Teachers ...... 225
BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 229
vt LIST OF TABLES
Table Pa0e
1. Meeds and Problems of Cooperating Teachers as Suggested by the Review of Literature ...... 54
2. Change in Attitude Scores from Pre-Test to Post-Test. . . . 79
3. Individual Scores and Mean Gains in Attitudes Toward Supervision...... 00
4. Mean Change in Attitude Options Elected ...... 01
5. Pre-test and Post-test Attitude Scale Items Ordered by Mean Difference...... 82
6. Mean Gain in Attitude Scores by Area...... 85
7. Change in Confidence Scores from Pre-test to Post-test by Teacher...... 86
8. Mean Gain in Confidence Scores from Pre-test to Post-Test...... 87
9. Pre-test and Post-test Confidence Scale Items Ordered by Mean Scores...... 88
10. Mean Gain on Individual Items on Confidence Scale ...... 90
11. Change in Individual Conference Scores from Pre test to Post-test ...... 92
12. Pre-test and Post-test Conference Evaluation Items Ordered by Mean Difference...... 93
13. Pre-test and Post-test Conference Evaluation Form Items Ordered by Mean Scores ...... 94
14. Differences in Categorv Ratings Between Beginning and Experienced Cooperating Teachers on Assistance Checklist. 96
15. Comparison of Beginning and Experienced Cooperating Teacher Assistance Checklist Item Mean Scores ...... , 97
v i ; LIST OF TABLES— CONTINUED
Table Page
16. General Ratings of Beginning and Experienced Cooperating Teachers ...... 100
17. Student Teacher Opinions on How Coonerating Teachers Were Most Helpful ...... 101
18. Satisfaction of Cooperating Teachers with Materials in Total ...... 107
19. Satisfaction Level of Cooperating Teachers with Orientation Package ...... 108
20. Satisfaction Level of Cooperating Teachers with Observation Package ...... 109
21. Satisfaction Level of Cooperating Teachers with Conference Package...... 110
22. Satisfaction Level of Cooperating Teachers with Evaluation Package...... Ill
23. Cooperating Teacher Efficiency, Effectiveness, and Satisfaction Ratings for Components of the Independent Study Approach ...... 113
24. Mean Satisfaction Scale Scores by Individual Teachers. . . | 16
25. Years Classroom Experience of Beginning and Experienced Cooperating Teachers ...... 138
26. Number Student Teachers Previously Supervised by Experienced Cooperating Teachers...... 139
27. Comparison of Cooperating Teacher "A's" Scores and Mean Scores...... 171
28. Comparison of Cooperating Teacher "B’S" Scores and Mean Scores...... 176
29. Comparison of Cooperating Teacher "C'S" Scores and Mean Scores...... 179
30. Comparison of Cooperating Teacher "D'S" Scores and Mean Scores...... 181
31. Comparison of Cooperating Teacher "E'S" Scores and Moan Scores...... 185
v I i i LIST OF TABLES— CONTINUED
Table Page
32; Comparison of Cooperating Teacher "F'S" Scores and Mean Scores ...... 188
33. Comparison of Cooperating Teacher "G's" Scores and Mean Scores ...... 193
34. Comparison of Cooperating Teacher "H’s" Scores and Mean Scores ...... 196
35. Comparison of Cooperating Teacher "I's" Scores and Mean Scores ...... 200
36. Comparison of Cooperating Teacher "J's" Scores and Mean Scores ...... 203
37. Comparison of Cooperating Teacher "K's" Scores and Mean Scores ...... 206
38. Categories of Questions in Cooperating Teacher Attitude Scale...... 224
39. Activities Cooperating Teachers Reported Doing in Orientation Package...... 225
40. Activities Cooperating Teachers Reported Doing in Observation Package...... 226
41. Activities Cooperating Teachers Reported Doing in Conference Package ...... 227
42. Activities Cooperating Teachers Reported Doing in Evaluation Package ...... 228
ix LIST OF FIGURES
Figure Page
I. Characteristics of Panel Members ...... 72
x CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION AND STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
The importance of the direct experience in the professional
preparation of teachers was recognized in the early history of public
teacher education. Harper reports that even the first state-supported
school for preparing teachers, which opened in Massachusetts in 1839,
had a "model school" in which prospective teachers did their "practice teaching."* Now, more than a century later, teacher educators,2 along with critics,^ and student teachers,4 believe that student teaching is the most significant aspect of teacher preparation.
There is agreement, too, that the cooperating teacher is the most significant variable at work in student teaching, in essence the
"crux of a program in directed teaching."-’ Stratemeyer and Lindsey,
for example, write:
These key figures in teacher education - cooperating teachers - accept as a part of their professional responsibility the task
^Charles A. Harper, A Century of Public Teacher Education (Washington, D.C.: National Education Association, 1939), pp. 25, 32.
^Bernard Rabin, "Who Are Supervising Teachers?" The Super v ising Teacher, Thirty-eighth Yearbook of The Association for Student Teaching (Dubuque, iowa: William C. Brown, 1959), p. 2.
^James B. Conant, The Education of American Teachers (New York: McGraw-HiI 1, 1963), p. 143.
^Claudia Wrobiewski, "A Student Teacher Views the Supervising Teacher," Journal of Teacher Education, XIV (Sept., 1963), p. 333.
^Raleigh Schorling, "Directed Teaching," The Education of Teachers, Twenty-third Yearbook of the National Society of College Teachers” of Education (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1935), p. 171. of helping to induct young men and women into the profession. They do this by sharing their daily activities with college students preparing to be teachers. They provide these students with opportunities to observe and study what goes on in the classroom, to test their ideas in practice, and to participate in a wide range of experiences characteristic of the life and work of the teacher.^
Studies show that the experiences the cooperating teacher and student share definitely influence the student teacher's behavior.
McAulay, for example, found that the student teaching experience influences pre-service teachers more than methods courses do.^ It would seem, therefore, that McAulay's study gives support to Curtis and Andrews' statement that "the improvement of the profession of teaching lies in the hands of the public school teachers just as much g as in those of the college faculties." If the cooperating teacher is a key person in the teacher education program, he must be judiciously selected and carefully prepared for his role since, as Andrews notes,
". . . improving the performance of the supervising teacher is a sure Q way to make significant improvement in the quality of teachers."
Unfortunately, however, due to growing enrollments in teacher education programs, many student teachers are being placed with
Florence B. Stratemeyer and Margaret Lindsey, Working with Student Teachers (New York: Bureau of Publications, Teachers College, Columbia University, 1958), p. 6 .
. D. McAulay, "How Much Influence Has a Cooperating Teacher?", Journal of Teacher Education, XI (March, I960), pp. 79-83. Q Dwight K. Curtis and Leonard 0. Andrews, Guiding Your Student Teacher (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-HaI 1, 1954), p. 2. Q L. 0. Andrews, "The Task Ahead," The Supervising Teacher, Thirty-eighth Yearbook of The Association for Student Teaching (Dubuque, Iowa: William C. Brown, 1959), p. 115. cooperating teachers who lack even minimal qualifications. Williams points out the irony of the situation: "... we state that the student teaching experience is possibly the most important phase of the teacher training program, but we send the student teachers to teach under people not trained in the area of supervision."*^*
To guide a student teacher successfully into competent teaching requires special supervisory skills. Webster asserts that student teacher success depends largely upon the skills with which the coopera ting teacher guides him through three critical stages of growth: orientation, induction, and assumption of full responsibility.**
Although a classroom teacher may be a master teacher with a real desire to serve as a cooperating teacher, he may still lack the supervisory skills which would enable him to guide a student teacher effectively.
As early as 1927, Bowden was suggesting special training in teacher education and supervision as qualifications for a "critic" or coopera ting teacher.
Now, if it is necessary that those who teach arithmetic should have not only a knowledge of arithmetic but also a knowledge of how to teach arithmetic, it seems much more necessary that those who teach teachers how to teach should not only have a thorough knowledge of subject matter in the field of education but also a knowledge of technical skills in how to train teachers how to teach.*2
*^Carrol I Will iams, "Guidelines for Cooperating Teachers," School and Community, LV (December, 1966), p. 34.
**Staten W. Webster, "Suggestions for the Supervising Teacher," NEA Journal, LIV (April, 1965), p. 39.
*^A. 0. Bowden, "The Training of Critic Teachers in the United States," Journal of Educational Research, XV (February, 1927), p. 119. 4
More recently, the Joint Committee on State Responsibility for
Student Teaching has stated that "supervising teachers must have special skills and competencies beyond those required for effective classroom teaching."*^
Despite these findings and proclamations, Butcher found that an overwheIming majority of today’s cooperating teachers have no special preparation for their role as cooperating teachers.*^ For these teachers, critical questions in areas such as student teacher orientation, unit and lesson planning and evaluation go unanswered.
Collegiate teacher education personnel are aware that such problems exist. Davies reports a study in which one of the objectives was to discover the most significant problems college faculties believed they had in their off-campus student teaching programs.
Education administrators in 139 institutions with off-campus, student programs responded to questionnaires. Of these, 66.9 per cent stated that providing in-service training for cooperating teachers was their
15 most significant problem.
*^Joint Committee on State Responsibility for Student Teaching, Who’s In Charge Here? (Washington, D.C.: National Education Associa- t ionTj 1966.
*^James Alvin Butcher, "An Analytical Study of the Selection and Preparation of Off-Campus Supervising Teachers" (unpublished Doc toral dissertation, The American University, 1966), Pi ssertation Abstracts, XXVII (Ann Arbor, Michigan: University Microfilms, 1967), pi 1682 A. I 5 Don Davies, "A Survey of College Problems and Practices in Off-Campus Student Teaching Programs," Teacher Education and the Public SchooIs, Fortieth Yearbook of The Association for Student Teaching (Dubuque, Iowa: William C. Brown, 1961), pp. 142, 144. 5
Despite this, a review of the forty-five studies reported in
the 1957 Association for Student Teaching Research Bulletin Studies in
Professional Laboratory Experiences in Teacher Education showed that
not one of the studies was directly concerned with the preparation of
the cooperating teacher.*^ While this writer’s more recent research
review shows more studies in this area, most focus on surveying the
current status of preparation for the cooperating teacher and conclude with suggestions for upgrading the work of the cooperating teacher.
Recommendations have included seminars and workshops on problems of
supervision, attendance at campus meetings of supervisors, and enroll ment in campus supervision courses.
Even with the implementation of all of these recommendations, most of which require the cooperating teacher to travel to the college
campus, cooperating teachers have not received adequate preparation for
their supervisory roie. Many are geographically located outside of commuting distance of the sponsoring college and therefore are unable to avail themselves of in-service opportunities on campus. Some insti- tut ions, for example, have cooperating teachers located 700 rniles from the college campus. Even institutions with student teaching centers near the college or university have problems providing adequate super visory education. One of their problems is related to the high rate of turnover in cooperating teachers. I shier estimates that the ratio of teachers working with their first student teachers reaches 30 to 40
I Association for Student Teaching, Studies in Professional Laboratory Experienc e s In Teacher Education, Research Bu I I et i n i Tcied a r FaTIs’, Iowa: trie Association for Student Teaching), 1957. per cent annually.*^ These teachers are at a definite disadvantage,
since they usually have inadequate time to secure any formal pre
service supervisory preparation prior to the arrival of their student teachers. This is particularly significant since Brabble reported that 83 per cent of her fifty-nine responding cooperating teachers
reported feelings of inadequacy and confusion during their first assignment of a student teacher.*^ Bossone's theory that many diffi culties of student teachers are a result of their cooperating teachers' anxiety and insecurity about their role makes Brabble's finding even more significant.W -4- 19
Purpose of the Study
The broad purpose of the study, therefore, was to develop a form of in-service education for the cooperating teacher that (I) was not contingent on her presence on campus, and (2) was readily available to her at the specific time she needed it. The recent successful
implementation of the independent study unit approach in pre-service education suggested that this technique might have potential for pre paring cooperating teachers off campus. The cooperating teacher could
^Richard E. Ishlor, "Train the Trainer: A Proposal Enhancing the Role of the Cooperating Teacher," The Clearing House, XLIII (December, 1968), p. 240.
18 Elizabeth Williams Brabble, "Attitudes of Supervising Teachers Toward Selected Concepts and Practices Ascribed to Their Role in the Student Teaching Program" (unpublished Master's thesis, Pennsylvania State University, 1966), p. 47.
'^Richard M. Bossone, "Training the Supervising Teacher," Teachers College Journal, XXXV (March, 1964), p. 178. have access to independent study units as he needed them, and, if the units were self-contained, he could use them at school or at home.
Beginning cooperating teachers experience more problems and need proportionately more help than experienced cooperating teachers.
It seemed logical, therefore, to design the first independent study units to meet the needs of beginning cooperating teachers. It was assumed that the success of the independent study approach in preparing beginning cooperating teachers could have implications for the contin uous education program for experienced cooperating teachers.
More specifically the purposes of the study were (I) to design independent study units that would meet the needs of beginning coopera ting teachers, as determined by a review of the literature concerning the cooperating teacher, and (2) to evaluate the acceptability, effi ciency, and effectiveness of these units and the independent study approach to off-campus cooperating teacher education.
Research Questions
The purposes of the study provided the basis for the formula tion of the following questions that gave direction to the study:
1. How will beginning cooperating teachers evaluate inde pendent study units on supervision and feel about the acceptability of this method for preparing cooperating teachers?
2. Will beginning cooperating teachers who use independent study units on supervision have a change in their atti tudes toward the role of the cooperating teacher?
3. Will beginning cooperating teachers who use independent study units on supervision gain confidence in their ability to supervise? 8
4. Will beginning cooperating teachers who use an independent study unit on how to structure supervisory conferences become more skillful conferees?
5. Will beginning cooperating teachers who use independent study units on supervision provide less, as much, or more assistance to their student teachers in the areas of the study units as experienced cooperating teachers?
6 . V/i I I the change in the beginning cooperating teachers’ attitudes toward the role of the cooperating teacher be related to the degree of assistance they provide their student teachers?
7. Will the change in the beginning cooperating teachers' confidence in their ability to supervise be related to the degree of assis tance they provide their student teachers?
Definitions of Terms
The following definitions were established as the basis for usage in the study:
Cooperating Teacher is a home economics teacher in a public school who supervises a student involved in the student teaching experience.
Independent Study Unit is a self-contained set of teaching-learning materials designed to teach a single concent and structured for individual and independent use. The term is used synonomously with the term Learning Activity Package in this study.
Student Teacher is a college student who is acquiring teaching experience and skill under the supervision of a cooperating teacher. Supervision is the term used to describe the activities which are primarily and directly concerned with improv ing conditions which surround the learning and growth of pupils and student teachers. CHAPTER I I
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
The Cooperating Teacher
A survey of the literature relating to the cooperating teacher revealed two conclusions generally supported by teacher educators:
(1) there have been relatively few studies directly related to the cooperating teacher, particularly in the area of his preparation, and
(2 ) there is a conspicuous need for research in this area.
Steeves supported these conclusions, since he located fewer than five studies which were concerned with this phase of the teacher education program when he searched the literature available on the cooperating teacher in 1952. He concluded that the cooperating teacher had been nearly forgotten in educational research.^ More recently,
Troisi also observed that the preparation and role of the cooperating teacher had been almost overlooked as a topic for research. In a review of the periodical literature from 1954 to 1959, he found less than a dozen articles published on the cooperating teacher and his work.^I
20Frank L. Steeves, "A Summary of the Literature on the Off- Campus Cooperating Teacher," Educational Administration and Supervision, XXXVIII (March, 1952), p. 129.
2 1 Nicholas Troisi, "Development of the Supervising Teacher’s Role," The Supervising Teacher, Thirty-eighth Yearbook of The Associa tion for Studen't teaching (Dubuque, Iowa: William C. Brown, 1959), p. 17. 10 11
Role of the Cooperating Teacher
The findings reported in the aforementioned reviews seem para doxical since the cooperating teacher has a strategic role in the student teaching program. The cooperating teacher is indeed in a key position to serve as a supervisor, for he has daily contact with the college student's teaching and understands his own classroom situation better than anyone else in the student teaching program.
Various writers have described this important cooperating teacher role. In the early literature on supervision of student teach
ing Strebel found some evidence that the role consisted of (I) serving
in an advisory capacity in unit planning, (2 ) assuming primary respon sibility in initiating and directing daily lesson planning, (3) checking the student's daily lesson plans long enough in advance to permit sufficient time for modifications or corrections, (4) conducting pre teaching and post-teaching conferences, (5) directing the student teacher's induction in accordance with general plans developed in cooperation with the college supervisors, (6 ) participating in evalua tion and grading of the student teacher, and (7) conducting demonstration
lessons as a supervisory technique. Strebel*s cooperating teacher role description came from an analysis of data collected from college super visors, cooperating teachers, student teachers, and directors of student teaching in ninety-three institutions.22
22Ralph F. Strebel, The Nature of Supervision of Student- Teaching in Universities Using Public High Schools (hew York: Bureau of Publications, Teachers College, Columbia University, 1935), passim. 12
Since Strebelfs study, which was conducted in 1935, the role
of the cooperating teacher has become somewhat more comprehensive. In
addition to being in charge of the classroom to which the student
teacher has been assigned, the contemporary cooperating teacher
assists the student teacher in becoming acquainted with the school,
studying students, getting acquainted with instructional resources
and requirements, making plans, guiding learning experiences, handling
discipline problems, evaluating outcomes, and participating in extra
class and community activities.23
Qualifications for Cooperating Teachers
Classroom teachers who are asked to assume the additional role
of cooperating teacher are generally expected to have certain minimal
qualifications. These include having at least a Bachelor's degree and
a minimum of three years of successful teaching experience.^
Stratemeyer and Lindcey are more specific, however, in suggest
ing criteria for the selection of the cooperating teacher. In addition
to classroom competency, they emphasize desirable attitudes toward
supervisory responsibilities and an ability to foster harmonious
working relationships. Specifically, the teacher should (I) have a
positive professional attitude and a real liking and respect for
teaching; (2) be a responsible and willing participant in the affairs of the school; (3) basically be a learner always striving to improve
his ability to carry out tasks; (4) perceive the opportunity to work
^Curtis and Andrews, op. cit., passim.
^Butcher, op. cit. 13 with future teachers as a professional responsibility, one which he is glad to have the chance to assume; (5) be able to deal with basic principles of learning and teach and verbalize these in working with a novice; (6 ) be able to work effectively with another adult in the classroom; (7) be able to share rewards, joys, and problems with 95 another person; and (8) be able to teach through another person.
Ruman and Curtis state that the cooperating teacher's profes sional preparation for this role should be carefully examined, for the professional adequacy of the prospective teacher is significantly dependent upon the role his cooperating teacher plays.
The professional preparation of a supervising teacher should be carefully scrutinized by the teacher preparation institu tion just as carefully as the professional preparation of a person for any other position on the college staff. Too frequently, the profession seems to be concerned with only providing a practical experience in teaching, without accept ing the fact that learning to teach may be the most highly intellectual experience that the student teacher may encounter in his preparation.
Barr, Burton, and Brueckner's opinion that "supervising student teaching is an expert, technical service . . . ."also indicates the need for the best possible training for the cooperating teacher.^7
25stratemeyer and Lindsey, op. cit., pp. 4-7.
26[Idward L. Ruman and Dwight K. Curtis, "The Supervising Teacher in Future Teacher Education Programs," The Supervising Teacher, Thirty-eighth Yearbook of The Association for Student Teaching (Dubuque, Iowa: William C. Brown, 1959), p. 98.
27a . S. Barr, William H. Burton, and Leo L. Brueckner, Superv is ion (New York: Appleton Century-Crofts, 1947), p. II. 14
Under a poor supervisor, apprentice teaching represents little more than an opportunity to pick up a few ad hoc classroom procedures and tricks-of-the-trade. Under a first rate supervisor it can be a liberal education in the meaning of great teaching.28
Recognition of the importance of the work of the cooperating
teacher has prompted educators in several states to develop standards
of certification for this special role. Despite these efforts, Steeves
concluded that cooperating teachers are selected primarily because of
their willingness to serve and their employment in a cooperating school
system. Professional preparation for the role of supervisor is often a
secondary consideration.^
Many recommendations have been made, therefore, to upgrade the
work of cooperating teachers. Recommendations have included systematic
orientation to the student teaching program, seminars and workshops on
problems of supervision, close relations between methods course instruc
tors and cooperating teachers, attendance at campus meetings of
supervisors, preparation of special bulletins, enrollment in campus
courses, and participation in experimental programs and curriculum
studies.30 Needs and problems of cooperating teachers should determine
the content of any of these activities.
28Nat ional Council of the Independent Schools, Committee on Teacher Training, Preparation of Teachers for Secondary Schools (Boston: The Council, 1950), p. 25.
29steeves, op. cit.
^John U. Michael is, "Student Teaching and Internship," Encyclopedia of Educational Research, ed. Chester W. Harris, 3rd ed . , T960,' p". VaTT. Needs and Problems of Cooperating Teachers
A major need of the cooperating teacher is an explanation of his role. Bossone theorizes that the success of the working relation ship between the cooperating teacher and his student teacher is proportional to the cooperating teacher’s understanding of his role.
Unfortunately, many teachers who are currently cooperating in student teaching programs are inadequately prepared for this role.^*
Even student teachers, as well as teacher educators like
Bossone, realize that cooperating teachers are not well prepared for their role in the student teaching program. Merring surveyed student teachers from thirty-one institutions to determine the nature of the supervision they were provided during their student teaching. Many of the student teachers stated that their cooperating teachers were not well prepared in the specialized skills necessary in supervision. The study also revealed that few of the cooperating teachers had been specifically prepared for their roles. Merring concluded that there was an " . . . excessive amount of poor supervision by . . . public school supervisors" and recommended that in-service education for cooperating teachers should include what is expected of supervisors, techniques for dealing with people, and a description of the type of teacher education program students receive.32
3•Bossone, op. cit.
32f.ierton Joseph Merring, "The Nature of the Supervision of Student Teaching" (unpublished Doctoral dissertation, Cornell Univer sity, 1955), Dissertation Abstracts, XVI (Ann Arbor, Michigan: University Microfilms, 1956), p. 291. 16
Bowers and Scofield also used student teacher evaluation as a
basis for determining needs of cooperating teachers. The attitudes
of thirty-six student teachers were inventoried regarding (I) the
proportion of help received from their supervising teachers and
(2) their feeling of need for help in ten areas which are related to
student teacher behavior. Areas included in the study were student
motivation, classroom planning, improvement of instruction, use of
instructional aids, use of information about students, teaching for
transfer, achievement test construction, evaluation procedures, and
preparation in subject matter. The student teachers reported they
received most help from their cooperating teachers on information about
students, suggestions for improvement, and daily classroom planning.
They received the least amount of help in use of instructional aids,
suggestions for transfer, and achievement test construction. The
students felt there was no area in which supervision was "too much."
All mean ratings indicated more assistance would have been desirable.^
In a talk given at a Central Indiana Conference for Supervising
Teachers, Hallman discussed an informal study in which student teachers
were asked to evaluate help obtained from their cooperating teachers.
One hundred thirty-three student teachers listed ways in which their cooperating teachers could have been more helpful. The lack of frank,
constructive criticism of work was the most frequently mentioned
^Norman Bowers and Alice Scofield, "Evaluating the Supervision of Student Teachers," Journal of Teacher Education, X (December, 1959), pp. 461-467. complaint.34 The significance of the lack of constructive criticism
during student teaching is discussed by Stratemeyer and Lindsey: "The
quality of experience resides both in the nature of the experience
itself and in the way it is guided. Experience that is not criticized
. . . may result in little more than patterned behavior carried on
more or less blindly.1
Studies have concentrated on having cooperating teachers as
well as student teachers analyze student teaching supervision problems.
Pfeiffer interviewed forty-one beginning cooperating teachers to deter
mine their supervisory problems. He found that cooperating teachers
experience difficulty in these areas: evaluating student teacher
growth, working with student teachers who have deficiencies in prepara
tion, helping student teachers with discipline, helping student
teachers plan for their instructional activities, directing observation
of student teachers, sharing duties with students, and becoming
oriented to the program of full-time student teaching. Working with
students who had deficiencies in preparation and evaluating student
teacher growth accounted for 55 per cent of the 120 problems that were
reported. However, 60 per cent of the cooperating teachers who
reported problems in evaluation viewed it only in terms of assigning
the f i naI grade.36
34c lemen L. Hallman, "Role of the Cooperating Teacher," (speech presented at the Central Indiana Conference for Supervising Teachers (Indianapolis, Indiana, Oct. 9, 1962), Educational Resources Informa tion Center, ED 010 722, p. A2.
35stratemeyer and Lindsey, op. cit., p. 14.
36Robert Pfeiffer, "A Study of the Problems and Attitudes of Beginning Supervising Teachers in the Program of Full-time Student Teaching at Indiana University" (unpublished Doctoral dissertation, Indiana University, 1953), passim. 18
While Pfeiffer was concerned wi+h problems of cooperating teachers, Richard’s study focused on problems of cooperating teachers at all experiential levels. Two hundred seventy cooperating teachers responded to an instrument which included rating their difficulty in handling certain problem situations, the assistance they were provided, and the assistance they desired. Of the twelve supervisory problems
Richards included in the study, the teachers specified seven that gave them much trouble: discipline, extra-class activities, motivation, understanding and providing for individual differences, planning, and methods of teaching. Conferences and observations gave them median difficulty, while orientation gave them little difficulty. The more supervisory experience the cooperating teacher had, the less difficult he rated the problem situations. The teachers rated the workshops and bibliographies of student teaching materials that had been provided for them as unsatisfactory because they had been offered to such a limited extent. Helps they specified as desirable supervisory assistance
included appropriate evaluation forms, an explanation of the student teaching program, information on evaluation, background information on the student teacher, demonstrations showing good supervisory techniques, and cooperating teacher handbooks.37
Woods followed through on Richards’ finding that cooperating teachers desire handbooks. As a part of her Master’s thesis,she devised materials in line with the needs of Nevada home economics cooperating
37He len Louise Richards, ’’Analysis of the Problems of the Off- Campus Supervisor of Student Teachers" (unpublished Doctoral dissertation. State University of Iowa, 1955), Dissertation Abstracts, XV (Ann Arbor, Michigan: University Microfilms, 1955), pp. 1564-1565. teachers as evidenced by data collected with two research techniques.
Nine home economics cooperating teachers responded to a questionnaire
designed to determine their supervision problems and eight home
economics students who had completed their student teaching experience
were interviewed to identify their perception of cooperating teacher
supervision problems. The results of the questionnaire showed that
six of the nine cooperating teachers felt structuring the conference
period to make it meaningful was a major problem. Five of the nine
indicated these problems: helping the student teacher plan, inducting
and orienting the student teacher, developing status for the student
teacher, evaluating the student teacher, and making the observation
period worthwhi le. The student teachers agreed that meaningful use of
the conference period was a cooperating teacher problem. Making obser
vation periods worthwhile and helping the student teacher understand
pupil learning needs were other areas in which the student teachers
considered the cooperating teachers least successful. Student teachers
thought the cooperating teachers were highly successful in developing
status for them. In developing her materials, Woods gave prime
consideration to the problems checked by the beginning cooperating
teachers, since seven of the nine had served only one student teacher.^8
Barr was also concerned with identifying cooperating teacher
needs and using them as a basis for a preparation program for coopera
ting teachers. He distributed a questionnaire listing 135 functions of
■^Marion B. Woods, "The Development of Materials to Meet the Needs of Cooperating Teachers in Home Economics in Nevada" (unpublished Master's thesis. University of Nevada, 1961), passim. cooperating teachers to a nationwide sample of cooperating teachers.
The 361 respondents indicated the importance of each function and the type of preparation the cooperating teacher needed to perform the function: (I) specific preparation prior to becoming a cooperating teacher, (2) on-job-training by college supervisor, (3) no preparation needed, and (4) both options one and two. Functions all groups rated most important were orienting the student teacher, planning meaningful observations, planning and guiding learning experiences, evaluating pupil growth, analyzing the teaching-1 earning situation, holding effec tive conferences, and evaluating student teacher growth. Functions viewed least important by all groups were becoming acquainted with the student teacher and understanding college students, helping the student teacher become a member of the profession, developing and maintaining relationships with the college, and guiding the student teacher in dealing with the range of the teacher's activities. Cooperating teachers with special preparation for their role most frequently rated functions of greater importance and tended to emphasize the need for prior preparation more than cooperating teachers who lacked special preparation. Preparation prior to becoming a cooperating teacher was considered most essential for these functions: planning meaningful observations, planning and guiding learning experiences, evaluating pupil growth, analyzing the teaching-1 earning situation, and evaluating student teacher growth. Based on his study, Barr developed guidelines 21 to assist teacher educators in developing preparatory programs for cooperating teachers.
Roth utilized the critical incident technique to identify effective and ineffective cooperating teacher behavior which was relevant to their goals in student teaching. The 141 collected
incidents were organized into nineteen effective behaviors. Roth found that all ineffective behaviors could be grouped under effective behavior categories. The key behaviors were the following: arranges for conferences which explain, guide, and evaluate; interrupts appro priately; alleviates frustration; uses practices worthy of imitation; works as team with student teacher; provides for full-time teaching experience; shares ideas; encourages student to reach own goals; evaluates student; remains available; treats student as professional; places confidence in student; gives praise with criticism; has confi dence in himself as a cooperating teacher; defines requirements early; and maintains a flexible schedule. Roth recommended using the key behaviors as guides for the selection and preparation of cooperating teachers.
Tedder designed an opinionnaire to determine how student teaching personnel evaluated the content teacher education institutions were using in upgrading the skills of their cooperating teachers. The
39D ixon A. Barr, "Proposals for the Preparation of Cooperating Teachers" (unpublished Doctoral dissertation, Columbia Uni versity, 1965), Dissertation Abstracts, XXVI (Ann Arbor, Michigan: University Microf iVms", i966u)~ * p. 4474.
40|_ois Roth, "Selecti ng Supervising Teachers," Journal of Teacher Education, XI I—XI I I (December, 1961), pp. 476-481. 22
opinionnaire, which was sent to personnel in selected institutions,
included five categories: Orientation, Teaching and Evaluating Pupil
Progress, Methods of Supervisory Process, Professional Aspects of
Teaching, and the College or University Function in the Student
Teaching Program. The respondents considered all categories as
necessary. However, the section which involved student teacher-
community relations in Category I was considered as unnecessary and
items related to specific administrative detail at the college level
were questioned. Tedder accordingly recommended that all categories
be incorporated in cooperating teacher preparation programs, with the
exception of school-community relationships. He also recommended that
administrative detail at the teacher education institution should be
included but not emphasized.^*
A study by Williams reinforces the necessity of including
methods of supervision, especially conducting conferences, in coopera
ting teacher preparation, since the student teachers, college
supervisors, and cooperating teachers in her study frequently mentioned
that conferences directed by the cooperating teacher were ineffective
in changing student teacher behavior.^ This seemed ironic since
previous studies had shown that both cooperating teachers and student
^Thomas H. Tedder, Jr., "The Determination of Areas of Profes sional Competence of Persons Engaged in Supervision of Student Teaching" (unpublished Doctoral dissertation, University of Southern Mississippi, 1968), Dissertation Abstracts, XXIX (Ann Arbor, Michigan: University Microfilms, 1969), p. 3027^
^Rosemary Wood Williams, "Role of the Home Economics College Supervisor" (unpublished Doctoral dissertation, The Ohio State Univer sity, 1966), p. 139. 23
teachers considered the individual conference their best-1iked supei—
visory technique.^
Studies such as Williams and Nick I as, in which cooperating
teachers and student teachers express their supervision needs and
problems, give direction to cooperating teacher preparation programs.
The next section will focus on describing programs that have been
developed. Attention will also be given to program evaluation and the
overall status of in-service education for cooperating teachers.
Preparation Programs for Cooperating Teachers
Status of Programs
Within the past decade several studies have been conducted to
determine the status and characteristics of educational programs for
cooperating teachers. In I960, Hayes examined the cooperating teacher
education programs of ten institutions by interviewing faculty members
and studying the literature provided by the institutions for their
cooperating teachers. Although six of the institutions offered a course
for pre-service cooperating teachers, the institutions usually relied on
individual conferences with the college supervisor and printed guides to
orient the beginning cooperating teacher. The individual conference
between the college supervisor and cooperating teacher was also considered
the most vital aspect of the in-service cooperating teacher educational
program. The distribution of printed materials to the cooperating
teachers was another major portion of the in-service programs. Only two
^Merrill S. Nicklas, "A Comparative Study of Critical Incidents to Determine Recommended Techniques for Supervisors of Student Teachers" (unpublished Doctoral dissertation, University of Arkansas, 1959), pp. 90-94. 24
of the institutions had budgets for in-service cooperating teacher
educational programs. Hayes' main conclusion was that very little had
been done to provide pre-service education for the cooperating
teacher.44
Graham did a more recent study on the status of in-service
educational programs for cooperating teachers. She asked individuals
in 457 institutions approved by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education to answer a questionnaire concerning their program organization and execution. While all of the 08 per cent responding
individuals in the institutions reported providing preparation, a great
number relied on informal techniques. Less than one-half offered formal programs. The typical formal program consisted of a three-hour graduate credit course taught by a college supervisor or director of student teaching. Cooperating teachers were generally not required to take the course.4^
As a part of his doctoral study, Rutrough included a survey of cooperating teacher in-service education practices of teacher education
institutions. The purpose of his study was to use the data collected
44Robert Bruce Hayes, "A Study of Programs of Pre-Service and In-Service Education for Cooperating School Supervising Teachers Used by Selected Teacher Education Institutions" (unpublished Doctoral disserta tion, University of Kansas, I960), Dissertation Abstracts, XXII (Ann Arbor, Michigan: University Microfilms, 1961), p. 2611.
4^Patricia Ann Graham, "The Status of In-Service Education Programs for Supervising Teachers and the Development of an In-Service Education Course for Supervising Teachers" (unpublished Doctoral dissertation, University of Texas at Austin, 1968), Dissertation Abstracts, XXIX (Ann Arbor, Michigan: University Microfilms, 1969), p. 3495. 25
from the survey along with a review of the literature and an analysis
of certification regulations for cooperating teachers as a basis for
developing criteria for orientation and in-service education of
cooperating teachers. Rutrough's sample consisted of fifty-five
National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education approved insti
tutions in eight states which have regulations pertaining to the
certification of cooperating teachers. The major activities used by 46 the teacher educators in the institutions were reported as follows:
Percentage Institut ions Educational Technique Using Technique
Informal Conferences Between College Supervisor and Cooperating Teacher 100 Bulletins or Mimeographed Materials Distributed to Cooperating Teacher 100 Handbooks Distributed to Cooperating Teachers 67 Su pe rv i s i on Cou rses 47 General Conference for all Cooperating Teachers 1-4 tines annually 47 Individual Conferences Regularly Between Cooperating Teacher and College Supervisor 45 Group Meetings Held for Cooperating Teachers at Institutions or Student Teaching Center 43 Commercially Produced Books and Pamphlets Given to Cooperating Teachers 15 Cooperating Teacher Given Supervision Bibliography and Free Use of Institution's Library 15 Sequence of Specialized Courses Including Internship 13 Annual Workshops Sponsored by State Department of Educat ion II Cooperating Teachers Encouraged to Join Association for Student Teaching 9 Cooperating Teachers Provided with Articles, Research Reports, Bibliographies 9 Banquet and Sharing Sessions Held at Beginning of Each Quarter or Semester 9
46james Ellwyn Rutrough, "Criteria for Orientation and In-Service Education of Cooperating Teachers in Teacher Education Programs" (unpub lished Doctoral dissertation, University of Virginia, 1968), pp. 113-117. 26
Rutrough’s findings concurred with Graham’s, since Rutrough also found that the informal conference between the college supervisor and cooperating teacher and the distribution of bulletins and mimeographed materials were the major in-service activities provided by the insti tutions. Rutrough concluded that there was little evidence that the teacher educators were developing systematic orientation and in-service education programs for their cooperating teachers.
The determination of procedures by which cooperating teachers are selected and prepared was the purpose of a research study by
Butcher. Data were collected by sending questionnaires to 335
American Association for Colleges for Teacher Education institutions and interviewing 161 cooperating teachers. Butcher found that coopera ting teachers were not required to participate in in-service programs in more than 75 per cent of the 319 responding institutions. Sixty-one per cent of the institutions used cooperating teachers who had no preparation for supervisory responsibilities. The cooperating teachers acknowledged that they needed more preparation.^ An earlier study by
Christoffel also revealed that cooperating teachers participate in in-service activities less than they consider desirable.^8
A study by Lingren offers even further support to the finding that teachers desire preparation for supervision. In a questionnaire
^Butcher, op. cit.
^Frederick william Christoffel, "A Student Teaching Handbook for Cooperating Teachers in the Area of Industrial Arts" (unpublished Doctoral dissertation. New York University, I960), Pi ssertation Abstracts, XXI (Ann Arbor, Michigan: University Microf i I ms, 1961), p. 3001. 27
to cooperating teachers, Lingren proposed a professional course
concerning problems of supervising teachers. One-half of the ninety-
four respondents indicated they were interested in such a course.
This proportion of cooperating teachers interested in enrolling in
supervision courses appears to be substantiated in a study by Brabble
which showed that 47 per cent of her fifty-nine respondents had taken
such a course.50
The determination of content, teaching strategies, and evalua
tion methodology used and recommended for use in supervision courses
was the focus of a study by Flynn. Individuals in sixty institutions
having membership in the American Association of Colleges for Teacher
Education and offering graduate programs completed Flynn's instrument.
He concluded from their responses that a basic student teaching super
vision course should include (I) philosophy, administration, and
structure of the institution's teacher education program; (2 ) an expla
nation of the responsibilities of personnel involved in the student teaching program; (3) an explanation of the major functions of the cooperating teacher, including orientation, guidance, and evaluation of the student teacher; and (4) topics related to effective instruc tional techniques and ways of working with children. Instructional strategies recommended for the course were (I) group processes including panel discussions, sociodrama, and use of resource persons, (2) individual
49Vernon C. Lingren, "Three Proposals for Improving Student Teaching," Educational Administration and Supervision, XL I I I (November, ,957), p. 3 d 6 ;
^ B r a b b l e , op. cit. 28
projects, and (3) development of InstructionaI materia I s. Evaluation
methods included verbal and written evaluation, follow-up studies of
participants, and information gathered from college supervisors.^'
Descriptions of Programs
Harven concluded, as a result of his synthesis of research and
thought relating to the cooperating teacher, that the academic prepara
tion which cooperating teachers have is influenced by the requirements
of the states in which they work.*^ States which currently have regu
lations pertaining to the preparation and certification of cooperating
teachers are Georgia, Hawaii, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, North
Carolina, Rhode Island, and West Virginia. It appears that the
certification requirements and the concomitant cooperating teacher
educational programs are more highly developed and implemented in
Georgia than in any of the other states. Undoubtedly one of the
reasons for this is that before a Georgia teacher education institution
can secure certification approval from the State Board of Education,
the institution must provide special preparation for teachers coopera
ting in its student teaching program.
1 Edward Bernard Flynn, Jr., "Courses in Student Teaching Supervision" (unpublished Doctoral dissertation, The University of Oklahoma, 1959), Dissertation Abstracts, XX (Ann Arbor, Michigan: University Microfilms, lW0T7~F^-^j95T-
52j eraline Dorris Harven, "The Supervising Teacher: A Synthesis of Research Findings and Thought: In Two Volumes" (unpublished Doctoral dissertation, Indiana University, 1964), Dissertation Abstracts, XXVI (Ann Arbor, Michigan: University Microfilms, 1966), p. 2601. 29
The overall Georgia program, which was developed cooperatively
by the State Department of Education and the teacher education institu
tions, includes three types of experiences, each carrying five quarter
hours of graduate credit:
(1) Beginning Cooperating Teacher Workshop
(2) One-Year Internship
(3) Follow-up Workshop on Supervisory Problems
Several studies have been conducted to determine the value of the Georgia program. Perrodin reports a University of Georgia study
in which the Minnesota Teacher Attitude Inventory was administered to
113 elementary education majors prior to and following their student teaching. The amount of student teacher gain was analyzed in relation to the supervisory level of the cooperating teacher. The major finding of the study was that student teachers placed with cooperating teachers who had completed the entire cooperating teacher preparatory sequence tended to make greater increases in attitude inventory scores.^3
Prince evaluated the Georgia plan for cooperating teacher educa tion for the period 1949-1959. One hundred sixty-two cooperating teachers reacted to questionnaires regarding the preparatory program.
Additional data were secured from college supervisors who evaluated the cooperating teachers with whom they worked. The cooperating teachers rated all of the preparatory experiences as valuable, but indicated that the program, especially the second workshop, should be strengthened.
According to the college supervisors, cooperating teachers who were
53A lex F. Perrodin, "In Support of Supervising Teacher Education Programs," Journal of Teacher Education, XII (March, 1961), pp. 36-38. 30
currently participating In the sequence were more effective with
student teachers than cooperating teachers who had completed the
sequence. Prince recommended that activities be designed as follow-ups
to the preparatory sequence in order to insure continuous cooperating
54 teacher growth.
McGeoch subjectively evaluated the gains made by sixty Georgia
cooperating teachers who had participated in a tuition free preparation
sequence at Emory University and Agnes Scott College. She considered
the most important gains to be good will of trained and highly motivated
cooperating teachers, improved quality of the student teaching exper
ience, and improved teaching procedures by teachers who were working
with student teachers. The rationale given for improvement of teaching
procedures by the cooperating teachers was that as the cooperating
teacher became more confident in her supervisory role, a larger propor
tion of her energies could be released to concentrate on demonstration
teaching.^5 Wiggins also evaluated the Emory-Agnes Scott sequence and
found evidence that it helped the cooperating teachers grasp the concept of individual differences in student teachers.-’6
^Odis Quinton Pr i nee, "A Study of the Georgia Program for Educating Supervising Teachers" (unpublished Doctoral dissertation, George Peabody College for Teachers, 1961), Dissertation Abstracts, XXII (Ann Arbor, Michigan: University Microfilms, 1962), p. 3104.
^Dorothy M. McGeoch, "The Emory-Agnes Scott Program of Student Teaching," Teacher Education: The Decade Ahead (Washington, D.C.: National Education Association, 1935), pp. 90-94.
-^Sam P. Wiggins, "Improving Off-Campus Student Teaching," Education, LXIII (Juno, 1953), p. 628. 31
In his doctoral study, Johnson analyzed the preparation of
supervising teachers in Georgia. The 243 cooperating teacher and
student teacher pairs who participated in the study were grouped
according to the stage of the cooperating teacher’s preparation for
her role. A questionnaire was sent to the cooperating teacher follow
ing the supervising of his student teacher. Student teachers completed three instruments: Areas of Assistance Checklist, How I Teach, and
Georgia Teaching Measure. The data collected from these instruments
suggested that cooperating teachers who had completed the three course preparation sequence offered the most valuable assistance to their student teachers. However, in terms of the instruments used, there appeared to be no relationship between the experience and preparation of the cooperating teacher and student teacher attitude.^
In the 1966 Association for Student Teaching Yearbook, GiIstrap describes Florida's cooperating teacher educational program. The core of the program is a course offered via educational television. The course, which was produced by the University of Florida College of
Education, consists of twenty telecasts which are combined with indi vidual study assignments and seminars. The course has been offered on a statewide basis.
57|_arry Kay Johnson, "An Analysis of Selected Factors in the Preparation of Secondary Supervising Teachers in Georgia" (unpublished Doctoral dissertation, University of Georgia, 1963), Dissertation Abstracts, XXIV (Ann Arbor, Michigan: University Microfilms, fvb4), p. 4569.
58Robert Gi Istrap, "Action Programs of Inservice Education: A Televised Course in Florida," Professional Growth Inservice of the Supervising Teacher, Forty-fifth Yearbook of The Association for’~tudent Teaching (Dubuque, Iowa: William C. Brown, 1966), pp. 75-77. 3 2
With the help of a Ford Foundation grant, Oregon educators have
also been able to develop a statewide program to prepare cooperating
teachers. The State Board of Education, eight colleges and universi
ties, and twenty-three school districts are involved in the project
which includes, among other things, released time for supervision,
training in clinical supervision, and special workshops, conferences,
and clinics. The development and implementation of a specialized
graduate curriculum for teacher education supervisory personnel is one
of the goals of the proj e c t . ^
As a result of the statewide Oregon project, educators at The
University of Oregon have reorganized their supervisory services for
student teaching. The persons in their newly created clinical professor
positions teach half-time in the local schools. The remainder of their time is devoted to, among other things, providing educational programs
for cooperating teachers.^
Various other institutions have designed and developed materials
and specialized in-service educational activities to assist their
cooperating teachers. Many institutions have prepared Cooperating
Teacher Handbooks as a means of providing in-service education.
59wi I I iam Ward and John Suttle, "Oregon Plan to Improve the Induction Process, The Program to Prepare Supervising Teachers and Organization of Schools and Colleges to Accommodate the Process," Journal of Teacher Education, XVII (V/inter, 1966), pp. 444-451.
60john Suttle, "Action Programs of Inservice Education: The Clinical Professor at The University of Oregon," Professiona l Growth Inservice of the Supervising Teacher, Forty-fifth Yearbook of The Association for StudenT Teaching (Dubuque, Iowa: William C. Brown, 1966), pp. 87-96. 33
Eastwood reports on the development of a manual for Rhode Island home economics cooperating teachers. The determination of content for the manual was based upon data collected from interviews with student teachers, questionnaires completed by beginning teachers, and confer ences held with cooperating teachers.^* Indiana State University provides a guide similar to Eastwood's for their cooperating teachers, along with sending the teachers bulletins four times during the student teaching period, and offering group cooperating teacher conferences twice annually. The conferences are cooperatively planned by the
62 cooperating teachers and college supervisors.
Evaluation of Programs
The improvement of the programs described herein, as well as others, is dependent upon continuous evaluation. Therefore, Tanruther sent a questionnaire to all National Council for Accreditation of
Teacher Education institutions approved for the 1961-62 school year to determine, among other things, the evaluation procedures being used in their cooperating teacher in-service programs. Thirty per cent of the
196 responding institutions reported that no evaluation was being done.
The remaining respondents reported using the following techniques: informal college supervisor evaluation; cooperating teacher, student
^*Grace Margaret Eastwood, "The Preparation of a Manual to Meet the Needs of Rhode Island Home Economics Supervising Teachers" (unpub lished Master's thesis, University of Rhode Island, 1954), passim.
62 Harriet D. Darrow, "Action Programs of Inservice Education: An Institution-wide Approach at Indiana State University," Professional Growth Inservice of the Supervising Teacher, Forty-fifth Yearbook of the Association for-"Student Teaching (Dubuque, Iowa: WilliamC. Brown, 1966), pp. 92-96. 34 teacher and college supervisor reactions; seminars, workshops and conferences; individual conferences with teachers and administrators; evaluation by special committees; departmental review of programs; follow-up studies of students; and doctoral studies.^
Within the last ten years at least four doctoral studies, in addition to those focused directly on the Georgia statewide program, have been conducted to evaluate cooperating teacher preparatory programs directly or indirectly. The purpose of Jones’ doctoral study was to determine differences between most and least effective cooperating teachers used by San Jose State College. One of his variables was cooperating teacher participation in orientation programs and supervi sion courses. San Jose State College's thirty-one most effective and thirty-one least effective cooperating teachers, as rated by thirty-four college supervisors, were compared by classroom observation, teacher
interview, principal interview, questionnaire, and an analysis of student teacher lesson plans. Significant differences were found between the most and least effective cooperating teachers in participa tion in orientation programs and completion of a course concerning how to supervise student teachers.^
Rogers conducted a study similar to Jones' in both purpose and design. The purpose of the study was to identify personal and
^Edgar Tanruther, "Commission on the Inservice Education of the Supervising Teacher," AST Newsletter (Fall, 1962), pp. 15-20.
G^John Owen Jones, "Comparisons Between Most and Least Effective Cooperating Teachers" (unpublished Doctoral dissertation, University of California at Berkeley, 1963), Dissertation Abstracts, XXIV (Ann Arbor, Michigan: University Microfilms^ 1^04), p. 5218. 35
professional characteristics which influence the effectiveness of
cooperating teachers. An instrument for evaluating cooperating teacher
performance was developed and copies of it were distributed to a II
agriculture education departments in the North Atlantic and Southern
regions of the United States. Faculty members were requested to rate
each of the cooperating teachers who had participated in their teacher
education program during the 1962-63 academic year. Based upon these
scores, the cooperating teachers were divided into three groups
according to levels of effectiveness. Data relative to personal and
professional characteristics of the cooperating teachers were then
collected by sending questionnaires to the 200 cooperating teachers
in the most and least effective groups. One hundred ninety-five
questionnaires were returned. Rogers' findings did not support those
of Jones' since Rogers found that participation in cooperating teacher
workshops and supervision courses did not differentiate between the
most and least effective cooperating teachers. A second contradiction
between the studies was related to the influence of the cooperating
teacher educational level on her performance as a cooperating teacher.
Jones found that college preparation beyond the Bachelor's degree was
related to cooperating teacher effectiveness.^
In a University of Oregon study. Be 11 examined the assumption
that cooperating teacher preparation produces measurable differences in
the performance of cooperating teachers. His purposes were to determine
&5Char les Herman Rogers, "Factors Associated with Supervising Teacher Effectiveness" (unpublished DoctoraI dissertation, Cornell University, 1965), Dissertation Abstracts, XXV (Ann Arbor, Michigan: University Microfilms, 1965), p. 7102. 36
(I) differences between trained and untrained cooperating teachers' accuracy in perceiving student teachers, and (2 ) differences in the behavior of trained and untrained cooperating teachers. Teachers designated as trained completed a one-term supervision course. Fifty- two cooperating teacher-student teacher pairs participated in the study. The cooperating teachers were evaluated on perception accuracy and performance while the student teachers were evaluated on performance and verbal behavior. A two-way analysis of covariance statistical treatment revealed no significant differences between untrained and trained teachers in perception discrepancy. Pupil and cooperating teacher rating of student teacher performance and verbal behavior were also not significantly related to cooperating teacher preparation.
Bell concluded that under the terms of the study the supervision course did not measurably change the supervisory behavior of the cooperating teachers.^
The purpose of a study by Brabble was to survey and compare cooperating teacher attitudes toward their supervisory role. The following variables were selected for the study: supervision courses taken, number of student teachers supervised, teacher's evaluation of her effectiveness as a cooperating teacher, and cooperating teacher educational level. The Supervising Teacher Attitude Scale, which was developed as a part of the study, was administered to fifty-nine cooperating teachers representing various grade levels and content areas.
6^Paul Eugene Bell, "An Investigation by Perception Rating Agree ment of Trained and Untrained Student Teacher Supervisors" (unpublished Doctoral dissertation. University of Oregon, 1967), Pissertation Abstracts, XXVIII (Ann Arbor, Michigan: University Microf iI ms), p. 3542A. 37
The teachers also completed a self-rating effectiveness scale. Results
from the statistical analysis, which showed .94 reliability for the
attitude scale, suggested that cooperating teachers who had taken
supervision courses, had nore student teachers, and had confidence in
their effectiveness as cooperating teachers tended to get higher scores
on the scale.^
Adams used the Brabble attitude scale as a basis for developing
the Measure of Supervising Teacher’s Role Perceptions instrument, which
she used in her doctoral study. Her purposes were to measure the pro
fessional commitment of home economics cooperating teachers and
determine how a teacher's degree of commitment affects her perception of her role as a cooperating teacher. One of the study variables was
whether the cooperating teacher had taken a supervision course. One
hundred sixty-nine teachers participated in the study by completing the
specially designed instrument, the Loftis Measure of Professional
Commitment, and a personal data form. Findings showed that there was
no significant difference in the role perception scores and professional commitment scores in relation to participation in a supervision course.
However, the more committed a cooperating teacher was, the less diffi cult she perceived her supervisory role.^
^Brabble, op. cit., p. 77.
^ % v a Walker Adams, "Supervising Teachers' Perceptions of Their Role and Denree of Professional Commitment" (unpublished Doctoral dissertation, Pennsylvania State University, 1968), passim. 38
Summary of Criteria for Coopera ting Teacher Preparation Programs
After analyzing findings of research studies and analyzing cooperating certification regulations and teacher education institu tions cooperating teacher programs, Rutrough developed ten criteria for cooperating teacher preparation programs. The criteria were submitted to the 1966 Association for Student Teaching Executive
Committee members who collectively rated each criterion as being "of above average" or "high importance." The criteria, which are presented here in order of priority, represent a partial synthesis of the review of literature to this point.
1. The plan for the orientation and inservice educational program for supervising teachers should include profes sional study and experiences designed to enable the participants to develop competencies in evaluating the progress of the student teacher.
2. In organizing the orientation and inservice education program for supervising teachers, provisions should be made for continuous evaluation of the program in terms of its success in developing the desired compe tencies of the participants.
3. In organizing the orientation and inservice education program for supervising teachers, both formal and professional study and guided field experiences should be provided for the participants as a part of the program structure.
4. The plan for the orientation and inservice education program for supervising teachers should include pro fessional study and experiences designed to enable the participants to develop competencies in guiding the student teacher into assuming full responsibility for the class.
5. The orientation and inservice education program for supervising teachers should be the joint responsibility of the teacher education institution, the cooperating school system, and the state department of education. 39
6. The orientation and inservice education program for supervising teachers should be based on the best research available.
7. In establishing the orientation and inservice educa tion program for supervising teachers, objectives should be formulated in terms of the competencies to be developed by supervising teachers, and appro priate procedures and content for achieving the objectives should be identified.
8. The plan for the orientation and inservice education program for supervising teachers should include pro fessional study and experiences designed to enable the participants to develop competencies in providing personal and professional guidance for the student teacher.
9. The plan for the orientation and inservice education program for supervising teachers should include professional study and experiences designed to enable the participants to develop competencies in orienting the student teacher to the class, the school and the community.
10. In establishing the orientation and inservice education program for supervising teachers, professional study and experiences designed to enable the participants to develop an understanding of the organization and administration of the student teaching program should be provided.69
Independent Study in Teacher Education
Literature related to the use of independent study in teacher
education programs was reviewed along with the literature on the prepar
ation of the cooperating teacher, since the proposed research design
relied upon the independent study approach. The independent study
approach allows for individual differences and enables the learner to
69james Ellwyn Rutrough, "Criteria for Orientation and Inservice Education of Supervising Teachers in Teacher Education Programs" (unpub lished Doctoral dissertation, University of Virginia, 1968), Dissertation Abstracts, XXIX (Ann Arbor, Michiqan: University MicrofiIms, 1969), pp. 2 5 9 1-2592A. 40 progress at his own rate. Depending on the instructional objectives, it can partially or totally eliminate the teaching of all the students in a given class as though they had identical learning abilities and needs.
Pre-Service
The independent study technique has been implemented in pre service teacher education programs in a number of institutions and in a variety of ways as well. Brigham Young University has one of the most completely individualized teacher education programs, where students earn 82 per cent of their required hours in professional education through individualized instruction. Formal classes are not held. Instead, students progress at their own pace through twelve units: Orientation, Administrative Aspects of Teaching, Behavioral
Objectives, Instructional Materials and Equipment, Teaching Methods,
Human Development, Micro-teaching, Learning, Curriculum Preparation,
Student Management, Student Teaching, and Affective Behaviors. Prior to beginning most of the units, the student takes a pre-test to deter mine his level of understanding in relation to the objectives of the unit. Following the pre-test, the student'and the instructor confer and select from the unit syllabus the learning experiences which will help the student attain and exhibit the unit objectives. Learning experiences include, among other things, readings, programmed instruc tion, and lectures. When the student completes his assigned learning 41
experiences, he takes a post-test. If he performs satisfactorily he
progresses on to the next unit.^
Webb and Baird conducted an experiment with a Brigham Young
beginning methods class to determine if significant differences in
learning exist between students who complete course objectives with
independent study and those who complete the course objectives by being
taught by the traditional lecture-discussion method. The pre-test,
post-test experimental design was used as a basis for determining and
comparing the gains of the two groups. The experimental group performed
significantly better than the control group on the post-test. While
there were no significant differences in the performances of the ten
students with the highest accumulative point hours in the groups, there
was a significant difference at the .05 level between the ten lowest
students in each group. Webb and Baird concluded, "To us the conclusion
appears inescapable; we have plenary justification for more extensive
investigation of the effects of increasing student autonomy in the area
of their own learning."^*
"Self-Instructional Modules" are an integral part of the experi
mental teacher education program at the University of Tennessee.
. Hugh Baird, W. Dwayne Belt, and Lyal Holder, "The Indivi dualized Secondary Teacher Education Program at Brigham Young University," Teacher Education In Transition, Vol. I: An Experiment In Change (Baltimore: Maryland State Department of Education, 1969), pp. 201-234.
^*Clark Webb and Hugh Baird, "Learning Differences Resulting from Teacher and Student-Centered Teaching Methods, "American Educa tional Research Association Paper Abstracts of the 1967 Annual Meeti nq (Washington, U.O.: American Educational Research Association, ilk?/), p. no/ 42
Modules incorporated into the professional education curriculum include behavioral objectives, evaluation, planning, organizing for instruction, curriculum develonment, selection and use of audio-visuaI materials, operation of audio-visua I equipment, research literacy, diagnosing
72 learning difficulties, and teaching the disadvantaged.
Educators at the University of Pittsburgh have also included independent study in the professional sequence of their teacher educa tion program. The student's point of entry into the sequence, known as
"Individually Prescribed Instruction," differs according to his previous
. . 73 experiences and training.
Independent study in professional teacher education courses was the major concern of a demonstration project at Cornell University. The purpose of the project was to design and demonstrate new ways of prepar ing secondary teachers with emphasis on the superior teacher education student. Three basic approaches were explored. In the first alterna tive to participating in formal courses, students read in the areas of educational psychology and philosophy during the summer of their sophomore year and then prepared papers which were presented in a fall seminar. The seminars, which were conducted by professors from psycho logy, educational psychology, philosophy, and educational philosophy, met during the students' entire junior year. The second independent study approach was similar to the first with two exceptions. The independent
Donald L. Haefele, "Self-Instruction and Teacher Education," Audiovisual Instruction, XIV (January, 1969), pp. 63-64.
^Horton Southworth, A ‘'ode I of Teacher Training for the Indi vidualization of Instruction (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh School of Education, 1968), passim. 43 study was carried on continuously through the students* enrollment in the teacher education program, and the students individually conferred with educational psychology and educational philosophy professors. The third approach was developed by home economics and agriculture educa tors. Based on an analysis of the role of the agriculture teacher, the agriculture educational department developed thirty-eight independent study units. Home economics educators offered one of their methods courses by programmed instruction. In an early evaluation of the project, the directors concluded that " . . . it appears that the superior student is influenced and challenged through individualized study and individual conferences to read more carefully for greater unde rstand i ng .
McDowell used a seIf-instructionaI booklet to present the oral questioning teaching technique to twenty-nine home economics methods class students at The Ohio State University. The success of the booklet was determined with data collected from three sources: a written pre post knowledge test, a written evaluation on the acceptab?Iity of the self-instructional booklet and technique, and a video taped pre-post test in which each student presented a five-minute lesson using the questioning technique. Results were (I) the students had a significant gain in knowledge at the .05 level, and (2) more than one-half (54 per cent) gained skill in using the questioning technique. Approximately
74L. B. Hixon, "Independent Study of Professional Education at Cornell," in Approach to Independent Study (Washington, D.C.: United States Government' Pr i nti ng Uf f i ce, 1965)7 P P • 44-51. three-fourths of the students stated they would recommend the self-
instructional booklet to someone with similar interests.
One of the important tools and methods used in independent
study is programmed instruction. The prevalence of programmed instruc
tion in professional teacher education courses is evident in a 1963
American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) survey.
As part of the survey design, individuals in AACTE institutions were
requested to submit names of their teacher education faculty members working with programmed instruction. Approximately one-half of the 273
institutions reported having one or more faculty members working with
programmed materials. A total of 612 faculty members were identified.
A questionnaire regarding the content and utilization of programmed activities was then sent to these faculty members. Thirty-one per cent of the 328 responding faculty indicated they had written programmed materials relevant to teacher education. The bulk of the materials were in the areas of methods, measurement and statistics, and psycho
logical foundations. The respondents most frequently rated their programs as "very beneficial" or "worthwhile" teaching materials. They judged student reaction Ss most frequently "highly enthusiastic" or
"increasingly enthusiastic."^
^-\)oyce Newman McDowell, "Auto-Tutorial Instruction: Its Effectiveness for Teaching Questioning" (unpublished Master's thesis, The Ohio State University, 1970), passim.
American Association Colleges for Teacher Education, Survey of Programmed Instruction in Teacher Education - 1963 (Wash i ngton, D.C. AACTE, 1963), pass ini. 45
The use of audio-visuaI equipment and materials is one of the programmed areas currently being offered by many institutions, 77 7ft Arkansas State Teachers College, Miami University, University of
Nevada,^ and Wayne State University®^* are among the institutions reporting successful use of programmed guides in teaching both prospec tive and in-service teachers the operation and use of educational media. Diamond reports that since the inception of the programmed audiovisual approach at Miami University, students have used educa- R [ tional media more in their classroom projects.
Gabriel compared the effectiveness of the sequenced program, the scrambled program and the each-one-teach-one approach in instructing teacher education students in the use of audio-visual equipment and the production of transparencies. Students enrolled in an Audio-visual Aids in Education course at Washington State University were divided into three groups. Although the course content was the same for all the groups, each had a different experimental teaching approach in the units on equipment operation and transparency production. After their instruction the students were given a timed test on equipment operation
^Cecil Garrison, "Programming Teacher Education in Media," Audiovisual Instruction, IX (October, 1964), p. 926.
^Robert M. Diamond, "Programmed Instruction in Audiovisual Equipment, Operation, and Application" (Coral Gables, Florida: Miami University, 1965), Research In Education, III (October, 1968), p. 60.
^Allen V. Mundt, "Toward Self Instruction Practice," Audio- visual Instruction, XIV (March, 1969), p. 86.
^Frederick G. Knirk and Gary L. McGonehy, "Programming Teacher Education in Media," Audiovisual Instruction, IX (October, 1964), p. 527,
Diamond, op. cit. 46
and a criteria test on transparencies they had produced. The same
tests were repeated three weeks later. A comparison among the groups
showed no significant difference at the .05 level. Gabriel concluded
that a man-machine system can satisfactorily teach and suggested that
the systems approach be utilized in other areas of teacher education 82 besides those primarily concerned with perceptual-motor skills.
Manera and Griffith were also interested in determining effi
ciency of instructing teachers by programmed instruction. They
prepared a text on unit construction, which was used with four methods
classes at Arizona State University. The learning efficiency of these
classes was compared to that of four classes exposed to conventional
instruction for the unit construction area. Both groups took pre-tests
and post-tests and had the units they prepared graded. Although the
students who were taught by the programmed technique had a better know
ledge and understanding of the subject as measured by the tests, the Ir
teaching units were not significantly better than those of students
taught by the conventional method. The programmed method was more
efficient in terms of student time spent. The researchers concluded
that learning efficiency and time are not lost when traditional teach-
ing methods are replaced by programmed instruction.
®2Uoyd Miller Gabriel, "A Comparison of Self Instructional Systems in an Educational Media Laboratory" (unpublished Doctoral dissertation, Washington State University, 1966), Pissertation Abstracts, XXVII (Ann Arbor, Michigan: University Microfilms^ r9o"7), p.' 2914.
^Elizabeth S. Manera and Leroy Griffith, "The Development and Improvement of a Programmed Learning Sequence for Use in Constructing a Teaching Unit" (Tempe, Arizona: Arizone State University, 1967), Research In Education, III (December, 1968), p. 46. 47
Another specialized form of independent study is Computer
Assisted Instruction (CAN. Proctor compared the effectiveness of CAI and the lecture-discussion strategy in teaching a curriculum course which had thirty graduate students. The students were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. The pre-test, post-test research design was used and an attitude scale was administered with the post test. Proctor found there was no significant difference between the means of the groups on the post-test, the retention test, and the attitude scale.84
In-Service
While most research and writing on independent study in teacher education have been focused on pre-service education, school administra tors are beginning to realize the contribution independent study can make to in-service teacher education. Like all students, in-service teachers do not have identical needs at the same time. Furthermore, it is difficult to get a group of teachers together often enough to provide all the help they need to stay current in research, teaching methodology, and subject matter. Johnson therefore suggests that indi vidualized in-service teacher education programs should be established.
As he describes it, the teacher and his principal would discuss the teacher's needs and career objectives and based upon this, they would
84W i I liarn Lee Proctor, "A Comparison of Two Instructional Stra tegies Based on Computer-Assisted Instruction with a Lecture-Discussion Strategy for Presentation of General Curriculum Concepts" (unpublished Doctoral dissertation, The Florida State University, 1968), Pissertation Abstracts, XXIX (Ann Arbor, Michigan: University Microfilms, 1969), p. 2075. 48 cooperatively decide on experiences that would help the teacher reach his goals. An annual or semi-annual evaluation would be part of the
OC program.
The Far West Laboratory for Educational Research and Develop ment has designed seIf-instructionaI Minicourses as its answer to the problem of continuing education for in-service teachers. Minicourse I, which consists of instructional films and a handbook, focuses on helping the teacher improve her questioning technique. Results of a field test of the package indicate it ". . . dramatically improves the elementary teacher's skill in conducting her classroom discussion lessons."®^
Tanzman suggests that aud ic-visuaI aids could be developed to individualize the instruction of newly employed teachers in such areas as fire-drill and field trip procedures. He lists the advantages of using audio-visual materials in individualized in-service training:
(I) available to the teacher when he needs it, (2) saves administrative explanation time, and (3) teacher can get help without being embarassed
0 7 by having to admit problems to the administration.
®^Yvon 0. Johnson, "Individualizing Inservice Education," Journal of Secondary Education, XLI I (May, 1967), pp. 229-233.
^Far West Laboratory for Educational Research and Development, "Improve Your Discussion Lessons," Teaching and Learning Topics To Help Children Have Better Opportunities To Learn, April, 1968.
^Jack Tanzman, "How To Individualize In-Service Education," School Management, XI (January, 1967), p. 211. 49
Summary
The cooperating teacher is the most significant variable at
work in student teaching. The general minimal criteria to perform
this key role are a Bachelor's degree and three years of successful
teaching experience.
Both teacher educators and student teachers report that coopera
ting teachers are not well prepared for their role in the student
teaching program. The most prevalent problem areas for cooperating
teachers seem to be in evaluating student teacher growth, directing
observations, orienting student teachers, conducting conferences and
guiding student teacher planning. Because of their limited skill in
handling these areas, beginning cooperating teachers feel particularly
insecure and inadequate, which may ultimately affect the success of
their working relationships with their student teachers.
Cooperating teachers desire preparation for their strategic
role. Thus far little has been done to orient beginning cooperating
teachers. Pre-service cooperating teacher preparation programs have
relied heavily upon informal education techniques such as individual conferences and bulletins. Cooperating teacher-college supervisor conferences and distribution of printed materials have been the core of the in-service cooperating teacher education program. Less than one-
half of the teacher education programs in the United States have
formalized preparation programs for cooperating teachers. There is evidence that cooperating teachers who participate in orientation programs and/or supervision courses perform supervisory responsibility at a higher level than cooperating teachers who have not had these experiences. 50
The Independent study technique has been satisfactori ly imple mented in pre-service teacher education programs in a number of institutions and in a variety of ways. The contribution independent study can make to in-service teacher education has been explored to a very limited extent. It may have merit as a technique for preparing cooperating teachers for their supervisory role. CHAPTER I I I
METHODOLOGY
This study was designed to determine the feasibility of prepar
ing beginning cooperating teachers off campus for their supervisory
roles by means of independent study materials. It was decided that the feasibility could be determined by looking at three specific aspects of the cooperating teachers’ progress during their use of the materials.
The first was their change in attitudes toward supervision. The second was their expressed feelings about their confidence in their ability to supervise before and after using the materials. Third was their change
in skill in conducting conferences with a student teacher. The satis faction and reaction of the cooperating teachers toward the independent study technique of preparing supervisors was another concern of the research. The kind and level of assistance which the specially prepared beginning cooperating teachers gave their student teachers in comparison to experienced cooperating teachers who did not use the materials also was considered.
The research was divided into three phases: (I) development and planning, or pre-active phase, (2) execution of experiment or active phase, and (3) analysis of data or post-active phase. Discussion of the three phases are presented heroin in chronological order.
51 Pre-active Phase
The pre-active phase involved: (I) definition of the popula
tion, (2) development of the independent study materials, and (3)
development of the measurement instruments and techniques.
Definition of Population
Information basic to the definition of the population was
secured from the records of the Home Economics Education Division of
The Ohio State University. The population selected to use the self-
instructional materials consisted of a group of ten beginning home
economics cooperating teachers, each of whom had her first student
teacher Spring Quarter, 1970, and one home economics cooperating
teacher who was having her first student teacher from The Ohio State
University during this same quarter. This population constituted the
entire number of cooperating teachers affiliated with The Ohio State
University home economics teacher education program who were having
their first student teacher from the university for the specified
quarter of the study. As a criterion of the study, none of these
teachers had any formal preparation for supervisory responsibility.
However, through an affiliation with another institution, one teacher
had previously supervised two student teachers.
The teachers were somewhat similar in both their educational
and professional backgrounds. They all had baccalaureate degrees with majors in home economics. Two had taken graduate work; one had thirty
hours in education beyond her Bachelor’s degree and one had earned a
Master's degree. Nine of the eleven teachers had taught home economics 53 for a period of one to three years. One had been in the classroom for seven to ten years and another for eleven to fifteen years.
Twenty-five experienced home economics cooperating teachers were selected to be used as a comparison population for one aspect of the study. These twenty-five teachers constituted the entire number of cooperating teachers affiliated with The Ohio State University home economics teacher education program who (I) were supervising a student teacher during the active phase of the study and (2) had supervised two or more student teachers from the university prior to the quarter of the study. The greatest number of these teachers had previously super vised in the range of two to four student teachers. Five (20 per cent) had supervised fourteen or more student teachers. (See Appendix A for more detailed information.) Approximately one-fourth (6) had partici pated in courses to prepare them for their supervisory role.
The experienced cooperating teachers were somewhat varied in their educational and professional backgrounds. The entire population had earned baccalaureate degrees in some phase of home economics. In addition, ten (40 per cent) had acquired hours beyond the Bachelor's degree. Of these, five (20 per cent) had earned the Master's degree.
The most frequent range of years the experienced cooperating teachers had taught was eleven to fifteen; nine (36 per cent) had taught in this range. The second highest number, seven, had been home economics teachers for more than sixteen years. (See Appendix B for more detai led i nformati on . ) 54
Development of Independent Study Materials
Determination of Topics
Findings from the review of the literature were synthesized in order to determine the areas in which cooperating teachers, particu
larly beginning cooperating teachers and home economics cooperating teachers, experience the most anxiety and problems in supervision. It was found that the largest proportion of problems tended to cluster around four major areas: evaluation (with emphasis on giving construc tive criticism, grading student teachers and writing recommendations), conducting conferences, directing student teacher observation, and orienting and inducting the student teacher (Table I).
TABLE I
NEEDS AND PROBLEMS OF COOPERATING TEACHERS AS SUGGESTED BY THE REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Frequency of Mention By A 1 1 Begi nning Homo Econo Needs and Problems CT CT mics CT Tota 1
Evaluating Student Teacher 5 1 1 7
Conducting Conferences 4 1 1 6
Directing Student Teacher Observation 4 1 1 6
Orienting and Inducting Student Teacher 2 1 1 4
Becoming Oriented to Student Teaching Program 3 0 0 3
Helping Student Teacher Plan 2 1 0 3
Helping Student Teacher with Instructional Aid Use, Method 3 0 0 3 55
Consequently, independent study units, which were called
Learning Activity Packages for Cooperating Teachers (LAPCT), were developed on these topics:
"How To Help Your Student Teacher Through Evaluation"
"How Are Meaningful Conferences Structured?"
"How Can I Make My Student Teacher's Observations Meaningful?"
"How Can I Get Ready For and Begin My Work With My Student
Teacher?" (Appendix C)
Design of Learning Activity Pack ages for Cooperating Teachers
The organizational plan for the LAPCT essentially followed the format which the Charles F. Kettering Foundation Institute for Develop ment of Educational Activities (l/D/E/A) has suggested for self-paced 88 learning materials for kindergarten through grade 12. Thus, each unit consisted of four basic ingredients:
(1) The major concept and the component parts around which
the package was organized;
(2) The behavioral objectives which guided the cooperating
teacher in what she was expected to achieve and how she
was expected to perform as a result of studying the
package;
(3) A variety of mu 11i-dimensionaI learning materials and
activities so that the cooperating teacher could select
those activities appropriate to her needs and her
learning style;
^Philip G. Kapfer and Gardner Swenson, "Individualizing Instruction for Self-Paced Learning," The Clearing House, XL I I (March, 1968), pp. 406-407. 56
(4) Self-evaluation instruments to enable the coopera
ting teacher to monitor her progress.
Each package was organized into lessons which were based on a
stated concept. There were two to four lessons in each package. A
typical organizational format of a package and lesson was as follows:
Cover Page
Introductory Page
Major Concept of Package
Subconcepts with Lesson Numbers and Corresponding Page Numbers
Cooperating Teacher Objectives
Lesson(s)
Statement of Lesson Concept
Instructions for Lesson
Cooperating Teacher Activities (Average of five per lesson)
Self-Test
The keys to the self-tests and any printed materials necessary to carry out the cooperating teacher activities followed the lessons.
Since one of the objectives of the study was to design self-contained
study units, the packages were quite lengthy, ranging in size from twenty-six to forty pages. The packages were duplicated by the mimeo graph process and eventually bound together in a loose leaf notebook
to which dividers had been added to keep the packages separated for easy reference. "Learning Activity Packages for Cooperating Teachers"
was stenciled on the notebook and paper flowers were randomly affixed to the cover to make it attractive. 57
Some special audio-visual materials were developed as a part of the packages. A "How To Structure a Conference" audio tape presenta tion, which described good conference skills and illustrated the skills being used in conferences, and a tape of an actual supervisor-student teacher conference were included with the "How Are Meaningful Confer ences Structured?" package. An audio tape on which a student teacher was interviewed on how her cooperating teacher helped her was included in the evaluation package, since the student teacher mainly concentra ted on her cooperating teacher's skills in this area.
A slide series, "Role of the Home Economics Cooperating
Teacher," which had an accompanying audio tape, presented ideas from all of the LAPCT and gave a general overview of the supervisory respon sibilities of a cooperating teacher. The fifty slides followed a pre-service teacher through student teaching and showed how her cooperating teacher had helped her achieve a successful experience.
Home economics education faculty and graduate students previewed the audiovisual materials and made suggestions for improving them.
Revisions were made following their suggestions.
Development of Measurement Instruments and Techniques
A variety of data collection instruments and research techniques were prepared to determine the value and test the feasibility of the independent study approach for educating cooperating teachers for their supervisory role. These included Cooperating Teacher Attitude Scale,
Confidence Scale for Cooperating Teachers, Conference Evaluation Form,
Cooperating Teacher Satisfaction Scale; Help Received from Special 58
Materials for Cooperating Teachers, Cooperating Teacher Interview
Schedule, Student Teacher Areas of Assistance Checklist, and an
AnecdotaI Record Log.
Cooperating Teacher Attitude Scale
Brabble had developed an instrument to use in her study on on cooperating teacher attitudes. The Department of Home Economics
Education of Pennsylvania State University, where Brabble had been a student when she did the research, was contacted for permission to use the scale. Ray, who was Brabble’s advisor, replied and gave consent to use the instrument in its original form or adapt it to suit the purposes of the research.
Since an objective of the study was to assess if there would be a change in cooperating teacher attitudes in the four areas of the
LAPCT, questions in those categories were extracted from the scale.
Additional statements that specifically reflected the content of the
Learning Activity Packages were incorporated into the instrument
(Appendix D).
A group of home economics education faculty and graduate students reviewed the instrument and made suggestions for improving it. Revisions were made following their suggestions. The final scale consisted of thirty statements. There were five options for each statement, ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree. A posi tive response to each of the statements was desirable.
^Brabble, op. cit., pp. 97-112. Confidence Scale for Cooperating Teachers
An eight-item scale was prepared to be used to determine if a
cooperating teacher's level of confidence in her ability to supervise
changed after studying the LAPCT (Appendix E). The instrument was
patterned after a scale which Vlcek had developed to measure changes
in the confidence of pre-service teachers who had experienced simula
tion.^0 The scale, which had four options ranging from very confident
to very uncertain, was limited to measuring confidence in areas on
which the special materials focused.
Conference Evaluation Form
As a part of the "How Are Meaningful Conferences Structured?"
package, each cooperating teacher was provided with a blank audio tape
on which it was suggested she record two conferences with her student
teacher. The first conference was to be taped prior to her study of the package, while the second conference was to be taped after she
had achieved her goals for the package. The tapes were to serve two
purposes: (I) as learning experiences for the cooperating teachers, and (2) as a means of evaluating the conference package. After the cooperating teachers had used the tapes to analyze their conference techniques and evaluate their growth in conference skills, the tapes were to be returned to the university and used to secure data for the study.
^Char I es W. Vlcek, "Assessing the Effect and Transfer Value of a Classroom Simulator Technique" (unpublished Doctoral dissertation, Michigan State University, 1965), pp. 184-186. 60
Forms to help the cooperating teachers evaluate their confer ences were incorporated into the package (Appendix F). These same forms were then to be used as a basis for determining if the coopera ting teachers' conference skills had increased during the period they were using the conference package. The investigator had participated
in the development of an instrument for evaluating conferences when she was employed at The Center for Vocational and Technical Education of The Ohio State University. Dr. Calvin Cotrell, who was the major person responsible for the project under which the form was originally prepared, was personally contacted to secure approval for use of the
instrument in the study. He graciously gave his consent to using the form as well as adapting it in any way necessary to suit the purposes of the study. Some minor revisions were made in the form to make it more appropriate for use with cooperating and student teachers.
As it was finally used in the study, the fifteen-question form was divided into three sections, each section corresponding to a phase of a conference— introduction, body, and closure. The questions in each section referred to one statement which was placed at the beginning of the section, e.g. "During the introduction of the conference how well did you ?" Degrees of achievement were to be rated on a six-level scale, ranging from excellent to did not accomplish. 61
Cooperating Teacher Satisfaction Scale: Help Received from Special Materials
An individual's satisfaction with a teaching technique is 91 highly related to his effectiveness in learning. It was considered
important, therefore, to determine how the population felt about the
independent study method of cooperating teacher preparation and the helpfulness of the materials. A satisfaction instrument, which was based on previous satisfaction scales by Wood9^ and Murphy,'was constructed to acquire this information. The scale was divided into four sections. The first section was developed to obtain cooperating teacher feelings about the help they received from the naterials in total. This section of the instrument had nine items which referred to one statement which was placed at the beginning of the section,
i.e. "The help I received from the special materials for cooperating teachers was ______." Help referred to the broad category of assistance given, or not given, by the materials, including the suggested learning activities, the slide presentation, the audio tapes, the readings, etc.
Each item consisted of a descriptive word placed at the left of the scale (represented by I) with an antonym at the right of the scale
(represented by 5). Reactions were to be rated at any of five points
9 *Russell N. Cassel, "Facilitating Student Satisfaction in Learning," Peabody Journal of Education, XLV (January, 1968), p. 225.
9^Charles Wood, "Teacher Satisfaction Scale" (Akron, Ohio: University of Akron), cited by Lila Catherine Murphy, "The Feasibility of Audiotape-Telephone Supervision of High School Teachers" (unpublished Doctoral dissertation. The Ohio State University, 1969), pp. 46-47.
9^Li la Catherine Murphy, "The Feasibility of Audiotape-TeIephone Supervision of High School Teachers" (unpublished Doctoral dissertation, The Ohio State University, 1969), pp. 154-160. 62
on the scale, 5 being high and I being low. Examples of the pairs of
words included in the scale were insufficient-sufficient and poorly
timed-welI timed.
This same arrangement and terminology was used in a second
section of the scale in which the teachers were asked how they felt
about the help they received from each of the four individual packages.
The option was given of evaluating either the materials in total or
the individual packages.
Another section of the scale dealt with the cooperating
teachers’ satisfaction with the independent study method of preparing
supervisors: Was it efficient, effective, and satisfying? Teachers
were asked to react to ten items on the basis of efficiency, effective
ness, and satisfaction, whichever criteria were considered applicable to the item. Specific definitions were given for each criterion.
Efficient meant that the method was convenient, practical and manage able in regard to the time and energy required. Effective meant that the method was influential, and was a contributing factor in achieving results in learning to supervise a student teacher. The method was to be considered satisfying if the cooperating teacher found it adequate, gratifying, and pleasing, and was comfortable when using it. The criteria responses, which viere rated on a five point scale similar to the first section, were (I) inefficient-efficient, (2) ineffective- effective, and (3) not satisfying-satisfying.
The final section of the instrument concentrated on determining additional cooperating teacher opinions about the materials. The seven
Items in this section were to be answered simply yes, undecided, or no. 63
Questions were focused on two areas: (I) cooperating teacher feelings about recommending the various packages and the slide presentation to other supervisors, and (2) cooperating teacher assessment of the improvement of their supervision skills and knowledge as a result of using the materials.
Interview Schedule
It was believed that valuable evaluative feedback from the cooperating teachers would be missed by relying solely on the objective multiple option statement instruments which have been mentioned thus far. Therefore, a five-question interview schedule was designed as a more subjective means of obtaining evaluative data relative to how the cooperating teachers felt about the preparation method under study
(Appendix H). The five open-ended questions dealt with (I) cooperating teacher feelings about the independent study approach to cooperating teacher education, (2) how the cooperating teachers felt the materials fulfilled their needs, (3) areas in supervision that the cooperating teachers would suggest as topics for additional packages, (4) learning activities the cooperating teachers did in the packages and those they felt were most helpful to them, and (5) suggestions the cooperating teachers had for improving the materials.
Areas of Assistance Checklist
The ultimate criterion of how valuable the materials were was a determination of the degree of assistance which the cooperating teachers gave their student teachers. Even if there were a change in cooperating teacher attitudes, confidence, and conference skills, and 64 the teachers were satisfied with the materials, the approach could not
be considered successful unless it was a factor in the professional growth of the student teachers. The logical individuals to report on the behavior of the cooperating teachers were the student teachers.
Therefore, an Areas of Assistance Checklist was prepared on which each
student teacher was to rate her respective cooperating teacher
(Appendix I). Since beginning and experienced cooperating teachers were to be compared to determine the effectiveness of the LAPCT, all cooperating teachers were to be evaluated by the student teachers. The singular purpose for this comparison was to ascertain if the experienced cooperating teachers were doing any better job of supervising than were the beginning cooperating teachers prepared for supervisory responsi bility with the seIf-instructionaI materials.
The three part Areas of Assistance Checklist was patterned after a measure Johnson used in his study on factors in the preparation of cooperating teachers.^ The first section of the checklist consisted of a detailed listing of orientation, observation, conference, and evaluation techniques a cooperating teacher might use to help her student teacher. The forty-four items were organized into areas corresponding to the LAPCT. Each area began with the statement: "The cooperating teacher ______." The student teacher was to check one of four levels of assistance her cooperating teacher provided her on each item, ranging from much assistance (3 points) to no assistance (0 points).
All the items were based on the behavioral objectives and content included in the special materials.
^Larry Kay Johnson, "An Analysis of Selec+ed Factors in the Preparation of Secondary Supervising Teachers in Georgia" (unpublished Doctoral dissertation, University of Georgia, 1963), pp. 201-203. 65
The second section of the instrument asked the student teacher
to list five ways in which her cooperating teacher was most beneficial
to her. The final section asked her to rate the overall extent of her
cooperating teacher's assistance to her. There were five options to
select from, ranging from very strong to very weak.
AnecdotaI Record Log
As was previously noted, there are many aspects of study of
this nature which are difficult to measure on an objective instrument.
It was deemed necessary, therefore, that anecdotal records be kept on cooperating teacher behavior that in any way might be related to
the materials. An anecdotal record file was kept on each coopera ting teacher. At the conclusion of each cooperating teacher contact
in which relevant anecdotal data was observed, the investigator
recorded an entry in the respective teacher's fi le.
Active Phase
The active phase began March 13 and ended on Jqne 5, 1970.
It included (I) the contacts with the cooperating teachers, during which the materials were discussed and distributed and some data were collected, and (2) the collection of the remaining data from the student teachers. 66
Contacts With Cooperating Teachers
Initial Contacts
On March 13, 1970, the researcher, who was also the college
supervisor for the student teachers of the beginning cooperating
teachers, sent a letter to each of the eleven cooperating teachers,
explaining that some materials for cooperating teachers had been
developed and were now ready to be used and evaluated by some super
visors (Appendix J). Their cooperation was solicited in helping with
this endeavor. The letter concluded with the statement that the
college supervisor would contact the teacher to arrange a time when
they could discuss the approach and make initial plans for her student
teacher. No reference was made in the letter, or at any point in working with the cooperating teachers, to the materials being a part of a research project. There was some concern that this might affect the cooperating teachers' responses on the instruments that were to be
used to evaluate the materials.
Telephone contacts were made with the teachers on March 17, at which time arrangements were made for the college supervisor and cooperating teacher to have a one-period conference at the cooperating
public school to discuss the materials and student teaching program.
The cooperating teacher was requested to have a projection screen available for the conference, in order that the "Role of the Home
Economics Cooperating Teacher" slide presentation could be shown. She was also asked to complete the Cooperating Teacher Attitude Scale and
Confidence Scale for Cooperating Teachers pre-tests prior to the 67
conference. These instruments, which were coded with a number for
research purposes, were mailed to her.
First Visit to Cooperating Teachers
The first visits were made to nine of the eleven cooperating
teachers between March 19 and March 23. Due to a death in the family
of one cooperating teacher and a vacation conflict, two teachers could
not be visited until March 30.
The agenda for this visit included picking up the pre-tests,
presenting the "Role of the Home Economics Cooperating Teacher1’ slides,
orienting the teacher to the "How Can I Get Ready For and Begin My Work
With My Student Teacher?" and "How Can I Make My Student Teacher's
Observations Meaningful?" LAPCT, and giving the teacher a copy of the
home economics education division Student Teacher Handbook.
It was suggested to the cooperating teacher that she view the
slides as a means of obtaining a comprehensive overview of (I) the role of the cooperating teacher and (2) the expectations and standards one
should have for a student teacher. The equipment for giving the slide
presentation consisted of a carousel projector and a cassette audio tape recorder, which the college supervisor took with her to the cooperating public school. This eliminated an imposition on the cooperating teacher to obtain the audio-visual equipment and also
insured there would be no loss of conference time due to lack of avail ability of the equipment or the college supervisor’s unfamiliarity with the cooperating public school's equipment. Following the slide presen tation, the cooperating teacher was asked if she had any questions or concerns. If she did, these were discussed. 68
The independent study packages were then introduced as a supplement to the content in the slides and a means of helping the cooperating teacher obtain more depth in selected areas of supervision.
The Learning Activity Package concept was explained and the organiza tion of the materials was looked at as the components of a package were discussed. The orientation and observation packages were given to the teacher, the rationale being that these particular areas are especially important to the student teacher during her first week of the exper ience and that receiving all four packages at once might be overwhelming and perhaps discouraging to an already busy practitioner. It was reemphasized that the materials were being used for the first time, and that the cooperating teacher's assistance in evaluating them would be appreciated.
Finally, the cooperating teacher received a copy of the Student
Teacher Handbook, which is provided as a guide to all home economics student teachers. The organization of the handbook was briefly previewed with particular reference to the sections which paralleled the concerns of the LAPCT and which give a student teacher direction in how to proceed in her experience, e.g. when she should take her first class, suggestions on planning. The conference ended with a word of encouragement from the college supervisor and a reminder that the student teacher would arrive on March 31.
Second Visit to Cooperating Teachers
The second visit to the cooperating schools occurred approxi mately one week after the student teachers began their field experiences.
At this visit, in addition to the normal supervisory activities, the 69 college supervisor also introduced the "How Are Meaningful Conferences
Structured?" unit to the cooperating teacher. Since the two audio tapes, i.e. the prerecorded presentations on conference techniques and the blank tape for the cooperating teacher to record conferences prior to and after studying the package, were an integral part of the pack age, emphasis was placed on the specific role each played in the package. The teachers were advised that although the self-instruc tional booklets could be permanently retained for their professional libraries, because of the cost involved, the audio tapes would need to be returned to the university at the end of the student teaching period.
Third Visit to Cooperating Teachers
During April 27 to May II, the college supervisor visited the cooperating and student teachers again. At this visit the cooperating teacher was given the "How to Help Your Student Teacher Through Evalua tion" package. The cooperating teacher was told that it was hoped that during the final college supervisory visit, her reactions to the independent study materials could be discussed. She was also told that a Iist of questions would be mailed to her prior to the visit to help her prepare for the discussion. The letters which included the inter view schedule questions were mailed on May 12, 1970 (Appendix K).
Final Visit to Cooperating Teachers
The last visit to each cooperating teacher and her student teacher occurred between May 18 and June I, 1970. During the visita tion the cooperating teacher's responses to the interview questions were audio tape recorded and the cooperating teacher was asked to
complete, at her convenience, the battery of measurement instruments
that would be used to objectively evaluate the effectiveness and
acceptability of the special materials. Included in the battery were
the post-test copies of the Cooperating Teacher Attitude Scale and
Confidence Scale for Cooperating Teachers, and the Cooperating Teacher
Satisfaction Scale: Help Received from Special Materials for Coopera
ting Teachers. A stamped addressed envelope was provided in which the
cooperating teacher could return the instruments to the university. A
final item of business at this visit was returning to the college
supervisor the audio tapes that had been a part of the packages. As at all the other visits, any anecdotal observations were recorded and
kept for later transcription in a file on each cooperating teacher.
Student Teacher Measurement
The Areas of Assistance Checklists were fi lied out by the student teachers of both the beginning and experienced cooperating teachers at the final student teaching seminar on June 5. The student teachers were generally told that the Home Economics Education Division had been concerned about how the student teaching experience could be
improved and it was believed they could give us some direction by telling us the kind of assistance they had received from their coopera ting teachers. They were assured that their answers would not affect their student teaching grade, nor would the completed instruments be seen by their cooperating teachers. An identification number was placed on each checklist in order to pair up the student teachers with their 71 cooperating teachers for the analysis of data for the study. The student teachers were told that the numbers were for research purposes only, since the information which they were giving would eventually be
incorporated into a research report.
Post-active Phase
The post-active phase began when all the data had been collected. It started with the selection of a panel of judges to rate the pre-test, post-test conference audio tapes which the cooperating teachers had made in conjunction with the conference package.
Panel of Judges
The determination of the number of panel members and of the criteria for their selection were the first considerations in establish ing the panel. There was a consensus of opinion among researchers involved with panels at the university that a three-judge panel can give reliable ratings. Therefore, a panel of three raters was chosen.
Criteria for Selection of Panel Members
The following criteria were used as the basis for selection of the panel members: (I) teaching experience, (2) coursework and/or experience in supervision, and (3) coursework and/or experience in the field of teacher education. 72
The panel members finally chosen varied in terms of their back grounds (Figure I).
Panel Teach i ng Supervi sory Teacher Members Experience Dackground Education
1 7.0 3 courses + 3 courses + 2 years exp. taught 8 quarters 2 5.5 years 2 courses 6 courses
3 6.0 years 4 courses + 4 courses + 6 years exp. taught 2 quarters
Fig. I.— Characteristics of Panel Members
It was approximated it would take the panel eight hours to evaluate the pre-test and post-test recordings of the cooperating teachers conferences with their student teachers.
Training Sessions for Panel of Judges
It required a two-hour training session to achieve good rater reliability. The session began with a briefing on the objectives and methodology of the study and the role of the panel in carrying out the research. The panel members then reviewed the Conference Evaluation
Form and listened to the same "How To Structure a Conference" taped presentation which the cooperating teachers had as a learning exper ience in the conference package. This tape was deemed especially appropriate for training since the dialogue paralleled the sequence of items on the Conference Evaluation Form. Following this, an
Illustration Model Conference tape, which had been supplied through the cooperation of The Center for Vocational and Technical Education 73 of The Ohio State University, was played. The panel members rated the
supervisor's performance and compared and discussed their ratings among themselves and with the researcher, listening to the tapes as often as necessary. A composite evaluation of the conference model, which had previously been rated by two teacher educators involved in
research on conference skills, was given to each panel member. The panel members then compared their ratings with the composite rating.
Discussion followed to resolve any discrepancies and differences in judgment.
This procedure was followed in using two additional Illustration
Model Conference tapes. After scoring three conferences, the panel was
in agreement, with very few differences in observations and it was felt that consensus could be reached on the scoring of the cooperating teacher tapes.
Rating Sessions
The panel members listened to the pre-test and post-test tapes at the same time. The tapes v/ere randomly arranged and the judges were told these were cooperating teacher "pre-test and post-test conferences."
The listening sessions, which were limited to two hours in
length, were held at the convenience of the panel members. A coffee break was normally held at some time during each session. 74
Analysis of Data
As a feasibility study designed to explore a new approach to preparing cooperating teachers, data were analyzed to answer the following questions:
1. How do cooperating teachers rate the acceptability of independent study as a method of preparing them for their supervisory role?
2. How does the independent study method of cooperating teacher preparation affect cooperating teacher assis tance to student teachers and supervisory attitudes, confidence, and skills?
3. Is there a relationship between cooperating teacher level of assistance to the student teacher and super visory attitudes and confidence?
A variety of measures were used to analyze and interpret the data to answer these questions. All calculations for the measures were performed on a 360-75 International Business Machines computer using
OMNI TAB programs.
Mean scores were calculated to determine satisfaction with the help received, and the efficiency and effectiveness of the method and materials. Mean scores were also calculated to compare the assistance which the beginning and experienced cooperating teachers provided their student teachers.
The difference in pre-test, post-test means on the attitude and conference instruments was calculated using the "t" test. This was justified on the basis that the study sample size was less than thirty, in which case the "t” distribution provides more exact data 95 for the assumed universe of normal means.
9^Acheson J. Duncan, Quality Control and Industrial Statistics (Homewood, Illinois: RichardUI I rw i n, I yob), pp. i 2d- 130. 75
However, i+ was found in key comparisons that confidence inter vals based on the "t" distribution were comparable to the intervals obtained assuming the normal distribution. Therefore, due to the availability of established computer outputs which utilized the assumed normal distribution in statistical tests, it seemed justifiable to use the normal distribution with little loss of efficiency. Consequently, confidence intervals assuming the normal distribution were used to determine the significance of differences between the pre-test, post test mean scores for the confidence instrument and the beginning and experienced cooperating teachers assistance to student teacher mean scores. The same procedure was also used to test for significant differences between mean scores of the pre-test data and post-test data on each individual question for the confidence instrument.
An item analysis with resulting percentages and means was completed on the items contained in the satisfaction instrument.
Pre-test and post-test means were calculated for the fifty-two items on the confidence, conference, and attitude instruments. Mean ratings per item were also calculated for the assistance instrument data.
The mean number of times per teacher each attitude instrument option was elected was calculated on both pre-test and post-test data.
Correlation coefficients were applied to determine if relation ships existed between (I) assistance scores and the difference between the pre-test and post-test attitude scores, and (2) assistance scores and the difference between the pre-test and post-test confidence scores.
Subjective comments made by the student teachers on how their cooperating teachers were most beneficial to them were summarized by 76 frequency and per cent analysis. Responses to interview schedule questions that lent themselves to statistical analysis for interpreta tion were also summarized by per cent analysis.
The remaining interview reactions which did not require statistical analysis for interpretation were analyzed descriptively.
A descriptive analysis was also applied to the anecdotal observations data.
Chapter IV, which follows, is the report of the findings of the study. CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS OF DATA
A compilation of the findings of the study and a discussion of the results are reported in this chapter, which is organized into five sections. The first section reports the data on the cooperating teacher attitudes toward supervision. The second section deals with the findings concerning the cooperating teachers' confidence in their ability to supervise. The third section is concerned with the findings relative to the supervisory performance and the relationships between this performance and cooperating teacher attitudes and confidence.
Section four presents the findings related to the participants' satis faction with the independent study materials. The final section reports the data collected from the investigator's interviews with the cooperating teachers.
In several sections anecdotal material is used to provide
interpretation and insight into the quantitative findings. The anec dotal material is reported in its entirety in individual cooperating teacher case studies in Appendix L. Although many implications could be drawn from the case study material, its sole purpose in this report is to give additional meaning to the objective research findings.
77 78
Supervision Attitudes
The answer to the following research question reveals the
effects of the se If-instructional materials on supervisory attitudes.
WiI I beginning cooperating teachers who use independent study units on supervision have a change in their atti tudes toward the role of the cooperating teacher?
Data to answer this question were obtained from the pre-test, post-test scores of the beginning cooperating teachers on the Coopera ting Teacher Attitude Scale. The following values were assigned to the options on the scale: strongly agree +2, agree + 1, uncertain 0, disagree -I, strongly disagree -2. Since there were thirty questions on the instrument, the potential high score was sixty.
The scores at the beginning of the experiment ranged from 22 to 49, with a mean of 35. When the scale was administered at the end of the study, the scores ranged from 23 to 60, and the mean was 49.
This calculated to an average gain of 14 points, or approximately 25 per cent mean growth.
The data were further analyzed to determine the pre-test and post-test means per question. This was determined by dividing the total scores of the teachers by the number of scale items. The pre-test data reflected a mean of 1.16 per question while the post-test data averaged 1.61, which is a difference of .45.
The "t" test was applied to determine the significance of this change in attitudes. A "t" value of 5.97 was computed, indicating that the means were significantly different at the .001 level (Table 2). 79
TABLE 2
CHANGE IN ATTITUDE SCORES FROM PRE-TEST TO POST-TEST
Value Needed for Standard "t" Test Signif icance Variable Mean Deviation at .001 Level
Change in attitude .457 .254 5.97 4.58
A study of the mean change in scores showed a wide range in teacher growth (Table 3). One teacher had grown .76 of a point. On the other end of the continuum, one teacher had only progressed .04 of a point.9^
A further analysis of the pre-test and post-test mean scores
indicated that seven of the participants (64 per cent) gained more than one-half of a point (Table 3). Before using the independent study materials, three of the teachers had mean scores in the uncertain to agree range (0 to +1.00). The remaining teachers had mean scores in the agree to strongly agree range (+1.00 to +2.00). However, after
96 This teacher had the lowest score on the pre-test and retained this position in the post-test data. It is important to note that at one point during the study she evaluated the Student Teaching Handbook as being more helpful to her than the special materials. This perhaps explains the small gain, since the Handbook had a different emphasis than the packages. The packages attempted to give the cooperating teacher an indepth theoretical, as well as practical, understanding of her role. The Handbook, on the other hand, was by design limited in scope and concentrated on information about the student teaching program, suggestions on how the student teacher should proceed and plan, and forms to use for evaluation (Case Study K). 80
using the LAPCT, only one teacher had a score in the uncertain to
agree range. Nine had scores in the agree to strongly agree range,
and one answered a perfect strongly agree.
TABLE 3
INDIVIDUAL SCORES AND MEAN GAINS IN ATTITUDES TOWARD SUPERVISION
Means Teacher Pre-Test Ga i n Post-Test
A 1.00 1.53 .53 B 1.19 1.79 .60 C 1.63 1.80 .17 D .90 1 .07 .17 E 1.00 1.73 .73 F 1.50 2.00 .50 G 1.17 1 .93 .76 H .97 1.60 .63 1 1.13 1.77 .63 J 1.53 1.80 .27 K .73 .77 .04
Average Mean 1.16 1.61 .45 Standard Deviation .29 .38
Table 4 shows that the largest change between the pre-test and
post-test data was the number of times the option "strongly agree" was elected. This option was elected 140 times, or a mean of 12.7 times per teacher in the pre-test. However, in the post-test analysis it was checked 235 times, or a mean of 21.4 times out of a possible 30 times per teacher. This change is important, since strong agreement is an indication of a high commitment to implement the principles and prac
tices incorporated in the attitude instrument.
TABLE 4
MEAN CHANGE IN ATTITUDE OPTIONS ELECTED
Pre-Test Post-Test Difference Fre Mean Per Fre Mean Per Fre Mean Per Options quency Teacher quency Teacher quency Teacher
Strongly Agree 140 12.7 236 21.4 +96 +8.7
Agree 131 11.9 73 6.6 -58 -5.3
Uncertai n 34 3. 1 14 1.3 -20 - 1.8
Di sagree 22 2.0 4 .3 -18 -1.7
Strongly Disagree 3 .2 3 .2 0 0
Tota 1 330 29.9 330 29.8
The pre-test and post-test data from each of the thirty items were individually analyzed to determine the attitudes which the inde pendent study units were most effective in changing. The mean scores per question were calculated by dividing the sum of points assigned to each item by the number of participants. The difference between the pre-test and post-test means was used as the criterion for arranging the items in an ordered distribution (Table 5). As shown in this table, the cooperating teachers had the greatest growth in the atti tudes which they rated lowest on the pre-test. The items on which there was no gain had been rated highest on the pre-test. 82
TABLE 5
PRE-TEST AND POST-TEST ATTITUDE SCALE ITEMS ORDERED BY MEAN DIFFERENCE
Means The cooperating teacher should— Pre-Test Post-Test Difference
introduce ST to staff. 1.82 1.73 - .09 lay groundwork for mutual accep tance and respect among ST, herself, and pupi Is. 1.91 1.91 0 provide for ST orientation to school before any large-scale teaching done. 1.82 1.82 0 introduce ST to routine matters of school and department. 1.82 1.82 0 hold frequent conferences with ST as means of continuous evaluation progress. 1.64 1.82 + . 18 evaluate ST’s work constructively, continuously, and comprehensively. 1.55 1.73 + .18 help ST clarify educational theories and principles. 1.36 1.55 + .18 present spirit of understanding and constructive helpfulness toward ST. 1.64 1.82 + .18 gradually lead ST into teaching by letting her assume varied and partial roles, proceeding from smaller to larger responsibilities. 1.55 1.82 + .27 provide opportunities for ST to become acquainted with school resources and services. 1.55 1.82 t .27 make it possible for ST to become acquainted with school policies and philosophy. 1.45 1.73 t .27 give frank and constructive criticisms to ST. 1.45 1.73 + .27 83 TABLE 5— Continued
Means
The cooperating teacher should— Pre-Test Post-Test Difference
stimulate ST to evaluate her per formance with increasing objectivity. 1.55 1.82 + .27 provide opportunity for ST to use educational media. 1.45 1.82 + .36 help ST overcome weaknesses in methods of teaching and presenta tion. I .45 1.82 + .36 alert herself to ST's capabilities by becoming acquainted with her personal and educational back ground and qualifications. 1.45 1.91 + .45 provide opportunities for ST in such experiences as supervi sion of extracurri cular activities, attendance at faculty meetings, school social functions, civic group meetings. 1.27 1.73 + .45 act with ST as co-planner of acti vities and learning situations. 1.27 1.73 + .45 write a final report that includes a comprehensive picture of ST's achievements and needs for further growth. 1.27 1.73 + .45 provide ST with persona I-profes sional sketch of herself (cooperating teacher). .55 1.00 + .45 encourage conferences with definite purpose, spacing them for proper planning, reflection, and evaluation. 1.27 1.82 + .55 involve ST in classroom situation from beginning of student teaching period. 1.09 1.82 t .73 make tentative plans for ST's first day. .82 1.55 t .73 present denonstrati on lessons as an example for the student teacher. .64 1.36 t .73 84
TABLE 5— Continued
Means The cooperating teacher should— Pre-Test Post-Test Difference
prepare classes for ST by briefing them on her background and interest prior to her arrival. .91 1.73 + .82
not involve ST in routine school activities beyond the point where learning ceases to take place. -.91 - .09 + .82 provide opportunities for making observations meaningful by provid ing ST with lists of items for which to watch. -.09 .91 + .82 attempt to space observation by the ST throughout the student teaching period. .55 1.45 + .91 have her pupils share in plans to help ST become acquainted with them and their activities. .64 1.73 + 1.09 evaluate progress of pupils as a means of evaluating the ST. 0 1.36 + 1.36
The items were organized into areas corresponding to the topics of the LAPCT and one concept which had been emphasized in the slide presentation and incorporated in all the packages, i.e. the cooperating teacher-student teacher team relationship (Appendix N). The scores from the items in each area were summed and divided by the number of area items. The objective was to obtain an average rating per teacher for each of the five topics and thus determine the areas in which the special materials were most influential in changing attitudes.
As shown In Table 6, the teachers had the greatest growth in the area in which they had the lowest rating on the pre-test: observation. 85
They had the smallest gains in the areas of conference and orientation.
The test of significance using a 95 per cent confidence interval was applied to the mean change i n each area . A 1 1 of the gains were signi- ficant at the .05 level.
TABLE 6
MEAN GAIN IN ATTITUDE SCORES BY AREA
Rati ngs
Pre-Test Post-Test Areas Mean Standard Mean Standard Gai n Dev iati on Devi at ion
Orientation 1.19 .315 1.61 .414 .42
Observati on .61 .323 1.32 .549 .71
Conference .95 .359 1.36 .320 .41
Evaluation 1.09 .437 1.66 .437 .57
Team Relationship 1.27 .467 1.73 .467 .46
Thus, in answer to the research question, it can be stated that cooperating teacher attitudes changed significantly in terms of a comparison between pre-test and post-test scores on the Cooperating
Teacher Attitude Scale.
Supervisory Confidence
The concern in this section is with ansv/ering the research question dealing with supervisory confidence. Supervisory confidence, as used in this study, meant the cooperating teachers’ expressed feel ings about their ability to supervise student teachers. 86
Research Question
Will beginning cooperating teachers who use independent study units on supervision gain confidence in their ability to supervise?
This question will be answered by studying the data obtained
from the pre-test, post-test Confidence Scale for Cooperating Teachers.
These data were analyzed with the following values assigned to the
answer options: very confident 3, confident 2, uncertain I, very
uncertain 0. Therefore, the possible range of scores on the eight-
item scale was 0-24 points.
Table 7 shows that nine of the teachers, or 82 per cent, had
higher scores on the post-test than on the pre-test. The score of one
teacher was stationary (Case Study D) while the score of the remaining
teacher decreased (Case Study K). It is interesting to note that the
teacher whose confidence decreased was the same teacher whose attitudes
changed the least.
TABLE 7
CHANGE IN CONFIDENCE SCORES FROM PRE-TEST TO POST-TEST BY TEACHER
Scores Teacher Pre-Test Post-Test Di fference
A 13 18 t 5 B 13 19 t 6 C 13 22 t 9 D 14 14 0 E 14 20 t 6 F 10 17 t 7 G 12 19 + 7 H 14 18 + 4 1 13 17 + 4 J 9 21 + 12 K 19 16 - 3 87
At the beginning of the study, the scores calculated to a mean
of 13.0, which was an average per item score of 1.64. At the end
of the study, 1^3 instrument mean score was 18.3; the mean per item
score was 2.28 (Table 8). This suggests that during the use of the materials the cooperating teachers changed from being somewhat appre
hensive about their supervisory capability to being confident in their
ability to carry out the supervisory role. Consequently, the signifi cance of the instrument mean gain of 5.3 was analyzed. The test of
significance using a 95 per cent confidence interval showed that the change was significant at the .05 level.
TABLE 8
MEAN GAIN IN CONFIDENCE SCORES FROM PRE-TEST TO POST-TEST
Rati ngs Pre-Test Post-Test Standard Standard Ga i n Mean Deviation Mean Dev iati on
Tota1 1nstrument 13.09 2.55 18.27 2.28 5.18
Per 1 tern 1.64 .32 2.28 .29 .64
What were the pre-test and post-test means on each of the items
included on the confidence instrument? What was the mean item range before and after the experiment? In an effort to answer these questions the mean scores for each item were calculated and used as the basis for ordering the pre-test and post-test items in Table 9. Two things are readily apparent as one studies this table. One is that the highest item mean score on the pre-test data is the same as the lowest item 88
mean score on the post-test data. The other is that there was some
shift in the positions of the items from pre-test to post-test.
TABLE 9
PRE-TEST AND POST-TEST CONFIDENCE SCALE ITEMS ORDERED BY MEAN SCORES
Pre-Test Post-Test 1 am confident that 1 1 am confident that 1 Mean Mean know— know—
how to evaluate with a ST how to make ST observations to promote growth, self- meani ngfu1. 1.91 evaluation. 1.27 how to make ST observations how to structure conferences mean i ngfu 1. 1.55 with a ST. 2.00
how to induct a ST into how to evaluate with ST to teach i ng. 1.55 promote growth, self- 2.09 evaluation.
how to structure conferences how to i nduct a ST i nto with a ST. 1.64 teach i ng. 2.18
the cooperating teacher's how to orient ST to over- role. 1.73 all school situation. 2.45
how ST and 1 can get acquain the cooperating teacher's ted and work as a team. 1.73 role. 2.45
how to orient ST to overall how ST and 1 can get acquain school situation. 1.73 ted and work as a team. 2.55
how to develop an atmos how to develop an atmos phere of acceptance for ST. 1.91 phere of acceptance for ST. 2.64
Where did the cooperating teachers have the most and least
confidence gain? Table 10 shows that the teachers gained the most
confidence in evaluation. However, even with the high gain, evaluation
still remained an area in which the teachers had a lower degree of confidence. The teachers had the smallest gain from pre-test to 89 post-test, as well as the lowest scores in the pre-test data, in making student teacher observations meaningful and structuring conference periods. This is consistent with findings from Woods' study on needs of cooperating teachers. Her population reported that structuring meaningful conferences and making the student teacher's observation
97 period worthwhi le were two of their major supervision problems.
One explanation for these findings may be that guiding conferences and observations require more skill than any of the areas of cooperating teacher responsibility. If this is true, then it may require more time for a cooperating teacher to become confident and competent in these aspects of supervision.
In a final analysis of the gains made on each of the confidence instrument items, the test of significance using the 95 per cent confi dence interval was applied to the items individually. The change in confidence was significant at the .05 level for each of the items.
Therefore, in answer to the research question, it can be stated that cooperating teacher confidence changed significantly in terms of a comparison between pre-test and post-test data on the
Confidence Scale for Cooperating Teachers.
^Woods, op. cit., p. 29. 90
TABLE 10
MEAN GAIN ON INDIVIDUAL ITEMS ON CONFIDENCE SCALE
Ratings Pre-Test Post-Test I am confident that Standard Standard I know— Mean Deviation Mean Deviation Gain
the cooperating teacher's role. 11.73 .647 2.45 .522 .72
how to develop an atmosphere of acceptance for ST. 11.91 .539 2.64 .505 .74
how ST and 1 can get acquainted and work as a team. 1.73 .467 2.55 .522 .82
how to orient ST to overall school situation. 1.73 .467 2.45 .522 .72
how to make ST observations meaningful. 1.55 .687 1.90 .539 .35
how to induct a ST into teaching. 1.55 .687 2. 18 .405 .63
how to structure conferences with a ST. 1.64 .809 2.00 .447 .36
how to evaluate with ST to promote growth, self- evaluation. 1.27 .647 2.09 .301 .82
Supervisory Performance
This section is concerned with the effects of the special materials on two aspects of the cooperating teachers' performance— conference skills and assistance to their student teachers. The
relationship between assistance to student teachers and supervisory attitudes and supervisory confidence will also be considered. 91
Research Question
Will beginning cooperating teachers who use an independent study unit on how to structure supervisory conferences become more skillful conferees?
The fifteen-item Conference Evaluation Form was used to measure how the cooperating teachers changed in their conference skills. The skill items were rated on a six-degree scale— excellent 5, good 4, average 3, poor 2, very poor I, did not accomplish 0. Six teachers tape recorded pre-test, post-test conferences that were a necessary element for answering the research question. The remaining teachers recorded pre-test conferences, but, due to technical difficulties, were unable to tape the post-test conferences. Since the statistical design for the research question required pre-test, post-test data, only the pairs of conferences were evaluated. The Conference Evaluation Form skill item "keep a written record of agreements reached ... ." was not critiqued since the audio tapes furnished insufficient evidence upon which to make a judgment in this area. Therefore, the data which follow are based upon fourteen items on the conference critique instrument.
Individual pre-test and post-test teacher conference scores were determined by dividing the sum of ratings evaluated by the panel ists by three (number of panelists). Table II depicts the results of that procedure. According to these scores, five of the six teachers conducted better conferences after studying the conference package.
One teacher's conference skill score decreased from pre-test to post-test. This teacher verbally expressed extreme dissatisfaction 92
with the package, stating she felt conducting conferences was a tech
nique in which any good classroom teacher was already skilled (Case
Study F). This suggests that the cooperating teacher should have the
prerogative of selecting the specific LAPCT in which she is interested.
TABLE I I
CHANGE IN INDIVIDUAL CONFERENCE SCORES FROM PRE-TEST TO POST-TEST
Ratings Teacher Pre-Test Post-Test Difference
1 15.3 31.7 + 16.4
2 48.0 41.0 - 7.0 3 33.3 57.7 + 24.4
4 26.3 34.0 + 7.7
5 25.3 46.3 + 21.0 6 23.3 32.7 + 9.4
Mean scores were calculated from the data in Table II. The group had a mean gain of 11.3 from a mean score of 29,2 on the pre-test to 40.5 on the post-test. This averaged 2.08 on each pre-test item and
2.90 on each post-test item, or a gain of .82 per item.
The "t" value needed for a significant difference between the means for the 95 per cent confidence interval was 2.57. The calculated
"t” value was 2.51. Thus, the change was slightly below the level of significance at the .05 level. However, it was significant for the .10
level, which required a 2.02 value. Since structuring conferences was an area in which the coopera
ting teachers expressed a low level of confidence, the mean pre-test
and post-test scores for each conference instrument item were calcu
lated to determine those areas in which the cooperating teachers needed
the most help to improve. Table 12 shows these data, as well as the mean score difference on each item. In both pre-tests and post-tests the cooperating teachers achieved the lowest scores on two items which
focused on conference closure: (I) giving the student teacher an oppor tunity to determine her future objectives and (2 ) assisting the student teacher in reviewing the major points discussed. This information should be useful in future cooperating teacher material development.
TABLE 12
PRE-TEST AND POST-TEST CONFERENCE EVALUATION ITEMS ORDERED BY MEAN DIFFERENCE
Rati ngs Items Pre-Test Post-Test Difference
Offered constructive criticism empath i ca 11y 3.4 3.4 0 Assisted ST in identifying teaching behavior patterns 3.1 3.3 .2 Had necessary materials ready for use 3.5 3.8 .3 Provided appropriate physical setting 3.3 3.7 .4 Gave ST opportunity to determine .3 .8 .5 future objectives Gave ST opportunity to evaluate her teaching 3.3 3.9 .6 Encouraged ST to do creative thinking and planning 2.7 3.5 .8 Assisted ST in reviewing major points discussed .5 1.4 .9 Used time effectively 2.8 3.8 1.0 Reinforced desirable teaching behavior 1.2 2.2 1.0 Relieved tension in ST 2.0 3.1 l.l Provided continuity .9 2.0 l.l Emphasized 1-2 major items 1.3 2.6 1.3 Established conference objectives .7 2.9 2.2 94
In a final analysis of the data obtained from the Conference
Evaluation Form, the pre-test and post-test items were ordered accord
ing to mean scores (Table 13). The objective was to determine the respective pre-test and post-test positions of the items. This analysis revealed that the items had retained fairly comparable positions from pre-test to post-test. The two items with the lowest means on the pre test data kept the same positions in the post-test data.
TABLE 13
PRE-TEST AND POST-TEST CONFERENCE EVALUATION FORM ITEMS ORDERED BY MEAN SCORES
Pre-Test Post-Test I tern Mean I tern Mean
Gave ST opportunity to .3 Gave ST opportunity to .8 express future objectives express future objectives Assisted ST in reviewing .5 Assisted ST in reviewing 1.4 major points discussed major points discussed Established conference .7 Provided continuity in 2.0 objecti ves conference Provided continuity in .9 Reinforced desirable teaching 2.2 conference behavior Reinforced desirable behavior 1.2 Emphasized 1-2 major items 2.6 Emphasized 1-2 major items 1.3 Established conference 2.9 objecti ves Relieved ST tension 2.0 Relieved ST tension 3.1 Encouraged ST to do creative 2.7 Assisted ST in identifying 3.3 thinking and planning teaching behavior patterns Used time effectively 2.8 Offered constructive criti- 3.4 ci sm empath i caI Iy Assisted ST in identifying 3.1 Encouraged ST to do creative 3.5 teaching behavior patterns thinking and planning Provided appropriate phys 3.3 Provided appropriate phys- 3.7 ical setting ical setting Gave ST opportunity to talk 3.3 Had necessary materials ready 3.8 Offered constructive criti- 3.4 Used time effectively 3.8 ci sm empath i caIly Had necessary materials 3.5 Gave ST opportunity to talk 3.9 ready 95
In summary, the data Indicate that beginning cooperating
teachers who used the conference independent study unit became more
skillful conferees in terms of a comparison between pre-test and
post-test data on the Conference Evaluation Form.
Research Question
Will beginning cooperating teachers who use independent study units on supervision provide less, as much, or more supervisory assistance to their student teachers in the areas of the study units as experienced coopera ting teachers?
Supervisory assistance, as used in this study, meant the student teachers' expressed feelings about the help they received from their cooperating teachers. This information was obtained from the
Areas of Assistance Checklist, which was completed by the student teachers of both beginning and experienced cooperating teachers. The data obtained from the instruments were analyzed using the following values: much assistance 3, some assistance 2, little assistance I, no assistance 0.
For the first analysis the items were grouped into categories corresponding to the content of the independent study units. As shown in Table 14, the beginning cooperating teachers scored higher than the experienced cooperating teachers in all of the categories. Neverthe less, even the beginning cooperating teachers could only be described as giving within a range of little to some assistance to their student teachers in the area of observation. This is surely indicative of a need for concentrated efforts to help cooperating teachers improve In guiding student teacher observation. 96
TABLE 14
DIFFERENCES IN CATEGORY RATINGS BETWEEN BEGINNING AND EXPERIENCED COOPERATING TEACHERS ON ASSISTANCE CHECKLIST
Rati ngs Beg. CT Exp. CT Category Questions Mean S.D. Mean S.D. Di fference
Orientation 21 2.43 .36 2.21 .28 .22
Observation 6 1.77 .30 1.53 .37 .24
Conference 9 2.28 .43 2 . 12 .33 . 16
Evaluation 8 2.05 .47 1.81 .42 .24
O v e r a 11 44 2.24 .39 2.03 .35 .21
The "t" test was applied to the differences between the teachers overall and on each of the four categories (Table 14). The orientation category difference was significant at the .001 level.
Observation was relatively close to that with a .01. For evaluation the level was .02 and for conference, .05. The overall difference between the beginning and experienced cooperating teachers was signi ficant at the .01 level.
A more specific comparison of the differences between the beginning and experienced cooperating teachers was secured by performing an item analysis for each group; Table 15 presents the analyses. The
Items where the student teachers rated the groups most different were numbers 21 and 23, which were respectively concerned with (I) cooperating teacher viewing herself and the student teacher as a teaching team, and
(2 ) cooperating teacher suggesting things for student teacher to look 97 for during observations. There were respectively .8 and .7 differences between the mean ratings on the aforementioned questions.
TABLE 15
COMPARISON OF BEGINNING AND EXPERIENCED COOPERATING TEACHER ASSISTANCE CHECKLIST ITEM MEAN SCORES
Beginning Experienced The cooperating teacher— q -j-
1. cordially welcomed me to the student 3.00 2.88 teaching situation. 2. prepared the pupils for me prior to 2.27 2.28 my arri vaI. 3. had the pupils share in plans to help 1.45 1.72 me get acquainted with them and their activities. 4. had made tentative plans for my first 2.27 1.72 day of student teaching. 5. introduced me to the students in a 2.82 2.20 status-giving manner. 6. introduced me to staff members. 2.55 2.52 7. in beginning helped me know her as a 2.64 2.40 person and as a professional. 8. provided me with a place to store my 2.64 2.08 personal and professional materials. 9. made it possible for me to become 2.27 2.20 acquainted with school policies and philosophy. 10. assisted me in getting oriented to the 2.00 1.72 community in which the school was located. 11. introduced me to the more common types 2.45 2.20 of school and department routine matters. 12. provided opportunity for me to become 2.55 2.16 acquainted with department and school resources. 98
TABLE 15— Continued
Beginning Experienced The cooperating teacher- CT CT
13. involved me in the classroom situation 2.73 2.36 from the beginning of the student teaching period. 14. made rny induction into teaching a 2.27 2.36 gradual process. 15. oriented me to the school before I did 2.55 2.12 any formal large-scale teaching. 16. adjusted my responsibility according to 2.27 2.24 my personal and educational background. 17. provided opportunity for me to use 2.36 2.44 audio-visual machines and other equip ment related to teaching. 18. refrained from using me simply on 2.73 2.32 tedious tasks. 19. provided opportunities for me to super- 2.45 2.64 vise extracurricular activities and/or attend faculty meetings, school social functions and civic group meetings. 20. socialized in out-of-school or in- 1.82 2 . 16 school activities with me. 21. viewed us as a teaching team coopera- 2.91 2.20 tively striving to help students learn. 22. provided ample time for observation 2.09 2.20 of her teach i ng. 23. suggested things to look for during 1.91 1.20 my observations. 24. provided materials that guided me in 1.27 1.24 my observations.
25. followed up my observations with 1.55 1.44 discussion. 26. helped me clarify educational theories 1.91 1.44 and principles. 27. encouraged me to observe throughout 1.91 I .64 the student teaching period. 28. provided for frequent conferences. 1.91 2.00 29. encouraged conferences with definite 1.82 1.68 purposes. 99
TABLE 15— Continued
Beq i nn ing Exper i enced The cooperating teacher-— CT CT
30. prepared me for my role in conferences. 1 .64 1.52
31. encouraged me to express my concerns, 2.64 2.26 opinions, and ideas. 32. exhibited understanding and helpful 2.73 2.48 ness. 33. gave frank and constructive criticism. 2.73 2.32
34. complimented my achievements. 2.64 2.24
35. aided me in the development of self- 2.36 2.44 evaluation. 36. helped me overcome my weaknesses in 2.09 2.12 methods of teaching and presentation.
37. encouraged my evaluation of her 1.27 1.28 teach i ng. 38. provided continuous and comprehensive 2.36 2.20 evaluation of my work.
39. reviewed my plans and commented upon 2.55 2.20 them. 40. used a variety of educational tech 1.64 1.52 niques and procedures to give me a picture of my growth.
41. offered specific suggestions concern- 2.36 2.20 i ng my teach i ng.
42. viewed the progress of pupi Is as a 2.45 2.08 means of evaluating my teaching.
43. encouraged me to seek pupil evaluation 2.09 1.76 of my teaching. 44. indicated my progress in grade form. 1.64 1.24
The assistance instrument item analyses also showed some simi- liarity between the groups of teachers. Both populations achieved low scores on the items dealing with (I) providing materials to guide the student teacher in observation, (2 ) encouraging the student teacher to 100 evaluate the cooperating teacher's classroom techniques, (3) preparing the student teacher for her role in conferences, and (4) using a variety of evaluation procedures to give the student teacher a picture of her growth.
In addition to evaluating the cooperating teachers' assistance in the areas of the special materials, the student teachers were also asked to give one general rating of their cooperating teacher's help during student teaching. The five options ranged from very strong
(five points) to very weak (one point). Table 16 shows that on the general basis, the experienced cooperating teachers gave more assis tance to their student teachers than did the beginning cooperating teachers. The test of significance using a 95 per cent confidence interval showed the difference was not significant at the .05 level.
TABLE 16
GENERAL RATINGS OF BEGINNING AND EXPERIENCED
COOPERATING TEACHERS
1 tern Beg i nn i ng Exoerienced Rati ngs Va 1 ue Number Per Cent Number Per Cent
Very Strong 5 3 27 10 40 Strong 4 5 45 7 28 Average 3 2 18 7 28
Weak 2 1 9 0 00
Very Weak 1 0 0 1 04
Tota 1 1 1 99 25 100 Mean 3.91 4.00 101
The fact that the experienced cooperating teachers, in relation to the beginning cooperating teachers, were evaluated higher on the general rating than on the areas of assistance ratings suggests that their backgrounds in supervision made them more proficient in assisting student teachers in other areas than those contained in the LAPCT.
These areas should be determined and used as a basis for designing more LAPCT, if it is finally concluded that the independent study units are a successful approach to cooperating teacher education.
The student teacher subjective comments on the ways in which the cooperating teachers were most beneficial to them are summarized by per cent analysis in Table 17. A study of the percentages shows that the beginning cooperating teachers' most beneficial ways of assisting tended to cluster around fewer items than did the experienced cooperating teachers. It is noteworthy that the majority of these items were concepts stressed in the LAPCT. The spread of items men tioned for the experienced cooperating teachers suggests that as supervisors have more student teachers, they find a wider variety of techniques that are successful in working with them.
TABLE 17
STUDENT TEACHER OPINIONS ON HOW COOPERATING TEACHERS WERE MOST HELPFUL
Beg inning Experienced Items Number Per Cent Number Per Cent
1. Gave frank, realistic con structive criticism. 9 82 19 68 2. Got to know me and treated me as a friend. 5 45 3 II 102
TABLE 17— Continued
Beg i nn i ng Experienced Items Number Per Cent Number Per Cent
3. Treated me as a professional- team-member and made me feel needed. 4 36 7 25
4. Gave suggestions for content and techniques. 4 36 8 29 5. Gave me confidence through encouragement. 4 36 4 14 6. Complimented my achievements. 3 27 7 25 7. Introduced me to department, resources, materials. 3 27 21 8. Identified me as a teacher to pupils, faculty, community. 3 27 04 9. Introduced me to faculty. 3 27 3 I I
10. Acted as model for me. 3 27 7 25
11. Accepted my ideas and standards. 3 27 25
12. Occasionally left me alone with pup i Is. 2 18 0 00
13. Introduced me to community. 2 18 4 14
14. Willing to assist in any way possible. 2 18 5 18
15. Involved me in teaching situation immediately. I 9 0 00
16. Gave me a desk and place to keep my possessions. 9 0 00
17. Prepared pupils for my arrival. 9 0 00
18. Got to know me as a person before observing my teaching. 00
19. Helped me get acquainted with pupiIs. 9 0 00
20. Was understanding. 9 2 07
21. Understood her students. 9 0 00 22. Established good communica tion with me. II 103
TABLE 17— Continued
Beg inning Experienced Items Number Per Cent Number Per Cent
23. Helped me with evaluating pup its. 0 0 2 07
24. Regular conferences. 0 0 2 07 25. Helped me form my philosophy of education. 0 0 3
26. Reviewed lesson plans and materials. 0 0 3 I I
27. Included me in school social functions. 0 0 2 07
28. Was organized. 0 0 2 07
29. Planned a variety of areas in which I might teach. 0 0 2 07
30. Encouraged self-evaluation. 0 0 1 04
31. Provided for a full-time teaching experience. 0 0 2 07
32. Relaxed and casual, made me feel at ease. 0 0 2 07
33. Guided me in discovering educational principles. 0 0 2 07
34. Provided for gradual induc tion into teaching. 0 0 04
35. Was flexible. 0 0 04
36. Provided information on school policy when requested. 0 0 04
37. Refrained from influencing me about students. 0 0 04
38. Assisted me in developing my clothing construction skills. 0 0 04 39. Assisted me in consumer buying unit. 0 0 04
40. Provided for observations of other home economics teachers. 0 0 04 41. Involved me in job training v i s i tat i on . 0 0 04 104
TABLE 17— Continued
Begi nni ng Experi enced Items Number Per Cent Number Per Cent
42. Sent me on my own for job vi si tat ion. 0 0 1 04
43. Focused criticism on 1-2 major items to improve on at once. 0 0 1 04
44. Gave me extracurricu1ar respons i b i1i ty . 0 0 1 04
45. Helped me to be realistic about teaching. 0 0 1 04
46. Permitted me to make out tests and do grading. 0 0 1 04
47. Helped me with my projects. 0 0 1 04
48. Gave me a lot of responsibility . o 0 1 04
49. Provided advice when 1 needed it. 0 0 1 04
50. Shared her successes and failures with me. 0 0 1 04
In summary then, the research question for the second part of
the section of cooperating teacher performance was, "Wi 11 beginning
cooperating teachers who use independent study units on supervision
provide less, as much, or more assistance to their student teachers
in the areas of the study units as experienced cooperating teachers?"
The answer was "more". 105
Research Question
Will the change in the beginning cooperating teachers* attitudes toward the role of the cooperating teacher be related to the degree of assistance the beginning cooperating teachers provide their student teachers?
The method of least squares was used to compute the correlation coefficient between (I) the assistance to student teacher scores and
(2) the change between the pre-test, post-test attitude instrument scores. The test indicated the two variables were not correlated.
Research Question
Will the change in the beginning cooperating teachers' confidence in their ability to supervise be related to the degree of assistance the beginning cooperating teachers provide their student teachers?
The method of least squares was also used to secure an indication of the relationship between (I) the assistance to student teacher scores and (2) the change between the pre-test, post-test confidence scale scores. This analysis shov/ed that the tv/o factors were positively correlated. The correlation coefficient was .80.
Satisfaction With Approach
Each teacher completed a post Satisfaction Scale to indicate her feelings of satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the independent study approach to cooperating teacher education. Research Question
How will beginning cooperating teachers evaluate the independent study units on supervision and feel about the acceptability of this method for preparing coopera ting teachers?
The purpose of the first part of the satisfaction instrument
was to determine how the participants felt about the help received
from the LAPCT. The items in this part of the instrument were ranked
on a five-point scale, with a three indicating a neutral feeling. The
teachers were given the option of judging the help received from the
materials in total and/or each of the units individually. Two teachers
elected to critique only the materials in total, three critiqued only
the units individually and six completed both evaluations. Therefore,
in the analysis which follows, the data on satisfaction with the materials in total represent the feelings of eight cooperating
teachers; the data on satisfaction with individual packages reflect the feelings of nine cooperating teachers.
As shown in Table 18, the majority of the eight teachers who evaluated the materials collectively were positively satisfied with the
help they had received. Eight of the nine descriptive adjectives were
rated 4.3 or higher. The remaining item, timing, was rated 3.8. This
lower rating is related to interview comments in which the teachers almost unanimously stated they would have preferred receiving the materials in their entirety prior to serving as supervisors. 107
TABLE 18
SATISFACTION OF COOPERATING TEACHERS WITH MATERIALS IN TOTAL
N = 8
Help 1 received from the Per Cent Mean special material for coopera ting teachers was— 1 2 3 4 5
Negative to Positive .00 .00 .25 .00 .75 4.5
Meaningless to Meaningful .00 .00 .13 .25 .63 4.5
Insufficient to Sufficient .00 .00 .00 .25 .75 4.8
Irrelevant to Relevant .00 .00 . 13 .25 .63 4.5
Hazy to Clear .00 .00 .25 .25 .50 4.3
Inappropriate to Appropriate .00 .00 .00 .38 .63 4.3
General to Specific .00 .00 .00 .38 .63 4.3
Poorly-timed to Wei 1-timed .00 .00 .63 .00 .38 3.8
Unnecessary to Necessary .00 .13 .13 .00 .75 4.4
Mean 4.4
The cooperating teachers who rated the orientation package were satisfied with the help received from that instructional booklet (Table
19). The descriptive adjectives which they rated 4.2 or higher were sufficient, relevant, clear, appropriate, specific, well-timed, and necessary. The remaining items, positive and meaningful, were both rated 3.9. The average rating for the package was 4.2. 108
TABLE 19
SATISFACTION OF COOPERATING TEACHERS WITH ORIENTATION PACKAGE
N = 9
Help 1 received from the "How Per Cent Mean Can 1 Get Ready For and Begin 1 2 3 4 5 My Work With My Student Teacher?" LAPCT was—
Negative to Positive .00 .00 .22 .33 .44 3.9
Meaningless to Meaningful . 1 1 .00 .11 .44 .33 3.9
Insufficient to Sufficient .00 .00 .22 .22 .56 4.3
Irrelevant to Relevant . 11 .00 .11 . 1 1 .67 4.2
Hazy to Clear .00 .00 .11 . 1 1 .78 4.7
Inappropriate to Appropriate .00 .11 .11 . 1 1 .67 4.3
General to Specific .00 .11 .11 . 11 .67 4.3
Poorly-timed to Well-timed . 11 .00 .11 . 1 1 .67 4.2
Unnecessary to Necessary . 11 .00 .11 . 11 .67 4.2
Mean 4.2
The teachers apparently had more satisfied feelings toward the observation package than the orientation package, since the overall mean for the observation package was 4.5 (Table 20). A M of the obser vation item ratings were above 4.3. Relevancy and well-timed had the highest mean rating, which was 4.7. Positive and necessary had the
lowest mean rating. 109
TABLE 20
SATISFACTION OF COOPERATING TEACHERS WITH OBSERVATION PACKAGE
N = 9
Help 1 received from the "How Mean Can 1 Make My Student Teacher' s Per Cent Observations Meaningful?" LAPCT was— 1 2 3 4 5
Negative to Positive .00 .00 • 11 .44 .44 4.3
Meaningless to Meaningful .00 .00 .11 .33 .56 4.4
Insufficient to Sufficient .00 .00 . 1 1 .22 .67 4.5
Irrelevant to Relevant .00 .00 . 11 . 1 1 .78 4.7
Hazy to Clear .00 .00 .11 .33 .56 4.4
Inappropriate to Appropriate .00 .00 . 1 1 .33 .56 4.4
General to Specific .00 .00 . 11 .22 .67 4.5
Poorly-timed to Well-timed .00 .00 . 1 1 . 1 1 .78 4.7
Unnecessary to Necessary .00 .00 .11 .44 .44 4.3
Mean 4.5
Specific, necessary, c lear, and suff icient had the highest mea
rating for satisfaction with the "How Are Meaningful Conferences Struc tured?" LAPCT while well-timed had the lowest mean rating (Table 21).
The mean for each of the descriptive adjectives was above 3.8, indicat
ing that the cooperating teachers experienced a degree of satisfaction with the package. An overall mean rating of 4.2 further illustrated satisfaction. This level of satisfaction was comparable to the satis faction of the cooperating teachers toward the orientation package. TABLE 21
SATISFACTION OF COOPERATING TEACHERS WITH CONFERENCE PACKAGE
N = 9
Help 1 received from the "How Per Cent Mean Are Meaningful Conferences Structured?" LAPCT was— 1 2 3 4 5
Negative to Positive . 11 . 1 1 .00 . 1 1 .67 4.1
Meaningless to Meaningful .11 . 11 .00 . 1 1 .67 4.1
Insufficient to Sufficient . 11 .00 . 11 .00 .78 4.3
Irrelevant to Relevant . 1 1 . 11 .00 . 11 .67 4.1
Hazy to Clear .00 . 1 1 . 11 . 1 1 .67 4.3
Inappropriate to Appropriate . 11 .00 . 11 . 1 1 .67 4.2
General to Specific .00 .00 . 11 .22 .67 4.5
Poor 1y-t i med to We 11-t i med . 11 . 11 .22 .00 .56 3.8
Unnecessary to Necessary . 1 1 .00 . 1 1 .00 .78 4.3
Mean 4.2
Table 22 shows that necessary was the item with the highest mean for satisfaction with the self-instructional package, "How To
Help Your Student Teacher Through Evaluation." Well-timed received the lowest mean rating. The mean for each of the nine items was above 3.9, which indicated the teachers felt all the items were more satisfying than dissatisfying. The overall mean was 4.6, which was the highest average rating received by any of the packages. III
TABLE 22
SATISFACTION OF COOPERATING TEACHERS WITH EVALUATION PACKAGE
N = 9
He 1p 1 rece i ved f rom the "How Per Cent Mean To Help Your Student Teacher Through Evaluation" LAPCT was— | 2 3 4 5
Negative to Positive .00 .00 .00 .33 .67 4.7
Meaningless to Meaningful .00 .00 .00 .33 .67 4.7
Insufficient to Sufficient .00 .00 .00 .33 .67 4.7
Irrelevant to Relevant .00 .00 .00 .33 .67 4.7
Hazy to Clear .00 .00 .00 .44 .56 4.7
Inappropriate to Appropriate .00 .00 .00 .33 .67 4.5
General to Specific .00 .00 .00 .44 .56 4.7
Poorly-timed to Well-timed .11 .11 .00 .33 .44 4.5
Unnecessary to Necessary .00 .00 .00 .22 .78 4.8
Mean 4.6
A ranking of the package satisfaction means shows the teachers
rated the LAPCT in the following high to low order: evaluation, obser
vation, conference, and orientation. This order inversely corresponded to the ranking of their pre-test confidence levels. This suggests that
a teacher's satisfaction with a unit may be related to her supervisory confidence in the area of the package.
Part two of the satisfaction instrument was designed to detei— mine the teachers' reactions to ten components of the so If-instructional I 12 approach to cooperating teacher education on the basis of efficiency, effectiveness, and satisfactoriness, whichever criteria were considered applicable to the component. The component breakdown was an additional means of specifically determining what the cooperating teachers did and did not like about the materials. This was secured by asking the respondents to mark their reactions on a five-point scale. Since one of the cooperating teachers did not respond to a 11 of the items in this part of the instrument, the data were analyzed on the basis of those responding and the percentages calculated accordingly.
The general learning activity package approach to cooperating teacher education had the highest mean rating for efficiency, effec tiveness, and satisfaction (Table 23). In the interviews all the teachers also said the method had merit. Specific comments made were the followi ng:
The approach is good and interesting.
The packets had good substantial things to help me.
I liked the specificity.
The self-tests had the lowest mean rating for efficiency, effectiveness, and satisfaction. The mean was 3.1, which is almost neutral feeling. During the interviews, two cooperating teachers gave clues why they rated the tests so low; both said the answers were too obvious. On the other hand, three other cooperating teachers said they specifically liked the self-tests because, as one said,
"They made you think." TABLE 23
COOPERATING TEACHER EFFICIENCY, EFFECTIVENESS, AND SATISFACTION RATINGS FOR COMPONENTS OF THE INDEPENDENT STUDY APPROACH
Ratings
c* d cl Items N p N p N p N % N % Mean
Orientation to Materials Eff iciency 0 .00 0 .00 3 .27 4 .36 3 .27 4.0 Effectiveness 0 .00 0 .00 2 .18 5 .45 4 .36 4.2 Sati sfacti on 0 .00 1 .09 1 .09 4 .36 4 .36 4. 1 Mean 4. 1 S e 1f-Tests Eff iciency 2 . 18 1 .09 A .36 1 .09 2 . 18 3.0 Effectiveness 3 .27 1 .09 1 .09 3 .27 2 . 18 3.0 Sati sfaction 3 .27 0 .00 2 . 18 3 .27 3 .27 3.3 Mean 3.1 Slide Presentation Eff iciency 0 .00 0 .00 3 .36 2 .18 4 .36 4.0 Effectiveness 0 .00 0 .00 4 .36 4 .36 2 .18 3.4 Sati sfacti on 0 .00 0 .00 5 .45 2 . 18 4 .36 3.9 Mean 3.8 Personal Effort Required Eff i ci ency 0 .00 0 .00 5 .45 2 .18 4 .36 3.9 Sati sfaction 1 .09 0 .00 3 .27 2 .18 5 .45 3.9 Mean 3.9 Learning Experiences Effectiveness 0 .00 1 .09 1 .09 5 .45 4 .36 4.0 Sati sfaction 1 .09 0 .00 1 .09 4 .36 4 .36 4.0 Mean 4.0 Length of Materials Eff ici ency 1 .09 3 .27 1 .09 3 .27 3 .27 3.4 Sati sfacti on 1 .09 0 .00 4 .36 0 .00 5 .45 3.8 Mean 3.6 Readi nqs Eff i ci ency 0 .00 1 .09 4 .36 3 .27 2 .18 3.6 Effectiveness 0 .00 1 .09 2 .18 2 . 18 5 .45 4.0 Sati sfaction 1 .09 0 .00 4 .36 2 .18 4 .36 3.7 Mean 3.8 Audio Tape Presentations Eff ici ency 2 .18 1 .09 1 .09 4 .36 2 .18 3.2 Effectiveness 2 .18 0 .00 4 .36 1 .09 3 .27 3.3 Satisfaction 2 . 18 1 .09 2 . 18 3 .27 3 .27 3.4 Mean 3.3 Learning Activity Approach Eff ici ency 0 .00 1 .09 1 .09 4 .36 4 .36 4.1 Effectiveness 0 .00 0 .00 2 .18 3 .27 5 .45 4.4 Sati sfaction 0 .00 0 .00 2 .18 3 .27 5 .45 4.3 Mean 4.3 Organization of Materials o o
Eff iciency 1 .09 0 • 3 .27 2 . 18 5 .45 3.9 I 14
The audio tape presentations were also rated relatively low.
Interview comments suggested this may be due to lengthiness of the presentations and difficulty in obtaining the equipment to play the tapes.
Of the major categories of learning experiences incorporated in the LAPCT, readings were rated highest. One could conjecture it was because they were relatively concise and were readily available.
The average mean for the stated items was 3.8. This indicated the teachers felt the items in total were more efficient, effective, and satisfying than inefficient, ineffective, and dissatisfying.
The purpose of the final part of the satisfaction instrument was to determine further feelings of the teachers about the self-
‘fnstructional materials. The items in this section were to be answered yes, undecided, or no. The eleven teachers unanimously said their knowledge about supervision had improved as a result of completing the units. Ten indicated that their supervision skills had improved. Ten also answered they would recommend the orientation package to another cooperating teacher while one was undecided. All of the participants felt they would recommend the observations and evaluation packages.
Nine indicated they would recommend the conference package, one was undecided, and one felt she would not recommend the package to another cooperating teacher. Four said they would recommend the slide presen tation "Role of the Home Economics Cooperating Teacher" to another cooperating teacher while the remaining seven were undecided.
Thus, the majority of the cooperating teachers reacted favorably to all of the items except the one on recommending the slide presentation. 115
The teachers who made comments regarding the slides during the inter
views were equally divided. The teachers who felt the presentation had
merit commented:
The slides gave me insight into what would happen and what was expected of me.
They were good and definitely made an impression on me.
the slides immediately answered almost all of my questions.
The cooperating teachers who did not react favorably to the presentation
remarked it was "not particularly good or helpful" and "nice but didn't
add much." One stated, "I learned more from the readings. I had the
feeling the slides were meant to motivate and I was already excited
about having a student teacher." These cooperating teachers suggested
improving the slide series by (I) including a greater variety of races
and physical facilities in the pictures and (2 ) photographing the slides
over a period of several days so the main characters do not wear the
same outfits throughout the series. It is noteworthy that neither of these suggestions was directed toward the objectives and basic content of the presentation. This leads one to believe the slides may have
been ineffective due in part to the conditions under which they were
shown. Student and faculty interruptions, the strain of establishing
rapport with the college supervisor, and, due to the shortness of conference time, lack of indepth discussion following the viewing of
the slides may have created a less than conducive atmosphere under which the cooperating teacher could concentrate on the points made in the
presentation. In light of this, the slides should probably not be modified until they have been shown and evaluated under more ideal conditions. The final analysis on the satisfaction instrument was a calcu
lation of each teacher’s mean satisfaction level with the self- instructional materials and method. The individual mean scores were determined by dividing the sum of scores the teacher had assigned to the five-point items by the number of items she had answered (Table24).
TABLE 24
MEAN SATISFACTION SCALE SCORES BY INDIVIDUAL TEACHERS
Teachers Scores
A 4.15
B 4.87
C 4.46
D 3.26
E 4.80
F 2.68
G 4.70
H 3.97
I 4.67
J 3.98
K 3.20 Average Mean 4.07
This analysis showed that the cooperating teacher who had previously supervised two student teachers assigned the highest satisfaction rating to the materials (Case Study B). There is a possibility that because this teacher lacked supervision preparation for these students, she especially recognized the value of the LAPCT. The teacher who indicated that her supervision skills did not improve as a result of using the LAPCT gave the materials the lowest satisfaction rating (Case Study F).
Of the teachers who recorded the test conferences, she was also the only one who lost in skill from pre-test to post-test. The teacher
with the second lowest satisfaction level was the participant who had
the smallest attitude score gain from pre-test to post-test and the only teacher who lost confidence from pre-test to post-test (Case
Study K). The teachers collectively had a mean satisfaction level of
4.07, which indicates positive satisfaction with help they received
from the materials.
Therefore, in summarizing this section it can be stated that the sample population evaluated the independent study units positively and felt the technique was an acceptable method for preparing coopera ting teachers for their supervisory responsibilities.
Teacher Interview Statements Concerning Learning Activity Packages For Cooperating Teachers
This section reports the data collected from the researcher’s
interviews with the cooperating teachers. The purpose of the interviews was to obtain subjective feedback on the materials. Besides supplying additional data for answering the research question on the acceptability of the materials to the cooperating teachers, the interviews also provided an opportunity to obtain suggestions on how to improve the packages, supplementary content that should be included, and activities that should be encouraged. Some of the comments collected during the interviews were reported in conjunction with the objective analysis of cooperating teacher satisfaction in the previous section. Those remarks will not be repeated in this section. I 18
Interview Question I
How did you feel about the Learning Activity Package approach to cooperating teacher education?
All eleven cooperating teachers perceived merit in using the independent study units as a new approach to cooperating teacher educa tion. Some reasons which illustrate the merits of the approach to the teachers personally were given in response to the question.
They were helpful especially since I was a new cooperating teacher.
Very complete and a real blessing to me.
Relieved my apprehension and helped me relax about being a cooperating teacher.
The materials cleared up my misconception of my role. I thought the student teacher would take over all my responsibility immediately and I would just observe her untiI the end of the school year.
Although all the teachers said the technique had merit, there was one who made a reserved comment:
The materials are helpful, but using them takes time from a teacher's already crowded schedule.
This teacher added that she was planning to review the underlinings she had made in the materials the next time she had a student teacher.
Interview Question 2
Which activities did you do in each of the lessons in the packages?
Most of the cooperating teachers were not prepared to exactly specify the activities they had completed. However, the responses they gave were summarized and are reported in tabular form in Appendix 0.
Despite the sketchiness of the teachers' answers, two items of importance I 19 could be detected from their replies. One was that the readings were the most popular learning activity. The other was that the teachers had collectively completed all the activities.
Interview Question 3
How well did the special materials fulfill your needs?
The majority of the teachers answered this question by refei— ring to specific packages, activities, or ideas.
The orientation package was an aid in helping them make their student teachers’ first week a meaningful, rather than wasted, exper ience, according to two cooperating teachers. Said one: "I did things the first week I wouldn’t have done until the second without the pack age.’’ Other cooperating teachers said the orientation package was helpful in (I) knowing how to go about getting acquainted with their student teacher, (2 ) introducing the pupils to the idea of having a student teacher and later making the formal introduction of the student teacher to the classes, and (3) gaining knowledge on how to use the student teacher's autobiography.
The observation package was viewed by one cooperating teacher as "an excellent package" and by another as "the most important of the packages." These teachers reported they had not been aware of their role during student teacher observations; the package gave them direc tion on how to make these observations meaningful. More than one-third
(4) of the teachers stated they liked the references on what the student teacher should be observing and the techniques for guiding her in observation. One teacher reported satisfaction with the idea of having 120 the student teacher evaluate the cooperating teacher's methods and taping some of the cooperating teacher's lessons as a basis for obsei— vat ion discussion. Two teachers questioned the inclusion of one of the observation forms; both felt that because of the form's complexity, the student teacher would become so involved in completing it that, as one teacher said, "she would miss the overall class objective."
The "How Are Meaningful Conferences Structured?" package was the most controversiaI of the study units. Two teachers found the package especially good, but one of these added that "the ideas were hard to implement." A like number of teachers reported negative feel ings toward the package. One of these stated that the package was unrealistic because it focused mainly on formal rather than the informal conference which cooperating teachers more frequently have with their student teachers. The other said it was impossible to structure any conference. Three teachers mentioned that taping confer ences and evaluating them on the Conference Evaluation Forms was a significantly helpful aspect of the package. Three teachers also reported liking the audio tape presentations although one of these mentioned the sample conference was too long. Another of the teachers said she especially liked the sample supervisory conference "because it made me realize that even an expert's conference doesn't always go perfectly."
The "How To Help Your Student Teacher Through Evaluation" package was described as being "especially good," "pretty good,"
"helpful," and "the most important package." One cooperating teacher reported she "worked more on this package because I knew less about 121 this area." More than one-half (7) of the teachers appreciated the sample recommendations while more than one-third (4) were pleased with the explanations of what the various student teacher grades represented.
More than one-fourth (3) of the teachers said they found the pupil and daily evaluation forms valuable resources. The value of the audio tape
in which the student teacher was interviewed was mentioned by two teachers. One of these teachers stated the tape "made me pleased with myself" because she felt she had evaluated and supervised in the same manner which the student teacher-interviewee had appreciated. The other cooperating teacher commented that she found the tape made her reflect on how she thought her student teacher would reply to the interviewer's questions. The reading on evaluation procedures and materials was termed "the best reading in all of the packages" by one teacher.
Interview Question 4
Are there other areas in supervision that you would suggest as topics for Learning Activity Packages for Cooperating Teachers?
Al I the teachers agreed that the packages designed for the study were comprehensive and, as one teacher stated it: "covered every thing from the time my student teacher came until she was leaving." No one suggested a specific area for an additional package, although some minor items that could be incorporated in the four original packages were mentioned. 122
Interview Question 5
What suggestions do you have for improving Learning Activity Packages for Cooperating Teachers?
Most of the cooperating teachers stated they implied their suggestions in responses to the other questions. However, two addi tional suggestions were given. Two teachers felt the readings should be placed immediately following the lessons for which they were designated rather than all together at the back of the package. One teacher recommended consolidating some readings she felt were repeti tious.
Concluding Statement
The findings supported the feasibility of the seIf-instruc- tional approach to cooperating teacher education. This is substantiated by results which showed that after the beginning cooperating teachers used the materials they (I) gained confidence
in themselves as supervisors, (2) became more skillful conferees, and (3) had more positive attitudes toward the supervisory role.
Furthermore, according to their student teachers, in the areas encompassed by the LAPCT, the beginning cooperating teachers performed at a higher level than did a group of experienced coopera ting teachers. The teachers documented the acceptability of the
independent study units by giving them a high satisfaction rating. CHAPTER V
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION, IMPLICATIONS « — ■■■■ - — - .!■■■!■ I I ■! ■ H ■ I ^
AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Summary
The purpose in this study was to examine the feasibility of the independent study approach for preparing beginning off-campus home economics teachers for their supervisory role. How would the technique affect beginning cooperating teachers' supervisory attitudes, perfoi— mance, and confidence in themselves as supervisors? Would beginning cooperating teachers find the self-instructional approach an acceptable mode of preparing themselves for the supervisory role?
Based on the review of literature on problems of cooperating teachers, self-contained Learning Activity Packages for Cooperating
Teachers (LAPCT) were developed in the areas of orientation, observa tion, conference, and evaluation. In addition, a slide presentation,
"Role of the Home Economics Cooperating Teacher," was prepared as a comprehensive introduction to the responsibilities of a supervisor.
Eleven off-campus home economics cooperating teachers who were having their first student teacher from The Ohio State University
Spring Quarter, 1970, tested and evaluated the materials. None of the teachers had any formal preparation for supervisory responsibility.
However, through an affiliation with another institution, one of the teachers had previously supervised two student teachers.
123 124
Twenty-five experienced off-campus home economics cooperating
teachers who were supervising student teachers during the active phase
of the research and had previously supervised two or more student
teachers were selected to serve as a comparison population for one
aspect of the study. Approximately one-fourth of these teachers had
participated in courses to prepare them for supervision. The greatest
number of them had supervised in the range of two to four student
teachers. Five, or 20 per cent, had supervised fourteen or more
student teachers.
Data collection techniques to determine the effectiveness and
acceptability of the special materials consisted of anecdotal records,
interviews, and objective style measurement instruments— (I) Coopera
ting Teacher Attitude Scale to measure pre-test and post-test
supervisory attitudes, (2) Cooperating Teacher Confidence Scale to measure change in supervisory confidence, (3) Coooerating Teacher
Satisfaction Scale to determine the participant's expressed satisfac tion with the self-instructional materials, (4) Conference Evaluation
Form to measure improvement of performance of conference skills, and
(5) Areas of Assistance Checklist to assess cooperating teacher super visory behavior.
The active phase of the research occurred Spring Quarter, 1970.
During this phase the investigator served as the college supervisor for the beginning cooperating teachers and their student teachers. Prior to the arrival of the student teachers, the college supervisor made an orientation visit to each cooperating teacher. At this visit the attitude and confidence instrument pre-tests were collected, the slide 125
presentation was viewed, and the cooperating teacher was given the
"How Can I Get Ready For and Begin My V/ork V/ith My Student Teacher?"
and "How Can I Make My Student Teacher's Observations Meaningful?"
LAPCT. On two succeeding supervisory visits, the "How Are Meaningful
Conferences Structured?" and "How To Help Your Student Teacher Through
Evaluation" LAPCT were given to the teachers. Relevant anecdotal data
were recorded at the conclusion of supervisory contacts. The post-
measurement instruments were given to the teachers at the col lege
supervisor's last classroom visit. Final data were secured from the
student teachers at the after student teaching seminar.
The post-active phase of the study included rating the teachers'
pre-test, post-test audio conference tapes and completing the analysis
of data, which follows.
The data will be summarized in relation to the respective
questions of the study.
Supervision Attitudes
Will beginning cooperating teachers who use independent study units on supervision have a change in their atti tudes toward the role of the cooperating teacher?
Data to answer this question were obtained from the pre-test,
post-test scores on the Cooperating Teacher Attitude Scale. A compari
son of the scores showed the teachers changed approximately 25 per cent
in their scores during the quarter. The "t" test showed that this
change was significant at the .001 level of confidence. A division of the scale items into areas corresponding to the four LAPCT showed that the teachers gained in all categories. The test of significance using 126
a 95 per cent confidence interval indicated all of the gains were
significant at the .05 level.
Supervisory Confidence
Will beginning cooperating teachers who use independent study units on supervision gain confidence in their ability to supervise?
The eight-item, twenty-four point pre-test, post-test Confi
dence Scale for Cooperating Teachers was used to determine whether the
independent study units improved the subjects' supervisory confidence.
A comparison of the individual teachers' scores showed that nine, or
82 per cent, of the teachers had higher scores on the post-test than on the pre-test. The score of one teacher did not change and one teacher's score decreased. The teachers exhibited a mean gain of 5.3
points. The test of significance using a 95 per cent confidence
interval showed that the change was significant at the .05 level. The
same test was applied to the pre-test, post-test change between each confidence instrument item. The difference in confidence was signifi cant at the .05 level for each of the items.
Supervisory Performance
Will beginning cooperating teachers who use an inde pendent study unit on how to structure supervisory conferences become more skillful conferees?
Pre-test, post-test audio taped conferences provided the data to test for improvement in conference skill. A three-judge panel critiqued the conferences using the Conference Evaluation Form. Of the six teachers who participated in this aspect of the study, five 127 gained skill. The "t" test was calculated on the average differences between the pre-test and post-test conferences. The change, which was almost significant at the .05 level, was considered significant at the
.10 confidence level.
Will beginning cooperating teachers who use independent study units on supervision provide less, as much, or more supervisory assistance to their student teachers in the areas of the study units as experienced coopera ting teachers?
Data to answer this question were obtained from the post-test
Areas of Assistance Checklist which was completed by the student teachers of both beginning and experienced cooperating teachers. The
items on this instrument were grouped into categories corresponding to the content of the four LAPCT. The beginning cooperating teachers scored higher than the experienced cooperating teachers in all of the categories. The greatest differences were in the areas of making the student teacher observation period worthwhile and helping the student teacher through evaluation. The application of the "t" test showed that the total mean difference between the two groups of cooperating teachers was significant at the .001 level of confidence.
The student teachers also gave one general rating of their cooperating teachers help during student teaching. On the general basis, the experienced cooperating teachers gave more assistance to their student teachers than did the beginning cooperating teachers.
A test of significance using a 95 per cent confidence interval showed the difference was not significant at the .05 level.
Will the change in the beginning cooperating teachers' attitudes toward the role of the cooperating teacher be related to the degree of assistance they provide their student teachers? 128
The method of least squares was used to compute the correla tion coefficient between the (I) assistance to student teacher scores and (2) change between the pre-test, post-test attitude instrument scores. The test indicated the two variables were not correlated.
Will the change in the beginning cooperating teachers' confidence in their ability to supervise be related to the degree of assistance they provide their student teachers?
The method of least squares was also used to secure an indica tion of the relationship between (I) assistance to student teacher scores and (2 ) change between pre-test, post-test confidence instrument scores. This analysis showed that the two factors were positively correlated with a coefficient of .80.
Satisfaction With Approach
How will beginning cooperating teachers evaluate the independent study units on supervision and feel about the acceptability of this method for preparing coopera ting teachers?
Scores obtained from a post satisfaction instrument and indi vidual interviews with the beginning cooperating teachers provided the data to analyze the subjects' feelings of satisfaction and dissatisfac tion with the method and materials.
On the first section of the satisfaction instrument, teachers were given the option of judging help received from the materials in total and/or each of the packages individually. Eight teachers cri tiqued the materials in total and nine critiqued the units individually.
The teachers who evaluated the materials in total were positively satisfied with the help they received. On a five-point scale they 129 gave 4.3 or higher ratings to eight of nine descriptive adjectives: positive, meaningful, sufficient, relevant, clear, appropriate, specific and necessary. Timing was rated 3.8. The lower rating was related to interview comments in which teachers indicated they would have preferred receiving the materials in their entirety prior to the supervision experience.
The nine teachers who evaluated the individual packages gave them the following mean ratings: orientation 4.2, observation 4.5, conference 4.2, and evaluation 4.6, When the packages were ranked according to the average satisfaction means, the order corresponded to the teachers' pre-test confidence levels.
The second section of the satisfaction instrument was concerned with the evaluation of the efficiency, effectiveness and satisfactori ness of specific components of the materials. In this section the teachers gave the highest mean rating (4.3) to the general learning activity package approach. Self-tests received the low rating of 3.1, apparently due to the obviousness of some of the answers. Of the categories of learning experiences evaluated, readings were rated highest and audio tape presentations lowest; the respective ratings were 3.8 and 3.3. It was conjectured the high rating on the readings was because of their conciseness and availability. Interview comments suggested that the audio tapes were rated lower due to their lengthi ness and difficulty in obtaining the equipment to play them. The overall mean of 3.8 for the ten items evaluated for efficiency, effec tiveness, and satisfaction indicated the teachers felt the items in 130 total were more efficient, effective, and satisfying than inefficient,
ineffective, and dissatisfying.
The teachers unanimously said their knowledge about supervi sion had improved as a result of completing the packages. Ten
indicated their supervision skills had improved. They all reported they could recommend the observation and evaluation LAPCT to other cooperating teachers. Ten felt they could recommend the orientation package, while nine felt they could recommend the conference package.
Four recommended that another teacher preparing to be a supervisor should view the slide presentation while the remaining teachers were undecided. The teachers suggested the slides could be improved by including pictures of non-Caucasian pupils and less lavish physical faciIities.
The mean satisfaction level of the teachers on the seventy, five-point scale items was 4.07, which meant that on an objective style rating the teachers evaluated the independent study units positively and felt the technique was an acceptable method for preparing cooperating teachers.
Teacher Interview Comments
Data collected from interviews with the cooperating teachers provided subjective feedback on the materials.
How do you feel about the Learning Activity Package approach to cooperating teacher education?
All eleven cooperating teachers perceived merit in using the independent study units as a new approach to cooperating teacher education. 131
Which activities did you do in each of the lessons i n the packages?
Readings were the most popular learning activity. The teachers collectively completed all the activities in the Learning Activity
Packages.
How well did the special materials fulfill your needs?
The teachers answered this question by referring to specific materials. The orientation package was viewed as an aid in making the first week of student teaching a meaningful experience. The observation package helped the teachers become aware of their role during student teacher observation. More than one-third of the teachers stated they Ii ked the references on what the student teacher should be observing and techniques for guiding her observation. The
"How Are Meaningful Conferences Structured?" package was the most controversial of the study units. The major element questioned was the overemphasis on the formal conference. The audio tape presentations and the opportunity to tape and evaluate conferences with their student teachers were the two most frequently mentioned helpful aspecTs of the package. Of all the packages, the "How To Help Your Student Teacher
Through Evaluation" package received the most favorable comments. More than one-half of the teachers appreciated the sample recommendations while more than one-third reported being pleased with the explanations of what the various student teaching grades represented. More than one-fourth of the teachers said they found the pupil and daily evaluation forms valuable resources. 132
Are there other areas in supervision that you would suggest as topics for LAPCT?
None of the teachers suggested a specific area for an addi
tional package.
What suggestions do you have for improving Learning Activity Packages for Cooperating Teachers?
Most of the teachers felt they had Implied their suggestions
in responses to other questions. The additional suggestions were
(I) placing the readings immediately following the lessons for
which they were designated rather than all together at the back of the package and (2 ) consolidating some repetitious readings.
Cone I us ion
The effectiveness and acceptance of the four LAPCT by the beginning cooperating teachers supports the contention that the self-instructionaI approach is of educational value as a means of in-service education for cooperating teachers. It seems appropriate, therefore, to begin to take action on the findings of the study. 133
Implications and Recommendations
I. Even a group of experienced cooperating teachers, one-fourth of
whom had supervision coursework, were presumably not doing as
good a supervision job as the beginning cooperating teachers in
the areas encompassed by the LAPCT, as judged by the responses of
the student teachers. It is recommended, therefore, that the
LAPCT be used by cooperating teachers at all experimental levels.
In addition, more independent study units could be developed for
use by both groups of cooperating teachers. The review of liter
ature and the researcher’s discussions with both beginning and
experienced cooperating teachers suggest three priority areas in
which packages are needed: (I) orienting the cooperating teacher
to the student teaching program, (2 ) helping the student teacher
plan, and (3) helping the student teacher with the use of instruc
tional aids and methods.
Furthermore, the independent study approach could be imple
mented in areas of in-service education besides supervision. Units
could be developed and submitted to a library bank managed by a
professional organization such as the American Association of
Colleges for Teacher Education or the National Education Associa
tion. Through an annual subscription and/or an "open stock"
basis teachers and administrators could be given the opportunity
to select the bank packages which would meet their needs. The
service could become a valuable resource for in-service teachers,
supervisors, and administrators. Findings from the study and the investigator’s opinions about the
packages suggest guidelines to follow when designing self-instruc
tional materials for in-service teachers.
a. Preparation of independent study units is a lengthy
process. Adequate time must be a I lowed for package
development.
b. Self-tests must be challenging or, as one teacher
suggested, replaced with outline summaries at the end
of each lesson.
c. Everything in the packages must be concise. There should
be no repetition of content in readings. Recorded presen
tations should be limited to fifteen minutes in length.
d. Either excerpts from published materials or text composed
by the package author may be used as readings. However,
more concise readings that fulfill unit objectives result
from text specifically prepared for the packages.
e. All content which is taped should be duplicated in a
written form in order to accommodate those educators
who prefer to gain ideas by reading rather than by listen
ing or who have limited access to audio recorders.
Certain modifications must be made in the original LAPCT. The
beginning cooperating teachers' low assistance to student teacher
scores in observation suggest the cooperating teachers need more guidance in that area. Of the four packages, the conference package
received the lowest satisfaction rating. The package must be
restructured in line with the teachers' criticism that the content 135
focused too much on the formal rather than the informal conference
which they more routinely conduct. An effort should be made to
relate how certain conference principles are used in both types
of conferences. Lastly, package content should be revised on the
basis of the measurement instrument items where the teachers
experienced limited growth and/or low scores.
4. The measurement instruments for the study could be used as a basis
for further developing and individualizing cooperating teacher
education programs. Teachers could be requestbd to complete the
Cooperating Teacher Attitude Scale and Confidence Scale for Coopei—
ating Teachers as a means of determining the areas where they feel
inadequate and have misconceptions about their role. The data
obtained from the instruments could be used as the foundation for
workshops, courses, and individual conferences between cooperating
teacher and college supervisor. In addition, the student teacher
completed Areas of Assistance Checklist could also be used to
determine where the cooperating teachers needed to be helped to
improve.
5. The groundwork for a controlled experimental investigation has been
established by this feasibility study. In further research consid
eration might be given to the following approaches:
a. apply the independent study cooperating teacher prepara
tion approach in other teaching fields;
b. compare the independent study cooperating teacher
preparation approach with other techniques for educating
off-campus cooperating teachers; distribute independent study units to cooperating teachers on the basis of their individual concerns about the supervisory role. APPENDIXES
Append ix
A Table 25 - Years Classroom Experience of Beginning and Experienced Cooperating Teachers
B Table 26 - Number Student Teachers Previously Supervised by Experienced Cooperating Teachers
C "How To Help Your Student Teacher Through Evaluation" Learning Activity Package for Cooperating Teachers
D Cooperating Teacher Attitude Scale
E Confidence Scale for Cooperating Teachers
F Conference Evaluation Form
G Cooperating Teacher Satisfaction Scale
H Interview Schedule Questions
I Areas of Assistance Checklist
J College Supervisor's Introductory Letter to Beginning Cooperating Teachers
K Letter Notifying Beginning Cooperating Teachers of Interview Schedule Questions
L Case Studies of Cooperating Teachers
M Case Study Evidence
N Table 38 - Categories of Questions in Cooperating Teacher Attitude Scale
0 Tables 39 - 42, Activities Cooperating Teachers Reported Doing in Learning Activity Packages for Cooperating Teachers
137 APPENDIX A
TABLE 25
YEARS CLASSROOM EXPERIENCE OF BEGINNING AND EXPERIENCED COOPERATING TEACHERS
Begi nn i ng Teachers Exper i enced Teachers Years Experience Frequency Per Cent Frequency i^er Cent
1-3 9 81 2 08
4-6 0 0 3 12
7-10 1 9 4 16
1 1-15 1 9 9 36
Over 16 0 0 7 28
Total 11 99. 25 100.
138 APPENDIX D
TABLE 26
NUMBER STUDENT TEACHERS PREVIOUSLY SUPERVISED BY EXPERIENCED COOPERATING TEACHERS
Cooperati nq Teachers Number S+uderrh Teachers Frequency T^er Cent
2 - 4 12 48
5 - 7 3 12
8 - 10 5 20
II - 13 0 00
14 - 16 2 08
17 - 19 0 00
20 - 22 1 04
23 - 25 1 04
Over 25 1 04
TotalI 25 100
139 APPENDIX C
LEARN ING ACTIVITY PACKAGES FOR COOPERATING TEACHERS
5 4 3 2 1
Personal Characteristics
Professional Attitudes
Teacher Attributes
Teacher Abilities
HOW TO HELp YOUR STUDENT TEACHER THROUGH EVALUATION
140 Idea to be Studied: Helping Your Student Teacher Through Evaluation
Component Parts:
I. Purposes and Principles of Student Teacher Evaluation— Lesson I, p. 2.
"Knowledge of purposes and principles of student teacher evaluation helps in planning an evaluation program that promotes student teacher growth."
II. Use of Procedures and Materials in Student Teacher Evaluation— Lesson II, p. 3.
"A wide variety of evaluation techniques is necessary to get an accurate picture of student teacher growth."
Cooperating Teacher Objectives:
The cooperating teacher:
1. understands the three basic purposes evaluation serves in the teacher education program;
2. plans and implements an evaluation program for her student teacher that utilizes the basic principles of student teacher evaluation;
3. uses a variety of techniques and procedures to collect and interpret student teacher behavior and growth;
4. writes a recommendation for her student teacher that is fair to the student teacher and helpful to a pros pective employer. 142
LESSON NUMBER ONE
PURPOSES AND PRINCIPLES OF STUDENT TEACHER EVALUATION
"Knowledge of purposes and principles of student teacher evaluation helps in planning an evaluation program to promote student teacher growth."
Instructions: Complete the readings and then do as many of the other activities as you feel are relevant and important to the success of your student teacher and your success as a cooperating teacher.
COOPERATING TEACHER ACTIVITIES
READ: "Purposes of Evaluation," page 8.
"Basic Principles of Student Teacher Evaluation," pages 9-12.
LISTEN: Listen to audio tape tf3 on which a student teacher describes how her cooperating teacher helped her through evaluation. (This tape is 12 minutes long.)
Listen to audio tape #1 - "A Supervisory Planning Conference" and note the questions the supervisor asked to guide the student teacher in analyzing the appropriateness of her daily lesson plan. WRITE a list of the supervisor's questions as you listen to the tape.
CONFERENCE: Use your student teacher's "Personal Goals for Student Teaching" page from her Student Teacher Handbook as a basis for a conference with her. Determine with her how she wi II act when she has reached each goal. Asking the student teacher "How would a teacher who had attained this goal act?" may help in guiding the conference. WRITE down your conclusions. During one of your f i naI conferences, use this as a basis for helping your student teacher evaluate her progress toward meet ing her personal goals for student teaching. LESSON NUMBER TWO
USES OF PROCEDURES AND MATERIALS IN STUDENT TEACHER EVALUATION
"A wide variety of evaluation techniques is necessary to get an accurate picture of student teacher growth."
Instructions: Complete the reading and then do as many of the other activities as you feel are relevant and important to the success of your student teacher and your success as a cooperating teacher. After completing the lesson, evaluate your progress for Lessons I and II by taking the self-test which is on pages 5 and 6 .
COOPERATING TEACHER ACTIVITIES
READ: "Use of Procedures and Materials in Student Teacher Evaluation," pp. 13-19.
Preparation for evaluation ...... 13 Use of conference in informal evaluation . . . 13 Rating Scales and other instruments used to judge a single lesson...... 14 Anecdotal and cumulative records ...... 14 Midterm evaIuation ...... 15 Pupil evaluation ...... 15 Final evaluation, grading...... 15 Final conference ...... 16 Recommendation for the placement office. . . . 17
PLAN: Plan an evaluation program for your student teacher, using as many of the procedures mentioned in the readings as are appropriate.
SELECT: When planning your student teacher evaluation program, include as many of the evaluation forms from the LAPCT and the Student Teacher Handbook as you feel wi I I pro mote your student teacher’s growth. (Feel free to adapt the forms for your special needs.) LESSON NUMBER TWO (Continued)
EVALUATE: After using the forms, evaluate independently and also with your student teacher how helpful each type of form was in giving her ( D a picture of her strengths and weaknesses and (2) a sense of direction.
DUPLICATE: Make copies of the evaluation instruments which you find most successful in guiding your student teacher's growth and use the copies during the remainder of the student teaching period.
STUDY: Review the suggestions for each evaluation procedure immediately prior to using it with your student teacher. 145
SELF-TEST
Check your progress by answering the following questions.
1. Name three purposes of student teacher evaluation.
a. b.
c.
2. List six words or phrases descriptive of evaluation that would promote student teacher growth.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
3. Mrs. Thomas's student teacher, Kay Norris, made real growth during student teaching, had more major competencies than liabilities but had few outstanding abilities. A fair grade for Mrs. Thomas to recommend for Kay would be:
a. A b. B c. C d. 0
4. At midterm evaluation Mrs. Brown wanted to give her student teacher an indication of her progress in grade form. The student teacher had about an equal number of strengths and weaknesses, and had done some fairly good work in organizing a nursery school for a child development unit. Mrs. Brown would be wise to indicate to the student teacher that her estimate of work done up to midterm time was: a. B b. C
c. C to B-
d. B to A- 146
SELF-TEST (Continued)
MATCHING: Match the suggested guides for writing student teacher reconmendations with the samples that illustrate the principles.
A. Give both strengths 1. Miss Sample doesn't seem to have a and weaknesses. great fund of information which, of course, is normal among beginning teachers, but she prepares so care B. Give evidence of ful ly each day that her deficiency behavior that bears is a I most Iost f rom v i ew . out qua Iities you 2. Miss Carter will be a strong teacher ascribe to student and will work well with a school teacher. staff on a highly professional basis.
3. Miss Sample was quick to utilize C. Avoid overly blunt resources at hand in her teaching. statements in present For example, she invited a repre ing student teacher sentative of a local lumber yard to weaknesses. talk on woods used in furniture and borrowed many visual aids from the community department store and exten D. Predict student’s sion of f i ce . future success as 4. The highlight of Miss Carter's student a teacher. teaching was the organization and implementation of a very successful nursery school as a laboratory for her E. Identi fy type of child development unit. situation in which student teacher will 5. With increasing understanding of most probably succeed, pupils and techniques, Miss Davis may do an average teaching job. I recom mend a C grade for her student F. Recall student teaching experience. teacher’s most 6 . Because of this, Miss Elliot will pro outstandi ng bably be more effective in teaching in ach ievement. a middle-class community. She will be equally at home in junior or senior high grades. G. Be sure written description corre 7. Miss Nob lick is pleasant and well sponds with grade. groomed. She is cooperative and responds well to supervision, although she does not find it easy to follow through on specific instructions. She has shown gradual improvement in her daily planning but she still finds it difficult to gauge her instruction to student needs.
Check your answers to the Self-Test with the key on page 7. 147
TEST KEY
I. Three purposes of student teacher evaluation:
a. Reveals student teacher needs and strengths and suggests additional steps which will promote student teacher growth.
b. Serves as guide to effective placement of student teacher in a teaching position.
c. Provides a basis for altering home economics education program.
2. Words or phrases descriptive of evaluation that would stimulate student teacher growth:
a. Based on goals f . Democratic
b. Constructive criticism 9- Positive
c. Comprehensive h. Self-discovery, self-evaluation
d. Conti nuous Specif ic
e. Cooperative j* Variety of techniques
3. b.
4. c.
Match i no
C
D
B APPENDIX D
Number
COOPERATING TEACHER ATTITUDE SCALE*
This form consists of a series of statements. Use the rating scale to the right of the statement for indicating the extent to which you agree, disagree or are uncertain about your beliefs concerning each item. Rating Scale
SA - Strongly Agree A - Agree U - Uncertain D - Disagree SD - Strongly Disagree
SA A U DSD
1. The cooperating teacher should lay the groundwork for a feeling of mutual acceptance and respect among the student teacher, the coopera ting teacher, and the classroom pupi is.
2. The cooperating teacher should pre pare the class for the student teacher by briefing pupils on her background and interest prior to the day of her arrival.
3. The cooperating teacher should alert herself to the student teacher's capabilities by becoming acquainted with her personal and educational background and quali- f ications.
4. The cooperating teacher should introduce the student teacher to staff members.
148 149
SAAUD SD
The cooperating teacher should pro vide for orientation of the student teacher to the school before she does any formal large-scale teach ing.
The cooperating teacher should introduce the student teacher to routine matters of the school and department.
A student teacher should not be involved in routine school acti vities beyond the point where learning ceases to take place.
The cooperating teacher should gradually lead the student teacher into full-time teaching by letting her assume varied and partial roles, proceeding from smaller responsibilities to larger ones.
The cooperating teacher should involve the student teacher in the classroom situation from the begin ning of the student teaching period.
The cooperating teacher should provide opportunities for the student teacher to become acquainted with library materials and resources as well as other school services.
The cooperating teacher should make it possible for the student teacher to become acquainted with school policies and philosophy.
The cooperating teacher should provide opportunities for the student teacher in such experiences as supervision of extracurricular acti vities and/or attendance at faculty meetings, school social functions and civic group meetings. 150
SASU
13. The cooperating teacher should have her pupils share in plans to help the student teacher become acquainted with them and their activities.
14. The cooperating teacher should make tentative plans for the student teacher's first day.
15. The cooperating teacher should provide the student teacher with a persona I-professionaI sketch of herself (the cooperating teacher).
16. The cooperating teacher should provide opportunities for making observations meaningful for the student teacher by providing her with lists of items for which to watch.
17. The cooperating teacher should attempt to space observation by the student teacher throughout the student teaching period.
18. The cooperating teacher should present demonstration lessons as an example for the student teacher.
19. The student teacher should act with the cooperating teacher as co-planner of activities and learning situations.
20. The cooperating teacher should provide opportunity for the student teacher to use visual and aural-aid machines, duplicating machines, and other equipment related to teaching.
21. The cooperating teacher should hold frequent conferences with the student teacher as a means of con tinuous evaluation of progress. 151
SA A U D SD 22. The cooperating teacher should evaluate progress of pupils as a means of evaluating the student teacher.
23. The cooperating teacher should help the student teacher to overcome weaknesses in methods of teaching and presentation.
24. The cooperating teacher should give frank and constructive criticism to the student teacher.
25. The cooperating teacher should encourage conferences with definite purpose, spacing them for proper planning, reflection and evaluation.
26. The evaluation of the student teacher's work should be construc tive, continuous and comprehensive.
27. The final report should include a comprehensive picture of the student teacher's achievements and needs for further growth.
28. The cooperating teacher should help the student teacher clarify educa tional theories and principles.
29. The cooperating teacher should present a spirit of understanding and constructive helpfulness toward the student teacher.
30. The cooperating teacher should stimulate the student teacher to evaluate her own performance with increasing objectivity.
^Adapted from Supervising Teacher Attitude Scale— Elizabeth Williams Brabble, "Attitudes of Supervising Teachers Toward Selected Concepts and Practices Ascribed to Their Role in the Student Teaching Program" (unpublished Master's thesis, Pennsylvania State University, 1966), pp. 97-112. APPENDIX E
Number CONFIDENCE SCALE FOR COOPERATING TEACHERS*
Please place an (X) before the word or words that most nearly describe your feelings about each of the statements below.
1. I am confident that I understand the role of the cooperating teacher.
Very Confident Confident Uncertain Very Uncertain
2. I am confident that I know how to develop an atmosphere of acceptance for a student teacher.
Very Confident Conf i dent Uncerta i n Very Uncertain
3. I am confident that I know how a student teacher and I can become acquainted and work as a team.
______Very Confident Conf i dent Uncertain Very Uncertain
4. I am confident that I know how to orient a student teacher to the over-all school situation.
Very Confident Confident Uncertain Very Uncertain
5. I am confident that I know how to make student teacher observa tions meani ngful.
Very Confident Conf i dent Uncertain Very Uncertain
152 153
6. I am confident that I know how to induct a student teacher into teaching.
Very Confident Conf i dent Uncertain Very Uncertain
7. I am confident that I know how to structure conference periods with a student teacher.
Very Confident Confident Uncertai n Very Uncertain
8. I am confident that I know how to evaluate with a student teacher in order to promote growth and self-evaluation.
Very Confident Conf i dent Uncerta i n Very Uncertain
^Adapted from Confidence Scale— Charles W. Vlcek, "Assessing the Effect and Transfer Value of a Classroom Simulator Technique" (unpublished Doctoral dissertation, Michigan State University, 1965), pp. 184-186. APPENDIX F
Date CONFERENCE EVALUATION FORM*
CONFERENCE INTRODUCTION
The introduction phase of a supervisory conference "sets the stage" for student involvement in the body of the conference. The introduction should inspire the student teacher to want to accomplish the objectives of the conference. DEGREE OF You can use the following items to ACCOMPLI SHMENT help you evaluate your introduction of the conference. Put an X in the x CO V E box which best describes HOW 'WELL E X YOU ACCOMPLISHED the item. If you CL R A C § did not accompIish the item, put an Y V E X below DID NOT ACCOMPLISH. 8 < E L P PRG L During the introduction of the 0 0 A 0 E conference hew well did you — o 0 0 G 0 N □ R R E D T 1. provide an appropriate physical setting? (e.g., quiet, private, comfortable atmosphere) e j e j e j e j e j e j
2. have all necessary materials ready for use? (e.g., evaluation forms, aids, tape recordings, teaching materials) e j e j e j e j e j e j
3. exhibit behavior designed to relieve tension in your student teacher? (e.g., was informal, relaxed and accepting in manner) E J E J E J E J E J E J 4. establish with your student teacher the objectives of the conference? (e.g., objectives were determined cooperatively) E J E J E J E J E J E J 5 . provide continuity? (e.g., related the objectives of the conference to previous conferences or experiences) EJ EJ EJ EJ EJ EJ
154 155 Date
CONFERENCE BODY
Most of the discussion, planning and evaluation should take place during the body of the supervisory conference. It should be a time of student teacher involvement and cooperative endeavor. DEGREE OF You can use the following items to help ACCOMPLISHMENT you evaluate the body of the conference. I V E Put an X in the box which best describes to _J E X HOW WELL YOU ACCOMPLISHED the item. If CL s RA C "3TcTyou "3TcTyou not acconpIi sh the item, put an o Y V E X below DID NOT ACCOMPLISH 8 c E L P PRG L During the body of the conference how t— o 0 0 A 0 E well did you— : Z o 0 0 G 0 N R REDT I. give the student teacher an oppor o tunity to express her ideas about her teaching performance? a e j e j CJ CJ CJ 2. assist the student teacher in identi fying patterns of teaching behavior? (e.g., substantiated the teaching behaviors with tape recordings, records, aids, etc.) c j c j m c j c j h j 3. offer constructive criticism in an empathetic and accepting manner? (e.g., was understanding and suppor tive when evaluating the student teacher's strengths and weaknesses) C J CJ CJ C J CJ CJ
4. encourage the student teacher to do creative thinking and planning? (e.g., was receptive to student teacher's ideas) CJ CJ CJ CJ CJ CJ 5. emphasize only one or tv/o major items on which the student teacher should con centrate her efforts for improvement? (e.g., did not confuse the student teacher with too many ideas at one time) CJ CJ CJ EJ CJ EJ 6. use time effectively? (e.g., did not waste time on extraneous talk) C J C J C J CJ C J CJ 156 Date CONFERENCE CLOSURE
In addition to pulling together the major poi nts of the conference and acting as a link between past and future expe riences, the closure should leave the student teacher with a feeli ng of achievement and a sense of direction. DEGREE OF You can use the following items to ACCOMPLISHMENT help you evaluate your closure of the conference. Put an X in the box which best describes NOV/ V/ELL YOU ACCOMPL I SHED V E the item. If you did not accomplish the EX item, put an X in the box below DID NOT o R AC o ACCOMPLISH. o Y V E < E L During the closure of the conference P P RGL how' we I Yd i d you — 0 0 A 0 E a 0 0 G 0 N 1. assist the student teacher in a R RE DT reviewing the major points dis cussed? (e.g., stressed important ideas and clarified any misunder stand i ngs) e j c e j c c c 2. give the student teacher an opportun ity to determine and express future objectives? (e.g., reached an agree ment on next steps to be taken) EJ O E J C E J E J 3. keep a written record of agreements reached and make sure the student teacher had a comparable record? a EJ C J E J E J E J 4. reinforce desirable teaching behavior patterns that had been identified? (e.g., ended the conference on an encouraging note and left the student teacher with a feeling of acccmpIish- m e n t ) c c j c j c a e j
^Adapted from Conference Critique Form— The Center for Vocational and Technical Education, (Columbus: The Ohio State University), 1969. APPENDIX G Number _____
COOPERATING TEACHER SATISFACTION SCALE: HELP
RECEIVED FROM SPECIAL MATERIALS FOR COOPERATING TEACHERS *
I. Instructions:
The purpose of this section of the scale is to determine how SAT ISFI ED you feel about the HELP you received from the special materials for cooperating teachers. Help refers to the broad category of assistance given, or not given, by the materials inclu ding the suggested learning activities, the slide presentation, the audio tapes, the readings, etc. Rate each pair of words by circling the number which best describes your feelings. For example, if your feelings are related to the word on the right, ci rele "5".
Neqati ve 1 2 3 4 (5) Pos it i ve
If your feelings are re 1ated to the word on the left, circle "1".
Negati ve (1) 2 3 4 5 Pos i ti ve
Degrees of feelings can be placed along the scale as desired with a neutral feeling placed in the central position. Mark every item. Do not puzzle over individual items because your first impressions are usually most desirable.
Help I received from the special materials for cooperating teachers was —
(Note: You may react to the materials in total and/or you may react to the individual packages on the Supplementary Sheet which is attached at the back of this Scale.) Materials in Total 1. Negative 1 2 3 4 5 ■ Pos i t i ve 2 . Mean i nqless 1 2 3 4 5 Mean i nafu 1 3. 1nsuffi ci ent 1 2 3 4 5 Suf f i ci ent 4. Irrelevant 1 2 3 4 5 Re levant 5. Hazy 1 2 3 4 5 C lear 6 . 1nappropri ate 1 2 3 4 5 Appropriate 7. Genera 1 1 2 0 4 5 Spec i f i c 8 . Poorly Timed 1 2 3 4 5 We 11 Timed Unnecessary 1 2 3 4 5 Necessary 157 158
II. The purpose of this section of the scale is to determine the extent to which you felt the special materials for cooperating teachers exemplified an efficient, effective and/or satisfying METHOD of learning.
a. Efficient - means the method was convenient, practical, and manageable especially in regard to the time and energy required.
b. Effective - means the method was influential, and a con tributing factor in achieving results in learning to supervise a student teacher.
c. Satisfying - means you were comfortable with the method and found it adequate, gratifying, and pleasing.
Each of the following statements is to be rated by circling the number which best indicates your feeling. Mark every item.
Orientation to the materials:
10. Inefficient 1 2 3 4 5 Eff ic ient II. 1neffeet i ve 1 2 3 4 5 Effective 12. Not Satisfying 1 2 3 4 5 Sat i sf'v i ng
Self-tests:
13. Inefficient 1 2 3 4 5 Lffi c i ent 14. Ineffective 1 2 3 4 5 Effect i ve 15. Not Satisfying 11 2 ;> 4 5 Sati sfying
Slide presentation on "Role of the Home Economics Cooperati Teacher:"
16. Inefficient 1 2 3 4 5 Eff i c i ent P7. Ineffective 1 2 3 4 5 Effect i ve 18. Not Sat isfy i ng 1 2 3 4 5 Sat i sfvi ng
Personal effort required:
19. Inefficient 1 2 3 4 5 Eff i ci ent 20. Not Satisfying 11 2 0 4 5 Sat i sfv i no
Learning experiences:
21. Ineffective 1 2 3 4 5 Effect i ve 22. Not Satisfying 1 2 3 4 5 Satisfying 159
Length of materials:
25. 1 nef f ici eni* 1 2 3 4 5 Eff i ci ent 24. Dot Satisfying i 2 5 4 5 Sati sfy ing
Readi ngs:
25. Inefficient 1 2 3 4 5 Efficient 26. Ineffective 1 2 3 4 5 Effecti ve 27. Met Satisfying I 3 4 5 Sati sfvino
Audio tape presentations:
26. 1nefficient 1 2 3 4 5 Eff ic i ent 29. 1nef feet i ve 1 2 3 A 5 Effectivo 50. Not Satisfying 1 2 3 4 a Sat i sfy i ng
Learning Activity Package approach to cooperating teacher education:
31. 1neff i ci ent 1 T~ 3 4 5 Etf icient 32. Ineffective 1 2 3 4 a Effecfivo 33. Not Satisfying 1 2 5 4 a Sat i stying
ration of materials:
34. Inefficient 1 2 3 4 5 Eff i c i ent
^Adapted from Teacher Satisfaction Sea Ies— Charlos Wood, "Teacher Satis faction Scale" (Akron, Ohio: University of Akron), cited by Lila Catherine Murphy, "The Feasibility of Audiotape->elephone Supervision of High School Teachers" (unpublished Doctoral dissertation,-The Ohio State University, I969)A pp. 46-47, Lila Catherine Murphy, "The Feasibility Audiotape-Telephone Supervision of High School Teachers" (unpublished Doctoral dissertation, The Ohio State University, 1969), pp. 154-160. 160 ill. Select one of the following answers for each statement below: "Yes," "Undecided," or "No." Place a checkmark (v*0 in the column under the word or phrase which best describes your feelings about each question.
U N D E C 1 Y D E E N S D 0
35. Have your supervision skills improved as a result of using the special materials for cooperating teachers?
36. Has your knowledge about sunervision increased as a result of using the special materials for cooperating teachers?
37. Would you recommend the "How Can 1 Get Ready For and Begin My Work 'With My Student Teacher?" Learning Activity Package to another coopera ting teacher?
38. V/ould you recommend the "How To Make Your Student Teacher's Observations Meaningful" Learning Activity Package to another cooperating teacher?
39. Would you recommend the "How Are Meaningful Conferences Structured?" Learning Activity Package to another cooperating teacher?
40. V/ould you recommend the "How To Help Your Student Teacher Through Evaluation" Learn ing Activity Package to another cooperating teacher?
41. V/ould you recommend the slide presentation "Role of the Home Economics Cooperating Teacher" to another home economics coopera ting teacher? 161
SUPPLEMENTARY SHEET
Help I received from the Learn inn Activity Package "How Can I Cet Ready For and Begin My Work With My Student Teacher?" was—
42. Negati ve 1 2 3 4 5 Pos iti ve 43. ; 'eon i Rfi 1 ess 1 2 a 4 5 Mean i nnfu1 44. 1 nsuffi c i ent 1 2 3 4 5 Suff ic ient 45. 1rre1evant 1 2 3 4 5 Re levant 46. Hazv 1 2 3 4 5 C tear 47. 1 napnronriate 1 2 3 4 5 Appropri ate 48. Genera 1 1 2 3 4 5 Spec i f i c 49. Poorlv Timed 1 2 3 4 5 We II T i ned 50. Unnecessary 1 2 3 4 5 Necessary
Help I received from the Learning Activity Package "How To Make Your Student Teacher’s Observations Meaningful" was—
51. Negative 1 2 a 4 5 Pos i t i ve 52. Mean i no !ess 1 2 3 4 5 Meani ngful 53. 1nsuff i ci ent 1 2 3 4 5 Suff i cient 54. 1rre1evant 1 2 3 4 5 Re 1evant 55. Hazy 1 2 3 4 5 C lear 56. 1 nappronr i ate 1 2 3 4 5 Appropri ate 57. Genera 1 1 2 a 4 5 Spec i f i c 58. Poorlv Timed 1 2 3 4 5 We II T imed 59. Unnecessary 1 2 3 4 5 Necessary
?ived from the Learning Activity Package "How Are Mear jnces Structured?" was— cn o Neqat i ve 1 2 3 4 5 Pos i ti ve 61. Mean i no loss 1 2 3 4 5 Mean ingfu1 62. 1nsuf f i c i ent ! 2 a 4 5 Suff icient 63. J rrelevant 1 2 3 4 5 Re 1evant 64. Hazy 1 2 3 4 5 C 1 ea r 65. 1 nappronr i ate 1 2 a 4 5 Anpropr iate 66. Genera 1 1 2 a 4 a Spec i f ic 67. Poor 1v Ii ned 1 2 3 4 5 We II T i ned 68. Unnecessary 1 2 3 4 5 Necess ity
Help I received from the Learning Activity Package "How to Help Your Student Teacher through Evaluation" was—
69. Negative "1 2" a 4 '5 Pos itive 70. Meanino less 1 2 a 4 5 Meani nnfu1 71. Insufficient 1 2 3 4 5 Suff i cient 72. Irrelevant 1 2 a 4 5 Re levant 73. Hazy 1 2 3 4 5 C lear 74. Inappropriate 1 2 3 4 5 appropri ate 7b. General 1 2 3 4 5 Speci f i c 76. Poorly timed 1 2 a 4 5 We II T i med 77. Unnecessary 1 2 3 4 5 Necessary APPENDIX H
INTERVIEW SCHEDULE QUESTIONS
1. How do you feel about the Learning Activity Package approach
to cooperating teacher education?
2. Which activities did you do in each of the lessons in the
packages?
3. How well did the special materials fulfill your needs?
4. Are there other areas in supervision that you would suggest as
topics for Learning Activity Packages for Cooperating Teachers?
5. What suggestions do you have for improving' the Learning Activity
Packages for Cooperating Teachers?
162 APPENDIX I
Number AREAS OF ASSISTANCE CHECKLIST*
Directions: The following form contains detailed listings of areas in which a cooperating teacher may be of assistance to her student teacher. Using the criteria listed below, check the blanks with an X under the listing which best exemplifies the extent of assistance you received from your cooperating teacher during student teaching. Please respond objectively to each item. The criteria are as follows:
MA - Much Assistance SA - Some Assistance LA - Little Assistance NA - No Assistance
Orientation Activities
The cooperating teacher— MA SA LA NA
1. cordially welcomed me to the student teaching si tuation. 2. prepared the pupils for me prior to my arrival. 3. had the pupils share in plans to help me get acquainted with them and their activities. 4. had made tentative plans for my first day of student teaching. 5. introduced me to the students in a status-giving manner. 6. introduced me to staff members. 7. in beginning helped me know her as a person and as a professionaI. 8. provided me with a place to store my personal and professional materials. 9. made it possible for me to become acquainted with school policies and philosophy. 10. assisted me in getting oriented to the community in which the school was located. 11. introduced me to the more common types of school and department routine matters. 163 MA SA LA NA 164
12. provided opportunity for me to become acquainted with department and school resources. 13. involved me in the classroom situation from the beginning of the student teaching period. 14. made my induction into teaching a gradual process. 15. oriented me to the school before I did any formal large-scale teaching. 16. adjusted my responsibility according to my personal and educational background. 17. provided opportunity for me to use audio-visual machines and other equipment related to teaching. 18. refrained from using me simply on tedious tasks. 19. provided opportunities for me to supervise extra curricular activities and/or attend faculty meetings, school social functions and civic group meetings. 20. socialized in out-of-school or in-school activities with me. 21. viewed us as a teachina team cooperatively striving to help students I earn".
Observation Activities
The cooperating teacher—
22. provided ample time for observation of her teaching. 23. suggested things to look for during my observations. 24. provided materials that guided me in my observations. 25. followed up my observations with discussion. 26. helped me clarify educational theories and principles. 27. encouraged me to observe throughout the student teaching period.
Conference Activities
The cooperating teacher—
28. provided for frequent conferences. 29. encouraged conferences with definite purposes. 30. prepared me for my role in conferences. 31. encouraged me to express my concerns, opinions, and ideas. 32. exhibited understanding and helpfulness. 33. gave frank and constructive criticism. 34. complimented my achievements. 35. aided me in the development of self-evaluation. 36. helped me overcome my weaknesses in methods of teaching and presentation. 165
Evaluation Activities
The cooperating teacher— MA SA LA NA 37. encouraged my evaluation of her teaching. 38. provided continuous and comprehensive evaluation of my work. __ 39. reviewed my plans and commented upon them. 40. used a variety of evaluation techniques and pro- cedures to give me a picture of my growth. 41. offered specific suggestions concerning my teaching. 42. viewed the progress of pupils as a means of evaluating my teaching. 43. encouraged me to seek pupil evaluation of my teachi ng. ______44. indicated my progress in grade form.
Individual Comments
I. List the five ways in which your cooperating teacher was most beneficial to you. Be concise, but clear.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
II. Rate the overall extent of your cooperating teacher's assistance to you.
Very Strong
Strong
Adequate
Weak
Very Weak £ Adapted from Areas of Assistance Checklist— Larry Kay Johnson, "An Analy sis of Selected Factors in the Preparation of Secondary Teachers in Georgia" (unpublished Doctoral dissertation, University of Georgia, 1963), pp. 201-203. APPENDIX J
COLLEGE SUPERVISOR'S INTRODUCTORY LETTER TO TO BEGINNING COOPEHATING TEACHERS
March 13, 1970
Dear
Congratulations on being asked to participate as a home economics cooperating teacher for The Ohio State University. I am your student teacher's college supervisor and I am pleased you will be working v/ith us this coming spring quarter.
Studies have shown that cooperating teachers are the most significant influence on the prospective teacher's education. You need not be awed by the responsibility you have assumed, however, for the college supervisor is also a member of your student teacher's supervisory team and together we will plan, guide, and evaluate her student teaching experience. Nevertheless, beginning cooperating teachers have many questions. It is ideal if a cooperating teacher can take a course in supervision to answer these questions. This gives her the help and assurance she needs to provide the most success ful experience for both her student teacher and herself.
However, it is not always possible for a cooperating teacher to take such a course. Therefore, I have been developing materials that cooperating teachers could study and use in lieu of taking a formal supervision course. At this point, the materials are ready to be used and evaluated by cooperating teachers. I would like to discuss with you your possible help in this area. Your cooperation would not involve much additional time and it would give you valuable assistance in working with your student teacher. I shall be contacting you to arrange a time when we can discuss this matter and make initial plans for your student teacher.
I am looking forward to working with you as a fellow teacher educator.
Sincerely,
(Mrs.) Sandra Miller College Supervisor 166 APPENDIX K
LETTER NOT IFYING BEGINNING COOPERATING TEACHERS OF INTERVIEW SCHEDULE QUEST IONS
Dear
I am looking forward to visiting with you and Student Teacher's Name on Date. In addition to our normal schedule of supervision activities on that day I hope we can also find time to discuss your reaction to the Learning Activity Packages for Cooperating Teachers. I am especially anxious to have your comments on the following topics:
1. How do you feel about the Learning Activity Package approach to cooperating teacher education?
2. Which activities did you do in each of the lessons in the package?
3. How well did the special materials fulfill your needs?
4. Are there other areas in supervision that you would suggest as topics for Learning Activity Packages for Cooperating Teachers?
5. What suggestions do you have for improving Learning Activity Packages for Cooperating Teachers?
Your comments and suggestions will be a great assistance in helping us improve our cooperating teacher education program.
Sincere Iy,
(Mrs.) Sandra Miller College Supervisor
167 APPENDIX L
CASE STUDIES OF COOPERATING TEACHERS
By means of the case study technique, this appendix presents anecdotal data in relation to the effects of the self-instructional materials on the individual cooperating teachers. The purpose of this approach was to analyze and report the data that were considered difficult to measure in an objective manner. The data were collected from three sources: the researcher's observations and interviews with the teachers, conferences and conversations with both the cooperating teachers and student teachers, and the participants' ratings on the objective evaluation instruments. The cases are presented in the order in which the researcher made her initial contacts with the teachers.
Occasionally reference is given to concrete evidence which is supportive of the effectiveness of the LAPCT; this evidence is located in Appendix
M.
TEACHER "A"
"A" taught in an inner-city high school. Although the school plant was old, the home economics department facilities were comfortable and ample.
On our first meeting "A", who had taught for three years, expressed enthusiasm over having a student teacher. She was obviously pleased that she had been recommended to be a cooperating teacher. "A" 168 169
misunderstood her new role, however. She saw it as an opportunity to
have someone else teach the units and classes for which she did not
care. In response to the suggestion in the slides on meeting the
student teacher prior to the start of the formal classroom experience,
"A" said she was "too busy." "A" took notes during the slide presen
tation, however, and at the conclusion asked questions concerning the
length of the student teaching period. On receiving the LAPCT
she stated, "Other cooperating teachers don't get help like you are
giving."
During the second supervisory visit "A" remarked that the
packages were interesting, although she did not agree with some of the
ideas. However, according to the student teacher, "A" utilized several
ideas from the orientation package. Despite her comment on insuffi
cient time to meet the student teacher prior to the student teaching
experience, she called and invited her to the school to visit for a
period. She prepared the pupils for the arrival of the student teacher,
and, as a part of the preparation, had them write autobiographies to
acquaint the student teacher with them. She prepared written guidelines
for the student teacher, which included such areas as pupil grading, her expectations in lesson plans, and suggestions for weekly assumption of
responsibilities. "A" also gave the student teacher a professional
sketch of herself and a place to store her materials. She left the orientation to school policy, procedures, philosophy, and plant to the
school curriculum director who did this as a service for all cooperating and student teachers. 170
"A" interpreted gradual induction into teaching as occasionally
having her student teacher be responsible for a demonstration or
discussion for an entire period. During the third supervisory visit,
however, "A" stated that she now saw the importance of the "bit teaching" concept because "taking over an entire forty-minute discussion all at once was a little too much for a beginner."
"A's" student teacher reported that "A" was only moderately helpful in guiding her observations. "A" described each pupil and, on one occasion, suggested that the student teacher try to pick out the
"troublemakers" in a class. The teachers had a discussion based on this observation.
"A" was thorough in student teacher evaluation. She did written critiques on unit and daily lesson plans, which she requested her student teacher to make in duplicate copies. She tried two daily evaluation procedures suggested in the evaluation LAPCT. One was the running anecdotal approach and the other was a daily evaluation form, which was divided simply into three columns headed "Good," "Heeds to
Improve," and "How to Improve." "A" did not believe in pupil evaluation, however. Upon receipt of the evaluation package and the mention of the merits of pupil evaluation, "A" stated that she did not believe in it.
She felt that she could give her student teacher all the evaluation that was necessary because she "was a better judge than the pupils." Her conviction on this did not change. However, as a compromise, at the end of student teaching she completed the sample evaluation forms in the LAPCT as she "thought the pupils would make them" and gave them to the student teacher. 171
"A” and her student teacher talked during every free period.
The student teacher commented she felt the talks were "discussions rather than conferences." It is significant to note that "A" was the cooperating teacher who commented that it was impossible to structure a conference. Her conference skills scores reflected that she was below the means for both the pre-test and post-test data collected from the Conference Evaluation Form (Table 27). "A's" ratings on the other
instruments were fairly consistently near the means (Table 27).
TABLE 27
COMPARISON OF COOPERATING TEACHER "A'S"
SCORES AND MEAN SCORES
A's Scores Mean Scores Instruments Pre- Post- Di ffer- Pre- Post- Di ffer- Test Test ence Test Test ence
Attitude 1.00 1.53 + .53 1. 16 1 .61 + .45 Conf idence 1.63 2.25 + .63 1 .64 2.28 + .64 Conference 1.09 2.26 + 1.17 2.08 2.90 + .82 Assistance 2.20 2.24 Sati sfacti on 4. 15 4.07
"A's" student teacher said she was especially beneficial to her in giving criticism, encouragement, and suggestions on ways to improve.
She also praised her understanding of students and her library of resource material.
During the interview with the researcher, "A" stated that she was overwhelmed by the materials at first and felt she could have done without them. However, once she studied them she found they "had good substantial things to help me. Never having had a student teacher 172 before, I thought she would just come in and take over my classes and
I would observe her. I didn't realize there was so much involved."
"A" believed the slide presentation v/as not too beneficial because
"it was meant to stimulate, but I was already excited about being a cooperating teacher and flattered to think I was chosen to have a student teacher in my third year of teaching." She also felt the presentation depicted an ideal situation because the pictures were solely of Caucasian students and "lavish equipment."
"A's" comments regarding the observation package indicated she was mainly concerned with her observation of the student teacher, rather than the student teacher's observation of her teaching style.
Despite the fact that "A's" student teacher did not take over her first class until the third week of the experience, "A" felt the student teacher "didn't really observe anything."
"A" summed up her feelings about the LAPCT at the end of the interview: "Having them in the beginning and reading them over is probably the best thing that could have happened."
TEACHER "0"
"B" had previously supervised two student teachers through an affiliation with another teacher education institution.m She had a
Master's degree and eleven to fifteen years of teaching experience.
During our first meeting she appeared concerned about her responsibility as both teacher and cooperating teacher. She took notes during our conference and seemed pleased with the independent study materials saying "they reflected a lot of work." 173
Prior +o the beginning of the student teaching experience, "B" contacted the college supervisor to ask her opinion on some information she was contemplating including in a welcome letter to her student teacher. She stated she was preparing the letter because she had been unsuccessful in attempts to contact the student teacher by telephone.
During our conversation "B" indicated she had been studying the pack ages and felt they were "real good." She also stated she had shared the packages with her principal.
"B's" study of the first packages apparently paid off, for her student teacher was pleased with her orientation and induction into teaching. "B" had assembled for her a folder of school materials, taken her on a tour of the building, introduced her to the principal and janitor, and given her a lesson-plan book and typed schedule of daily activities. In addition, she had introduced her to the department files, given her a place to store her materials, and held frequent conferences with her. The student teacher reported: "I was made to feel at home immediately, especially when Mrs. 1B * referred to us as a 'team of teachers' when she introduced me to the classes." "B" went on to explain to the classes that she would be the lead teacher and the student teacher would assist her for awhile. Later the student teacher would take over and "B" would help her.
"B" implemented the'bit teaching"and "drop-add" concepts in her work with her student teacher. She started out the first day by having the student teacher make out passes in homeroom. From this the student teacher progressed to calling the roll and then completing the written record of attendance. As soon as she had mastered these responsibilities, 174
"B" took over the homeroom and followed a similar induction process in orienting her student teacher into the methodology used in study halls.
The student teacher's classroom "bit teaching" assignments consisted of giving a demonstration on how to make a buttonhole and assisting individual pupils with their clothing projects. "B" indicated she was pleased with the student teacher's progress to this point.
By the college supervisor's second visit to "B" and her student teacher, they had completed their formal midterm evaluation. During this visit, "B" shared the anecdotal evaluation records and list of experiences she had used in the evaluation. She also shared examples of her daily evaluation techniques. Her student teacher mentioned that
"B" and her husband had entertained her in their home and that "B" had been helpful in explaining how to use the pupil permanent records.
Despite these positive signs, some negative signs were also detected,during this visit. "B" and her student teacher appeared to have differing philosophies of education, which became most apparent during the midterm evaluation. The result was that the student teacher did not report to school the day following the evaluation, in order that she could "have time to think." "B" was somewhat distressed by this as well as her student teacher's slow progress. The college super visor suggested to "B" that some written pupil evaluation might help the student teacher accept the suggestions which she had been unable to communicate. "B" was referred to sample pupil rating forms in the evaluation LAPCT.
During the next visit both teachers reported the pupil evalua tion had been beneficial, although "B" suggested some form changes that 175 would enable the pupils to give more accurate ratings. "B" also volunteered the information that she thought the conference package was very helpful. She indicated her conferences had previously not had any closure and the package pointed this out to her. The exper ience of listening to a tape of one of her conferences had helped her see there was too much cooperating teacher talk and not enough student teacher talk during the body of the conference.
As shown in Table 28, "B" made above average growth in attitude and confidence. Her acceptance of the materials was reflected in her high satisfaction rating and her statement: "Somebody ought to get his Ph.D. out of these materials." "B's" student teacher gave her a below-the-mean rating on the areas of assistance and a "weak" rating on the general extent of "B's" help to her. It is significant that the student teacher stated that the "personality clash was probably contri butory" to this low rating. In response to the question on the ways her cooperating teacher was most beneficial, "B's" student teacher answered that she "tried to be helpful," and "gave criticism." However, she qualified the latter by adding that the criticism was not relevant and
"B" expected her to "relate criticism from one of my first lessons to my last lessons, which I saw as completely different situations." 176
TABLE 28
COMPARISON OF COOPERATING TEACHER "B’S"
SCORES AND MEAN SCORES
B's Scores Mean Scores
Pre- Post- Di ffer- Pre- Post- Differ 1nstrunents Test Test ence Test Test ence
Atti tude 1.19 1 .79 + . 60 1. 16 1.61 + .45 Conf i dence 1.63 2.30 t .75 1 .64 2.28 + .64 Ass i stance 1.73 2.24 Sati sfact ion 4.87 4.07
TEACHER "C"
"C" had seven to ten years of teaching experience. During our
first meeting "C's" overall attitude v/as one of concern for providing
a sound, comprehensive experience for her student teacher. However, she
was quite apprehensive about her new role, which was reflected in her
comments and the numerous questions and notes she took. Her three
prime concerns were the student teacher's background for her field
experience, her personality, and meeting her on the first day of the
experience. The researcher suggested that it might be more comfortable
for both parties if they could get acquainted before student teaching
began. "C" was then referred to the section in the orientation package on "Getting Acquainted With Your Student Teacher." "C" said she was
pleased to have the help of the orientation and observation packages.
According to the student teacher, in introducing her to the
classes "C." said having a student teacher would be "like having two 177 teachers." During the first supervisory visit the student teacher also stated that she had helped "C" with responsibilities such as passing back papers in the first week of the experience. In conjunction with observation, "C" had shared information about various pupils with her.
At this visit "C" reported that the observation package was definitely helpful. "It helped me in knowing what she was going to look for and also helped me bring out a few points I thought she should observe."
"C" was grateful to receive the conference package at this visit. She stated that she had real concern about her handling of the first evaluation conference. She felt she had done all of the evalua tion rather than guiding the student teacher toward self-evaluation.
Of the conference package "C" later stated it "gave me direction in some of the more specific things we should talk over and helped me structure more meaningful conferences." "C" went on to relate this was exceedingly important since conference time was at a premium. However, she suggested the development of an additional audio tape presentation.
This tape would have sample student teacher-cooperating teacher confer ences in which a series of definite student teacher problems were treated, e.g. helping a student teacher who had a problem with class d i sci pIi ne .
By the second supervisory visit "C" had lost much of her appre hensiveness about being a cooperating teacher. She said she enjoyed her student teacher because she felt it was keeping her current and indicated that although her student teacher was not developing as well as she had anticipated earlier, she was looking forward to the opportunity to have 178 another student teacher. "C" then shared the notes she had made for the student teacher's midterm evaluation. She also requested some
information on several topics on the evaluation form.
At the final visit "C" shared with the college supervisor a pupil evaluation instrument which she had designed for her student teacher. She said the instrument, which was modified from forms in the evaluation LAPCT, was "very revealing to the student teacher and tremendously helpful." "C" was obviously pleased because the pupils' answers had reinforced what she had been telling the student teacher with regard to her teaching style. "C" felt the pupil responses had ultimately helped her student teacher accept the suggestions which she had been unable to get her to accept.
In addition to liking the evaluation package section on pupil ratings, "C" also appreciated the sample recommendations and defini tions of grades which she had "read through a number of times." She remarked about the positive manner in which the grades v/ere described and the recommendations written and felt they would be of great help to her in preparing her student teacher's recommendations and giving her a grade (Evidence A).
"C" summed up her feelings toward the materials during the interview: "Having never had a student teacher before, they were a great help to me. I was a little bit hesitant about having a student teacher." It is significant that "C" had a greater growth in confidence than any of the other cooperating teachers. Her confidence and other quantitative scores are reported in Table 29. 179
TABLE 29
COMPARISON OF COOPERATING TEACHER "C’S"
SCORES AND MEAN SCORES
C ’s Scores Mean Scores Pre- Post- Differ Pre- Post- Di ffer- Test Test ence Test Test ence
Atti tude 1.63 1.79 + .16 1. 16 1 .61 t .45
Conf i dence 1.63 2.75 t 1.13 1 .64 2.28 + .64
Assistance 2.45 2.24
Sati sfaction 4.46 4.07
"C's" student teacher gave her a general rating of "strong" and added that "C" "will be better with experience." The student teacher stated that "C" was most beneficial to her in (I) giving suggestions for improvement, (2) making suggestions on. areas to teach but giving her the freedom to make the final decisions, and (3) guiding her in self-evaIuati on.
TEACHER "D"
During our first meeting "D" was rather nonchalant. She pas sively watched the slides and was not too concerned about the packages.
Her questions related to how soon she could leave the classroom after her student teacher took over. Later, however, "D" remarked that she had enjoyed the slide presentation: "It gave me an idea of the kinds of things I would be expected to do."
During the first supervisory visit "D" told the researcher she had not completed the first two packages in their entirety because she 180
had neglected to take them with her over spring vacation, which imme
diately preceded the start of the student teaching period. However,
in the limited time she had, "D" had concentrated on the orientation
package because, "I was most interested in getting her started." In
conjunction with the orientation package, "D's" student teacher stated
that "D" had taken her on a building and special facility tour, given
her a place to store her materials, taken her to the lounge to meet
the other teachers, and gradually worked her into the schedule. When
"D" introduced the student teacher to her pupils she told them, "The
two of us will be teaching together." In conjunction with the observa
tion package, "D" suggested the kinds of things for which her student
teacher might look during observation periods.
At the second supervisory visit "D" was still identifying the
teachers as a team - "we", and consciously making an effort to help the
pupils view the student teacher as a teacher in her own right. She did
this by deferring the pupils’ questions to the novice teacher. "D"
stated during this visit that she was observing her student teacher
approximately fifteen minutes of every eighty-five minute class. She was concerned about the kind of help she should give her student teacher
in lesson planning, e.g. should she make suggestions before the student teacher planned her unit? Is it acceptable to have her change her plans when better techniques could be used? "D" took notes on the college
supervisor's replies to these questions as well as the suggestions the
supervisor had on how to help her student teacher.
"D's" interview comments indicated she was partial to the confer
ence and evaluation packages. She felt the conference package was 181 helpful in suggesting ways to formulate questions that would guide the student teacher to self-evaluation. The package had also helped her
"end the conferences on a high note.” ”D” liked the variety of evalua tion techniques discussed in the ”How To Help Your Student Teacher
Through Evaluation" LAPCT. She specifically mentioned that the sections with samples of pupil rating forms and recommendations were quite good
(Evidence D). "D" had her student teacher use one of the pupil evalua tion forms, which the student teacher reported she "liked very much and thought it was quite helpful, especially in pointing out that the students wanted more discipline." Discipline had been a problem area for "D's" student teacher, who was a very reserved person.
"D's" ratings on all of the evaluation instruments were rela tively low in comparison to the means for the total population (Table
30).
TABLE 30
COMPARISON OF COOPERATING TEACHER "D'S"
SCORES AND MEAN SCORES
D's Scores Mean Scores Pre- Post- Di ffer- Pre- Post- Di ffer- Instruments Test Test ence Test Test ence
Attitude .89 1.06 + .17 1.16 1.61 + .45
Conf idence 1.75 1.75 .00 1.64 2.28 t .64
Assistance 1.90 2.24
Satisfaction 3.26 4.07 182
"D's" student teacher rated her generally as "adequate" and
stated she had been most beneficial in Cl) leaving the class completely
to her when she took over, (2) treating her as a professional equal,
(3) getting her immediately involved in classroom situations, (4)
giving constructive criticism and compliments on successful achieve
ments, and (5) being understanding and willing to help in any way.
TEACHER "E"
When "E" viewed the slide presentation at our first meeting,
she said it was "well done." She shov/ed interest in the LAPCT and
requested the college supervisor for information on the attitude instru
ment items which she had marked uncertain. Her specific concerns were
the team approach in student teaching, pupil knowledge of the student
teacher's background, and involving the student teacher immediately in
classes.
During the first supervisory visit, "E's" student teacher
commented that although she originally was very apprehensive about the
experience, she was "really enjoying student teaching." In reply to
the college supervisors question "Why?", she relayed that her coopera
ting teacher had helped put her at ease by calling her prior to student
teaching and inviting to her home for coffee. The student teacher said
she was "relieved when'E'caI led" and found their pre-student teaching meeting made her comfortable during her first day at school.
"E's" student teacher added other ways in which she felt her
cooperating teacher had been helpful in the beginning. The first week of the experience "E" had made her feel important and useful by giving Filmed as received without page(s) 183
UNIVERSITY MICROFILMS. 184 helpful and worthwhile, especially the first one on meeting and intro ducing the student teacher to the pupils."
During the second supervisory visit "E" indicated that she had found the conference tapes extremely good. She had recommended the one with the sample supervisor-student teacher planning conference to her student teacher. The student teacher later said she liked the tape because it had given her additional direction in daily lesson planning.
When the college supervisor reviewed the student teacher’s plans at this visit, she found that the written evaluative comments "E" had made on the plans were very specific, in accord with a LAPCT concept. For example, "E" had written on one plan: "Needs generalizations - example-
AI I children go through certain stages."
When the college supervisor arrived for the third supervisory visit, "E" and her student teacher were having an evaluation conference.
They analyzed how successful the student had been in reaching her personal goals for the experience and did an evaluation based on the department comprehensive evaluation form. "E" concluded the conference with estimating a letter grade range of her student teacher's work to date. All of these were procedures suggested in the evaluation LAPCT.
During the interview with the researcher, "E" reiterated her positive feelings toward the materials. In addition to comments already mentioned in the case study, she stated that as a result of the packages she had (I) prepared an observation form for her student teacher; (2) structured better conferences by planning ahead and keeping conference records; (3) changed her emphasis from cooperating teacher evaluation to student teacher evaluation; and (4) suggested to the student teacher 185 that she have her classes evaluate her units, which the student teacher did.
"E's" post ratings were al I above the mean with the exception of the student teacher Areas of Assistance Checklist score (Table 31).
However, despite the low score, "E's" student teacher gave her in that area, she checked that "E" was a "strong" cooperating teacher on the overall evaluation question. The student teacher supported this by saying "E" (I) "was friendly and made me feel at ease, (2) was very cooperative - we worked as a team, and (3) gave constructive criticism and helped me overcome my weak points."
TABLE 31
COMPARISON OF COOPERATING TEACHER "E'S"
SCORES AND MEAN SCORES
E's Scores Mean Scores Pre- Post- Di ffer- Pre- Post- Di ffei— 1nstruments Test Test ence Test Test ence
Attitude 1.00 1.73 + .73 1.16 1.61 + .45
Conf i dence 1.75 2.50 + .75 1 .64 2.28 + .64
Assistance 1.93 2.24
Satisfaction 4.80 4.07
TEACHER "F"
At our initial meeting "F" showed interest in providing a com prehensive experience for her student teacher with whom she had been associated in college. She was pleased with the packages and started 186 to plan how she would orient and induct her student teacher before the conference with the researcher was concluded.
"F's" orientation, which she actually implemented, included contacting her student teacher by telephone to welcome and prepare her for "what was going to be happening" the first day and thereafter, pre paring the pupils by identifying the student teacher as "their teacher" and informing them of her "up-to-date" preparation, planning a class learning experience (preparation of job application forms) to help the student teacher get acquainted with the pupils, driving through the community to orient the student teacher to the socioeconomic background of the pupils, gradually inducting the student teacher by using the "bit teaching" approach, inviting the student teacher to her home to use
"F's" personal files, assembling information on school policy and procedures, preparing a desk drawer, and keeping the LAPCT checklist current so she could be certain no valuable experience was omitted.
During the first supervisory visit "F's" student teacher reported that her cooperating teacher had "included me in every activity since I arrived, and introduced me to everyone." In the student teacher's class which the college supervisor observed on this visit, "F" was also careful to defer pupil questions to her student teacher.
In observation "F" reported, "Neither the student teacher nor I knew what we were supposed to be doing. We used the package a lot and thought it was excellent." In conjunction with observation, "F" had her student teacher study some of the LAPCT readings which suggested on what she should focus her attention during observation. "F" and the 187 student teacher then developed a Iist of specific questions to guide the observation periods. The responses to the questions were used to help structure observation conferences.
Beginning on the first day "F" and her student teacher held daily conferences in which, according to "F", they "talked about every thing you could ever relate to a school; students, faculty, administra tion, program, methods, problems of the job, the girls, their academic
life— you name it-we discussed it!" Their evaluation conferences revolved around the student teacher's achievement of her personal goals for the experience, "F's" anecdotal evaluation records which she kept organized by class, and the comprehensive student teacher formal eval uation forms.
"F's" student teacher stated that "F" had been most beneficial to her by (I) making tactful criticisms and suggestions that never condemned or degraded, (2) being liberal with praise and compliments,
(3) treating her as a professional equal, (4) making her feel comfor table all during the experience by introducing her to the faculty and by being a friend - "We confided in each other all quarter long." The student teacher rated "F" generally as a "very strong" cooperating teacher and gave her a higher areas of assistance score than any of the other student teachers accorded their cooperating teachers (Table 32).
All of "F's" other ratings were above average, except in satisfaction, where she had the lowest mean score.
During the interviews, "F" was also the teacher who gave the most criticism, the majority of which was realistic and constructive. 188
TABLE 32
COMPARISON OF COOPERATING TEACHER "F’s"
SCORES AND MEAN SCORES
F * s Scores Mean Scores Pre- Post- Differ- Pre- Post- Differ- 1nstruments Test Test ence Test Test ence
Attitude 1.50 2.00 + .50 1. 16 1 .61 + .45
Conf i dence 1.25 2. 13 t .88 1 .64 2.28 + .64
Conference 3.43 2.93 - .50 2.08 2.90 + .82
Ass i stance 2.97 2.24
Satisfaction 2.68 4.07
She generally liked the orientation, observation, and evaluation pack ages, but thought the conference package was "not very worth my time."
She supported this by saying she felt most of the content, e.g. a description of the physical environment necessary for conducting confer ences, was on too low an intellectual level: "Any teacher who's been in the classroom for any period of time knows how to carryout a conference.
She also felt the conference audio tapes were too long, the dialogue was too slow, and there was a repetition in content if one listened to the tapes and also did the package readings.
"F" made several other recommendations. She suggested dispens ing with one of the more involved observation forms in that package, consolidating some readings, and giving all the packages to the coopera ting teacher prior to the beginning of the experience.
As referred to previously, "F" also had some very positive feel ings and recommendations for some of the materials. She liked the 189 evaluation forms in that package, as well as the suggestions for deter mining grades and the sample recommendations (Evidence D). "When we were doing our student teaching we had the impression the grade was
based on whether or not the cooperating teacher liked you, so I thought the part on grades was good."
"F" summed up her feelings toward the materials: "Some of it was good and some of it wasn't."
TEACHER "G"
"G" responded positively to the slides and packages presented during our first meeting. She stated that because her cooperating teacher for student teaching had not done many of the activities suggested in the materials, she probably would not have done them for her student teacher either. "G" thought all the ideas were good, especially the "bit teaching" concept; this concept had not been imple mented when she student taught, so she had personally found that taking over her first class was overwhelming. "G" requested information con cerning the attitude instrument item on whether the cooperating teacher should share her background with the student teacher.
According to her student teacher, "G" did give "must assistance"
in helping to know her as a professional in the beginning of the exper ience. The student teacher also said that "G" had prepared a Iist of other orientation activities for the two of them to accomplish (Evidence
E). Included on the list were describing the general policies of the school and cooperating teacher; giving the student teacher a packet of materials used during daily routine, a place to store her personal 190 materials, and copies of department textbooks; introductions to key faculty and staff members; a scheduled talk with the principal; and acquainting the student teacher with the cumulative files and depart ment resource center. "G" thermofaxed a coDy of the "Checklist of
Student Teaching Experience" from the orientation package and the teachers cooperatively planned how the student teacher could perform as many of the activities as possible. In conjunction with this, they developed a weekly schedule for the student teacher's activities and assumption of responsibilities (Evidence F). Included in the schedule was a gradual induction plan which proceeded from routine duties to making visual aids, assisting with Iaboratories, and giving short clothing demonstrations.
"G" utilized the "team" concept approach to student teaching when introducing her student teacher to the classroom pupils, and she continued to use it throughout the experience. Her success in relaying this to the pupils was apparent when a pupil once asked the college supervisor's purpose in visiting his class. It was explained that the supervisor had come to see the student teacher. The pupil's reply:
"She's our teacher and Mrs. 'G' is here to help her out - at least that's what Mrs. 'G ' said."
The student teacher reported that in the introduction "G" empha sized "we" so that the pupils "felt I was a teacher." "G" also placed her name on the chalkboard and suggested the pupils come to the student teacher with their questions on sewing procedures. On the first day
"G" further introduced her student teacher to the pupils by having a "sharing time" in which the girls, who were just beginning a clothing project, showed their garment pattern and fabric.
"G" also stressed the team approach in evaluation and suggested that both teachers feel free to evaluate each others teaching. The student teacher said she had "given one small suggestion" and she was pleased that "0" had utilized it. Later, "G" and her student teacher worked as team teachers in a grooming lesson. "G" led the class discus sion while the student teacher dramatized the points.
"G" orally suggested things her student teacher might look for as she observed, e.g. personality types, popularity groups, and socio economic levels. She also had her use one of the forms in the LAPCT.
Conferences followed up these observations. "G" also arranged for the student teacher to observe other teachers: special education, social studies, and a home economics teacher in the school district’s middle school.
The cooperating teacher and student teacher had daily confer ences in which the content was planned prior to conference time.
According to "G", the content "ranged everything from dress lengths to attitudes on how to teach sex education."
"G's" approach to structuring conferences changed through the quarter. In the first conference of which the college supervisor was a part, "G" gave her student teacher little opportunity to seIf-evaIuate and was very direct in her approach. However, after using the confer ence package her technique changed. She was much less direct and asked questions that gave the student teacher an opportunity to express her 192 ideas about her teaching performance. She was very supportive and gave praise when it was appropriate.
"G" reported doing all the activities in the evaluation pack age. She used three of the daily techniques: running evaluative comments and two different evaluation forms. She concluded she preferred one of the forms and duplicated a supply. She noted a statement that teachers fear an observer who writes comments, unless the comments are later shared with them. "G" recalled her feelings as a student teacher and consequently made carbon copies of all her eval uation notes and gave the originals to her student teacher. She xeroxed copies of the three pupil evaluation forms in the package and gave them to her student teacher with the recommendation that she decide on and duplicate the one that best fit her objectives and needs.
"G" gave the student teacher a grade range at midterm and informed her of her final grade. She wrote a comprehensive recommendation (Evidence
G).
All of "G's" ratings on the research instruments were above the means (Table 33). She had the highest gain in scores on the attitude instrument and the second highest assistance score. Her student teacher rated her generally as "very strong." She said, "G" (I) "identified with me in many ways - making me feel comfortable, (2) evaluated me in a very realistic light, (3) set an excellent example in all areas of teaching, (4) was a perfectionist in many ways - setting such high ideals became contagious, and (5) was friendly, open, and encouraged my confi dence in her." 193
TABLE 33
COMPARISON OF COOPERATING TEACHER "G'S"
SCORES AND MEAN SCORES
G's Scores Mean ScoreIS Pre- Post- Differ Pre- Post- Differ 1nstruments Test Test ence Test Test ence
Attitude 1.16 1.93 t .77 1 . 16 1.61 + .45
Conf i dence 1.50 2.38 + . 8 8 1.64 2.28 + .64 Assi stance 2.77 2.24 Sati sfaction 4.70 4.07
During our interview, "G" reported the materials were "a bless ing" and volunteered the information that she would use them as a refresher the next time she had a student teacher. "G" stated she had shared the packages with another cooperating teacher who had also appreciated using them.
"G" liked all the packages, but mentioned that the observation and evaluation packages were especially helpful: "AM the packets had good ideas, but the evaluation one was the most practical. Cooperating teachers need practical help, not theory." Then she specifically referred to the evaluation forms, sample recommendations, and grade descriptions. The observation package was helpful to her in suggesting things that her student teacher might observe: "Although she observed a lot of things by herself, there were things she missed entirely until
I started mentioning the items in the package." "G" also stated that the conference package was good, although it was perhaps too long and also repetitious if you completed both the reading and listening activities. 194
"G" summed up her feelings about the materials: "I’m certainly glad you had them. There were many things I'm sure I would not have done. Having this the first time was better for my student teacher, too."
TEACHER "H"
During our initial meeting "H" was reserved and appeared very sincere. She thought the slide presentation was good and upon viewing
it started to formulate an orientation plan for her student teacher.
However, she questioned whether the cooperating teacher should be responsible for providing orientation materials for the student teacher, e.g. a teacher's manual and daily routine materials. "H" had planned to follow the precedent of her own cooperating teacher, who had not volun teered this information.
"H" changed her mind about providing the policy and school procedures materials for her student teacher. During the first week of student teaching she gave her a packet which included information on both the school and the community.
"H" also planned a schedule of other activities based on the orientation package which she later said "made the first week of student teaching meaningful" (Evidence H). She introduced the student teacher to everyone from the cooks to the principal; explained the fire drill routine; acquainted her with the department and school resources, including the guidance office, audio-visual department, and library; gave her a desk and copies of the seating charts; planned bit teaching responsibilities of running the filmstrip projector, operating a 195
duplicating machine, and giving a clothing demonstration; and took her
on a community drive. "H" also had her pupils write poems or one
statement about themselves as a way of individually introducing them
to the student teacher. Both "H" and the student teacher felt the
pupil introductions were helpful, since the girls were very honest
and to the point, e.g.: "I am very shy and backward."
In addition to the orientation activities, "H" included some
observation experiences during the first week of student teaching. She
prepared a list of observation questions relevant to each day's lessons,
had her student teacher do some of the readings in the observation
LAPCT, had her reconstruct one of "H's" lesson plans after she saw it
taught, write a one-sentence statement on each pupil and save it to
compare it with an analysis made at the end of the experience, and
prepare a case study by observing one of the home economics students
in several other classes.
"H" and her student teacher had dai ly conferences. "H" reported
that through the conference LAPCT she had learned several specific
things to help make them meaningful. She mentioned techniques to elicit
student teacher participation, and providing for a conference introduc
tion and closure. During a student teaching team conference at a
supervisory visit "H" twice referred to items included in the conference tapes. One time a pupil interrupted the conference; afterwards "H"
laughed and said, "Conferences aren't supposed to be interrupted."
Another time, in an effort to boost her student teacher's morale, she commented: "On the tape I listened to, the cooperating teacher told the student teacher if she had four good days out of five in teaching. 196 that’s a pretty good average.” "H” used the Conference Evaluation Forms to check her progress in conference skills. As shown in Table 34, she made above average growth in this area of supervisory performance; she had the highest post-conference score and the greatest gain in confer ence ski I I s.
TABLE 34
COMPARISON OF COOPERATING TEACHER "H’S"
SCORES AND MEAN SCORES
H ’s Scores Mean Scores Pre- Post- Differ- Pre- Post- Differ- 1nstruments Test Test ence Test Test ence
Attitude .96 1.59 + .63 1. 16 1 .61 + .45 Conf i dence 1.75 2.25 + .50 1.64 2.28 + .64 Conference 2.38 4. 12 + 1.74 2.08 2.90 + .82 Ass i stance 2.70 2.24 Sati sfacti on 3.97 4.07
Many of ”H ’s"and her :student teacher’s conferences were on eval- uation. ”H" wrote her daily evaluation notes for these conferences on carbon copies of the student teacher 's lesson p Ians. Other eva 1uat i on conferences focused on personal goals for student and first-year teach ing. As a result of studying the evaluation package, ”H" offered her student teacher printed forms which the pupils in the cooperating public school are annually given to evaluate the in-service teachers. The student teacher used the forms with one class and then decided she would prepare her own instrument by using some of the statements on the forms in the evaluation LAPCT. ”H ’s” final evaluation activity was the prepa ration of her student teacher's recommendation (Evidence I). 197
During the interview, "H" indicated she thought all the pack ages were good, although she felt some of the tapes were too long. She said she liked the grade descriptions because "even as a student teacher I was unsure of what the grades meant." At the conclusion of the interview she asked if she could keep the materials to guide her
in any future work she had with student teachers.
"H's" student teacher gave her a general rating of "strong" and a relatively high score on assistance (Table 34). According to the student teacher, "H" was of benefit to her by (I) introducing her to the community by going on a tour, home visits, and social functions;
(2) giving her a desk and place to store her materials; (3) giving her encouragement when she needed it most; (4) making suggestions about materials she might use; and (5) always being willing to discuss her concerns.
TEACHER "I"
During our first meeting "I" indicated she felt insecure about being a cooperating teacher, since she was just completing her second year of teaching. Before the slide series "Role of the Home Economics
Cooperating Teacher" could be shown, she presented a list of questions about her role. The concerns encompassed student teacher responsibility for bulletin boards and assumption of teaching responsibility, observa tion spacing, cooperating and student teacher relationship, and student teacher participation in extra-curricular activities. The college super visor stated that the slides were oriented toward these areas and that viewing them might answer "I's" questions. After the presentation, "I" 198 commented, "The slides were good. They answered practically all my questions." She made particular reference to liking the techniques on acquainting the student teacher with the pupils and the gradual induction procedures.
The technique that "I" used to acquaint the pupils and her student teacher included telling the pupils about the student teacher's personal and educational background, and asking for their cooperation so that all the parties involved in the student teaching experience would profit from it. When "I" formally introduced the student teacher to her classes, she asked her to tell something about herself. Since it was a laboratory situation the pupils were requested to wear name tags until the student teacher could become familiar with them. In addition to introducing the student teacher to the pupils, "I" helped her get acquainted with the school plant, teachers, principal, parking procedure, and community.
From the beginning of the experience "I" had her student teacher participating in the classroom. For example, during the first week the student teacher passed back papers, helped the pupils plan meals, and participated with the cooperating teacher in supervising foods labora tories and grading demonstrations. Consequently, "I" reported that her student teacher did "participation-observations." According to the student teacher, "I" gave her suggestions on what to look for during these experiences, e.g. students with exceptionalities. Student teacher observations were discussed during conferences.
Besides conferences on observations, "I" and her student teacher had frequent evaluation conferences. "I" felt that her technique in 199 these conferences improved as a result of the conference package.
After listening to the taped conference presentations, she recorded and then evaluated several conferences with the Conference Evaluation
Form. Through these activities "I" felt she had learned how to involve the student teacher in conferences and how to set the stage for and begin a conference.
"I's" evaluation with her student teacher took several forms.
The student teacher gave "I" a duplicate set of unit and daily lesson plans to which "I" added evaluative comments prior to and during the presentation of the plans. This evaluation was based both upon the criteria established by the university and the personal goals "I" requested her student teacher to develop for the experience. At the midterm evaluation "I" gave her student teacher a grade range indica tion of her performance to date. Periodically the team of teachers checked the student teacher's progress according to the checklists on personal traits, methods, and materials in the Student Teacher Handbook.
"I" encouraged her student teacher to have some pupil evaluation by showing her the forms in the evaluation package. The student teacher adapted one of the forms to suit her purposes.
Throughout the experience "I" and her student teacher worked as a team. They were "team teachers" for a nursery school laboratory and "I" did some "bit teaching" when the student teacher had responsi bility for all the classes. "I" even lent the student teacher a formal gown so that she could attend the senior prom.
The student teacher rated "I" generally as a "very strong" cooperating teacher. She felt "I" had been most helpful by Cl) achieving 200 a friend rather than a watchdog relationship with her, (2) preparing the pupils for her arrival, (3) introducing her to the faculty and community as a teacher rather than as a student, (4) giving her posi tive reinforcement, and (5) permitting her to try whatever methods she wanted.
"I's" other ratings, with the comparison mean ratings, are shown in Table 35. As noted by the satisfaction score, "I" felt the materials were good. During the interview she stated that she "had no idea any kind of help or materials were available for cooperating teachers."
She added that she had used ideas from the packages and was planning to use the recommendation guidelines and sample as a basis for formulating a reference for her student teacher (Evidence J).
TABLE 35
COMPARISON OF C00PERATING TEACHER "I'S"
SCORES AND MEAN SCORES
1's Scores Mean Scores Pre- Post- Di ffer- Pre- Post- Di ffer- 1nstruments Test Test ence Test Test ence
Attitude 1. 13 1.79 + .66 1. 16 1.61 t .45 Conf i dence 1.63 2. 13 + .50 1.64 2.28 + .64
Conference 1.88 2.43 t .25 2.08 2.90 + .82
Assistance 2.75 2.24 Satisfaction 4.67 4.07 201
TEACHER "J"
"J", who had three years of teaching experience, had received her Bachelor of Science degree ten years prior to the study. During our introductory meeting she expressed special appreciation for the observation package because her cooperating teacher had not given her assistance in this area. "J" also indicated she planned to copy some of the supervisory practices of a cooperating teacher-friend, whom she greatly respected. One of these practices was that the cooperating teacher remains out of the classroom and doesn't observe "until the student teacher has control of the class." The college supervisor discussed the merits of remaining in the classroom during the period the student teacher is assuming responsibility for the classes. Ulti mately, however, "J" followed her friend's recommendation.
According to the student teacher, "J" introduced tier to the pupils in a status-giving manner. In the college supervisor's presence she continued to identify the student teacher as a "teacher" by deferring the pupils' questions to her.
One of the first responsibilities "J" gave her student teacher was to learn homeroom procedures. "J" gradually taught her the process by having her read the daily bulletin and administrative duties publi cation, check attendance, and finally prepare the absence list. The student teacher had full responsibility for homeroom for one week at the beginning of the experience. "J" resumed this responsibility when her student teacher started to take over classes. 202
Another example of gradual induction was the student teacher's participation in several of the food demonstrations in which "J" had the major responsibility.
"J" became particularly concerned about having her student teacher become acquainted with the variety of activities which typify the teacher's role. Consequently, she made a special effort to include her in the annual teacher's dinner, cheerleading tryouts, Parent-
Teacher Meetings, and food service for a banquet and school board meeti ng.
One of "J's" observation strategies was to have her student teacher be alert to Cl) specific pupil characteristics, (2) pupil feed back on the cooperating teacher's methods, and (3) principles the cooperating teacher used in certain teaching strategies. She gave the student teacher a list of questions to guide her In the observa tions and followed the observations up with conferences.
"J" felt the audio conference tapes were good and had helped her improve her skills in both the observation and evaluation conferences. As indicated by the scores in Table 36, "J" did make an above-the-mean change in conference techniques.
"J's" evaluation activities for her student teacher included encouraging pupil evaluation and preparing a recommendation (Evidence
K). She observed some lessons and made mental evaluative notes during these observations.
During the interview "J" stated that due to the combined pres sures of normal classroom activities and the end of the school year, she had been unable to complete the materials. However, she felt the 203 material she had covered was very v/orthwhi le. She indicated she would recommend the four packages to another cooperating teacher, although she was undecided about the slide presentation.
TABLE 36
COMPARISON OF COOPERATING TEACHER "J 'S"
SCORES AND MEAN SCOPES
J ’s Scores lean Scores Pre- post- Di ffer- Pre- Post- Di ffer- 1nstruments Test Test ence Test Test ence
Attitude 1. S3 1.79 t .26 1. 16 1.61 + .45
Conf i dence 1.13 2.63 + 1.50 1 .64 2.20 + .64
Conference 1 .81 3.31 + 1.50 2.00 2.90 + .02
Ass i stance 2.09 2.24
Sati sfaction 3.98 4.07
Since "J"did not comp 1ete the packages, it is not surprising that her student teacher rated her below the mean on assistance (Table
36). The student teacher reported "J" was most helnful to her by (I) getting to know her as a person before observing her as a teacher;
(2) establishing good communication with her; (3) giving her a full time student teaching experience; (4) being enthusiastic about her ideas when she thought they were good; and (5) being available to offer assistance when necessary, but otherwise left her on her own. 204
TEACHER "K"
During our initial meeting "K" indicated she was apprehensive about being a cooperating teacher. Prior to her own student teaching experience she had wanted to be a home economist in business. However, due to a very positive relationship with her cooperating teacher, she
"couldn't stay away from teaching." "K" was not certain she could develop the same climate for her student teacher. "K's" concerns focused on the induction process and her student teacher's personality and background. She was particularly concerned about the personality because she felt her student teacher's autobiography "was not very reveaIi ng."
"K's" orientation activities for her student teacher consisted of introducing the student teacher to the pupils - "like having another teacher working with us"; introductions to the faculty, school plant, and school records; a drive through the community in which the school is located; a conference with the principal on school policy and philo sophy; a compilation of materials relevant to school procedures; securing a special table in which the student teacher could store her materials; and inviting the student teacher to attend teacher's meetings and a regional home economics teacher's meeting. "K" also prepared an autobiographical sketch to help the student reacher get acquainted with her and had her teach several ten to fifteen-minute"bit lessons” before she took over her first class. "K" kept records of these activities on the "Checklist of Student Teaching Experiences" in the orientation package. 205
"K" prepared her student teacher for observation by having her study some of the pupil permanent files. Prior to each actual observa tion "K" gave suggestions as to what the student teacher might specifically look for, e.g. the way different pupils responded and who the class leaders were. Student teacher-cooperating teacher conferences followed up these observations. However, "K" reported she was disappointed with these conferences, because her student teacher normally contributed little to the discussion. "K" also felt this was a problem in their other conferences.
Throughout the student teaching experience and again during the interview, "K" indicated that she was not pleased with her student teacher's work. She felt she had made little progress and rated her low in initiative, planning, organization, and discipline. She also felt she had been unresponsive to supervision. Because of these factors she informed her student teacher she was doing C- to B- range work at the midterm evaluation. There was little improvement in the student teacher's work from midterm to the end of the experience, when "K" recommended that the student teacher receive a C, a grade with which the college supervisor concurred. "K" informed her student teacher of the grade during their final evaluation conference.
Knowledge of the foregoing situation and a recollection of "K's" experience with her own cooperating teacher is important in analyzing
"K's" scores on the study instruments. She lost confidence in her supervisory ability and had a negligible change in her attitudes toward supervision CTable 37). Her student teacher gave her the lowest assis tance score assigned by any of the student teachers. The student 206 teacher stated "K" had offered the most help by (I) suggesting ways in which she could vary her teaching methods, (2) securing resource persons, (3) introducing her to the faculty, (4) giving her insight into the personal characteristics of the students, and (5) suggesting where she might obtain visual aids.
During the interview with the college supervisor-researcher "K" indicated that she was very glad to have the LAPCT. There were some definite things which she appreciated; she specifically mentioned some good points in the slides, the grade definitions, sample pupil rating forms, and recommendation section in the evaluation package (Evidence
L). Since she was unsuccessful in encouraging her student teacher to conduct some formal pupil evaluation, "K" had duplicated a set of forms and requested the pupils to evaluate her own teaching.
TABLE 37
COMPARISON OF COOPERATING TEACHER "K'S"
SCORES AND MEAN SCORES
K* s Scores Mean Scores Pre- Post- Di ffer- Pre- Post- Di ffer- 1nstruments Test Test ence Test Test ence
Atti tude .73 .76 t .03 1. 16 1.61 + .45
Conf i dence 2.38 2.00 - .38 1.64 2.28 t .64 Conference 1.66 2.48 t .82 2.08 2.90 t .82
Assistance 1.32 2.24
Sati sfaction 3.20 4,07 APPENDIX M
CASE STUDY EVIDENCE
Evidence
A "C's" Recommendation For Her Student Teacher
B "D's" Recommendation For Her Student Teacher
C "E's" Bulletin Board To Introduce Her Student Teacher
D "F's" Recommendation For Her Student Teacher
E "G's" First Day Orientation Plan For Her Student Teacher
F Teaching Schedule "G" and Her Student Teacher Cooperatively Developed
G "G's" Recommendation For Her Student Teacher
H "H's" Schedule of First Week For Student Teacher
1 "H's" Recommendation For Her Student Teacher
J "I's" Recommendation For Her Student Teacher
K "J's" Recommendation For Her Student Teacher
L "K's" Recommendation For Her Student Teacher
207 208
EVIDENCE A
’t'S" RECOMMENDATION TOR HER STUDENT TEACHER
______is a very attractive and well groomed person. She has a pleasing personality, is rather quiet and reserved.
Her performance in student teaching was average. She seemed to have a difficult time showing any enthusiasm, although she got along well with the students and was well-liked by them. I feel she could have made her class presentations much more interesting. Part of this stemmed from the fact that her voice tended to be monotonous. She had no problems with discipline, but perhaps she could encounter some in a
"not-so-desirable" setting.
If ______can work out the above problems, I feel that she will become a satisfactory teacher.
Confidential Statement of Strengths:
Attractive, well groomed at all times, very pleasing personality, eager to better herself in the teaching field, accepts constructive criticism well, gets along well with our students, tries varied teaching methods and audio-visual equipment.
Confidential Statement of Weaknesses:
Lack of experience in food preparation, failure to be completely familiar with content before teaching a lesson, inability to answer student's questions in a manner they can understand, lack of ability to motivate class participation (part of this will come with time as she is able to interject personal experiences into a discussion). 209 EVIDENCE B
't*S'RECOMMENDATION FOR HER STUDENT TEACHER
For the most part, ______work in student teaching was good.
She started out rather slowly, but once she overcame some of her self-
consciousness, several problems worked themselves out satisfactorily.
Her strongest point became her lesson planning. She clearly knew the
subject matter and soon learned how to approach a lesson to get her
point across. Other teaching qualities which were definitely to her
advantage were her willingness to help students (especially in sewing)
and her even-tempered manner. The students always knew what to expect
from her and she never in any way antagonized them.
At the same time, however, she was sometimes too timid to assert
her authority when it was necessary. She is not an aggressive person,
and she definitely tried to avoid any kind of real confrontation with
the students. And her enthusiasm, her control, and her endurance were
not what they could or should have been at times.
However, I believe ______is sincere about wanting to teach,
and she is conscientious enough to work hard at improving her work.
She is still somewhat shy and unsure of herself, but with some encour
agement and some more experience, she could be an effective teacher,
and one who the students would enjoy.
Confidential Statement of Strengths:
Lesson planning, mild mannered and even tempered, willingness to help students, likes students. 210
EVIDENCE B— Continued
Confidential Statement of Weaknesses:
Not aggressive, afraid of confrontation, not enthusiastic, tires easily, discipline rather lax. 211
EVIDENCE C
’t ’S" BULLET IN BOARD TO INTRODUCE HER STUDENT TEACHER
% a) E 3 * * O r * fc 4 I* 212 EVIDENCE D VS" RECOMMENDATION FOR HER STUDENT TEACHER ______did an excellent job in student teaching. She had well-planned lessons and she made good progress in meeting the needs of her students. She was poised and self confident and the girls felt that she was "approachable." ______became aware of the back grounds of her students and she was very understanding. She established good rapport with the students and teachers. At first ______had difficulty in using language at a level the girls could understand since their vocabulary is so limited; however, she worked on this and improved greatly. She made good use of teaching aids and materials and used many sources for information. I feel ______is well qualified and could do an excellent job of teaching in the inner or outer city. Confidential Statement of Strengths: Appearance, enthusiasm, understanding of student needs, know ledge of subject matter and sources, poise and confidence, we 11-modulated voice, good use of various teaching materials. Confidential Statement of Weaknesses: At times ______d ' EVIDENCE E 'fe’S?'FIRST DAY ORIENTATION PLAN FOR HER STUDENT TEACHER Fi rst Day Materials Used During Daily Routine Absence list and absence forms for homeroom Hall and library passes Progress reports Grade forms-scan sheets Forms for " incomp Ietes" in grading Requisition forms Audio-visual forms Student Handbook F.H.A. Program Gook Teachers' policy manual General Policies (of both myself and school) Attendance Study Ha 11 Library - Must return Class control Chewing gum Dress code Testbooks - copy of each one which will be used in units to be taught Fashions and Fabrics Foods text Housing and Home Furnishings, Homes with Character Storage places of resource materials and pamphlets Place for Storing Personal Materials General Observation Note taking Introductions and Talk with Principal 214 EVIDENCE F TEACHING SCHEDULE VA N D HER STUDENT TEACHER COOPERATIVELY DEVELOPED First Week: 1. Get acquainted with facilities and schedule 2. Participate with routine duties 3. "Bit Teachinq", e.g, demonstration or part of lesson 4. Observe classes being taught 5. School policies 6. Begin housing unit and home furnishings 7. BuIleti n board 8. Become acquainted with students and faculty 9. Assist with clothing lab Second Week: 1. F.H.A. meeting - work session 2. Continue work on unit plan 3. Begin taking over one class - Home Economics III 4. Assist with clothing lab Third Week: 1. Teach one class - Home Economics III 2. Assist with clothing lab work 3. Finish unit plan for Home Economics III 4. F.H.A. "Secret Grandmother" Tea 5. Supervise related study - period 4B Fourth Week; 1. Teach one class - Home Economics III 2. Demonstrations in other classes 3. Assist in clothing laboratory 4. Observe other classes 5. Supervise second related study class 6. Become familiar with grading policy and procedures (end of six weeks grading period - compile grades for Home Economics III) Fifth Week: 1. Teach Home Economics III 2. Assist in clothing laboratory 3. Supervise both related study classes 4. Take over one Home Economics I class Sixth Week: I. Same as fifth week, but pick up second Home Economics I class 215 EVIDENCE F--Continued Seventh Week: I. Same as sixth week, but pick up third Home Economics I class Eighth Week: I. FuI I responsibi Iity Ninth Week: I. Home Economics III only 216 EVIDENCE G "G'S"recommendation f o r h e r s t u d e n t t e a c h e r ______made extremely good progress from the very beginning of student teaching, when she was eager to become involved. She works conscientiously to achieve we I I-organized and meaningful lessons. She is especially creative in making and using aids and bulletin boards. ______delightful manner, pleasant voice, and enthusiasm are valuable assets and lend much to her presentations. She is conscious of the need for constant self-evaluation and she is able to do so realistically. She has worked hard, under difficult circumstances, to develop better control and discipline when working with a large group of students as in a study hall. Further experience will add to the confidence she is building. One of her most successful experiences was that of planning two foreign meals with the students, and their preparing and serving them complete with theme, centerpiece, and costume, under her organized direction. I feel sure she will work diligently to do her best in any teaching situation. However, due to her background and experiences, she could probably teach and contribute more effectively in a middle class or upper-middle class setting. She would surely be an outstanding staff member in any school system. Confidential Statement of Strengths: Conscientious, creative and resourceful, sincere interest in students, cooperative and willing, good attitude, sets good example in dress and behavior, self-evaluation, experience in using many types of teaching aids with success, desire for helpful criticism and suggestions 217 EVIDENCE G— Continued for improving, desire to try new methods and techniques to see results, flexibi I ity. Confidential Statement of Weaknesses: Need for further experience in developing control and disci pline, need to become more familiar with community for better understanding of students. 210 EVIDENCE H "H*5?'SCHEDULE OF FIRST WEEK FOR STUDENT TEACHER Tuesday Give seating charts to copy Have observe how students enter the room most significant contribution how and where discipline problem Fire drill routine Meet cooks, janitor Keep appointment with principal, secretary Give packet of essential information - school and community information, teacher handbook Take community drive Give desk to use during student teaching Wednesday Visit - library, guidance, visual aids room and own resources in department; meet librarian, guidance counselor Show files, own resources in department, handouts, and rules and procedures Show units to teach, texts Show duplicating machines Observation: leading question in lesson which students natural leaders which finish their work first Read pages 13-16 in observation package Thursday Give other materials - specific booklets Run filmstrip projector Duplicate test Case study - observe other classes Friday Anecdotes - sentence about each student Reconstruct teacher’s plan Summarization of the class Page 24 in observation package - use observation form Bit teaching - demonstration on hems for sophomores 219 EVIDENCE I VS?'RECOMMENDATION FOR HER STUDENT TEACHER ______made very much progress during student teaching. She began the quarter feeling insecure about her ability to teach, but she dived right into the situation by showing genuine interest in the students and their respective clothing projects. ______is pleasant and well groomed. She is cooperative and responds well to supervision. She evaluates her teaching experience well and utilizes suggestions readily. For example, ______, Mrs. Miller and I buzzed on strategies to try with the difficult Family Living class. ______tried many of these she thought would be success ful with them, including an interior decorator from a nearby furniture store. Her main difficulties seemed to be overcoming her insecurity in relating to a group and better utilizing her time to make plans avail able for approval. Realizing these weaknesses, she eventually was capable of getting advance approval of plans and felt this was one of her greatest improvements. Concerning her insecurity, I feel she did gain considerable confidence and will gain more with experience. Her unit on "Increasing Skills in Food Preparation" was very successful. She was very knowledgeable about the content and used many creative and interesting techniques in presenting, the material including demonstrations, a crossword puzzle, a skit she developed,and laboratories. ______considers the teaching profession very important, but is undecided about her future plans. If she decides to teach, I am con fident she will work well with a school staff on a highly professional basi s. 220 EVIDENCE J "I »S"RECOMMENDATION FOR HER STUDENT TEACHER ______did outstanding work throughout her student teaching quarter. She was enthusiastic about Home Economics and this was expressed through her teaching. ______didn't have any big problems to overcome, but she made good progress in detailed teaching techniques such as more effective use of audio-visual aids, variation of evalua tion methods, and better handling of teacher-directed discussions. ______gained confidence as she progressed by presenting very successful units in home furnishings and child development. Her work in the nursery school was outstanding. ______was resourceful and willing to experiment to better the units. She had excellent rapport with the students and other faculty members. She related to students on their level, and held their respect by continually striving to set a good example for them. In view of the above, I feel wi I I be a great asset to the teaching profession. Confidential Statement of Strengths: ______most outstanding strength was her ability to organize her lessons and, therefore, always be well prepared for classes. She typed all unit and lesson plans and covered the material very thoroughly. She planned well in advance, but was flexible when changes had to be made. (Since this was the end of the year, many unexpected things occurred to cause plans to be changed.) ______adjusted well to all situations that confronted her. EVIDENCE J— Conti nued Confidential Statement of Weaknesses: ______did not have any outstanding weaknesses as far as i observed. She had to concentrate on small details in teaching tech niques which would eventually be learned through experience anyway. I did not have a chance to see her handle a major discipline situation, but through observing her handling of minor incidents, I can foresee difficulty in her being forceful and demanding. 222 EVIDENCE K ’I) ’S"RECOMMENDATION FOR HER STUDENT TEACHER When ______began her student teaching experience at our school she lacked the enthusiasm that I felt should accompany a student teaching experience. It was revealed four weeks later that she was working in the evenings and therefore lacked the strength to do an adequate job during the day. After a loan was granted to______from the university, which allowed her to quit the evening job, ______enthusiasm soared. She actually started to like teaching and the students. At first her plans were sketchy but toward the end of student teaching she was showing a great nount of growth. If she would have started her student teaching without a job I feel she could have grown to be an excellent teacher. Her strengths fall with the students them selves because they admired and liked her very much. She is a fine looking and neat appearing teacher, which makes her an asset to the Home Economics field. She worked well with other teachers, which is always an asset to any staff. Confidential Statement of V/eaknesses: Her main weaknesses were her plans. She needs to think through ideas more thoroughly before they are incorporated into a lesson. I feel after one semester of teaching wi I I' do an excel lent teaching job. She may need a little direction at first but she can succeed because she has the will. 223 EVIDENCE L "K'S”RECOMMENDATION FOR HER STUDENT TEACHER ______performance in her student teaching was average. Even though she was able to assume full responsibility for her classes, she had two main problems which limited her progress. Planning and organi zation seemed to be the hardest concepts fo r ______to achieve. Even though many specific suggestions were made, her work was completed at the last minute and was often not adequate. Her second problem con cerned discipline. I do not believe she could effectively handle a large class with problem students. She tends to have a soft voice and is not positive in her statements of discipline. Confidential Statement of Strengths: Pleasing in mannerisms and always well groomed. Confidential Statement of Weaknesses: Discipline - too soft spoken; Organization - waits until last minute; Planning - does not seem to have original ideas or suggestions on how to effectively teach a lesson. APPENDIX N TABLE 38 CATEGORIES OF QUESTIONS IN COOPERATING TEACHER ATTITUDE SCALE Categories Ouest ions Orientation 1, 2, 3,. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, II, 12, 13, 14, 15, 20 Observation 16, 17, 18, 28 Conference 21, 23, 24, 25, 29 Eva 1uat i on 22, 26, 27, 30 Team Relationship 19 224 APPENDIX 0 TABLE 39 ACTIVITIES COOPERATING TEACHERS REPORTED DOING IN ORIENTATION PACKAGE Number Teachers Comp Iet i ng Activity Activity Readings 7 In mind formulated idea of how to introduce student teacher to classes I Designed plan to follow to get ready for student teacher 2 Designed bulletin board to introduce student teacher to pup iIs I Prepared pupils for student teacher 5 Wrote or arranged to have school newspaper prepare article about student teacher I Assembled a packet of information on school policy, procedures 6 Prepared a place for student teacher to store her materials 5 Studied and analyzed autobiography of student teacher 4 Wrote a personal-professional sketch of herself for student teacher 2 Conducted pre-student-teaching conference with student teacher 2 Planned student teacher's introduction to classes 4 Planned a schedule for student teacher's first day 2 Conductedaconference with student teacher on first day 2 Socialized with student teacher 4 Introduced student teacher to various school personnel 4 Conducted community tour for student teacher 2 Inducted student teacher by "bit teaching" process 6 Followed "Checklist of Student Teacher Activities" 4 225 226 TABLE 40 ACT IV IT t ES COOPERATING TEACHERS REPORTED DOING IN OBSERVATION PACKAGE — !_■' ■ ------!_■■■ - .1 - - IP ■«— — — ■ Ig .1 ■ >—« Number Teachers Comp let i ng Activity Activity Readings 5 Developed list of questions for student teacher to answer during observations 6 Provided student teacher with information for observations 2 Shared some lesson readings with student teacher 2 Provided observation forms for student teacher I Cooperatively evaluated observations with student teacher I 227 TABLE 41 ACTIVITIES COOPERATING TEACHERS REPORTED DOING IN CONFERENCE PACKAGE Number Teachers Comp leti ng Act i v i tv Act iv ity Read i ngs 6 Conducted conference with student teacher on purposes and topics for conference I Developed list of topics to cover in conferences 2 Listened to "How To Structure a Conference" Tape 7 Listened to sample conference tape 7 Recorded conference(s) with student teacher 9 Evaluated conferences with Conference Evaluation Form 2 Shared some package readings with student teacher I Shared tapes with student teacher 3 Planned for conferences 3 Kept records of agreements reached in conferences I Used division talk time approach to evaluating conferences 3 228 TABLE 42 ACTIVITIES COOPERATING TEACHERS REPORTED DOING IN EVALUATION PACKAGE Number Teachers Comp 1et i ng Act i v i ty Act i v i ty Readings 6 Listened to audio tape of student teacher interview 4 Listed questions cooperating teacher used in sample supervisor-student teacher conference I Conducted conference(s) with student teacher based on her personal goals for the experience 4 Planned evaluation program I Used daily evaluation forms from package I Used pupil evaluation forms from package or designed one based on package samples 7 BIBLIOGRAPHY Adams, Eva Walker. ’’Superv i s i ng Teachers’ Perceptions of Their Role and Degree of Professional Commitment." Unpublished Doctoral dissertation, Pennsylvania State University, 1968. American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. Survey of Programmed Instruction in Teacher Education - 1963. Wa s hi ng ton, U .C .: AACT E, 1963. American Educational Research Association. American Educational Research Association Paper Abstracts of the 1967 Annual Meet i nn~ v;ashington, D.C. : American Educational Research Association, 1967. Andrews, L. 0. Student Teachi ng. New York: The Center for Applied Research in Education, 1964. Association for Student Teaching. Studies in Professional Laboratory Experiences in Teacher Education. Research Bulletin I. Cedar Fa I I s, I owa': The Association for Student Teaching, 1957. ______. The Supervising Teacher, Thirty-eighth Yearbook. Dubuque, Iowa: William C. Brown, 1959. ______. Teacher Education and the Public Schools, Fortieth Yearbook. Dubuque, Iowa: William C. Brown, 1961. ______. Professional Growth Inservice of the Supervising Teacher, Forty-fifth Yearbook. Dubuque, Iowa: William C. Brown, 1966. Barr, A. S., William H. Barton and Leo L. Brueckner. Supervision. New York: Appleton Century-Crofts, 1947. Barr, Dixon A. "Proposals for the Preparation of Cooperating Teachers." Unpublished Doctoral dissertation, Columbia University, 1965. Bell, Paul Eugene, "An Investigation by Perception Rating Agreement of Trained and Untrained Student Teacher Supervisors." Unpublished Doctoral dissertation. University of Oregon, 1967. Bosley, Howard E., Ed. Teacher Education in Transition, Vol. I: An Experiment in Change. Ba11imore: State Department of Education, 1969. 229 230 Bossone, Richard. "Training the Supervising Teacher," Teachers College Journal, XXXV (March, 1964), 178-179. Bowden, A. 0. "The Training of the Critic Teachers in the United States," Journal of Educational Research, XV (February, 1927), I I 8- 125. Bowers, Norman and Alice Scofield. "Evaluating the Supervision of Student Teachers," Journal of Teacher Education, X (December, 1959), 461-467. Brabble, Elizabeth Viilliams. "Attitudes of Supervising Teachers Toward Selected Concepts and Practices Ascribed to Their Role in the Student Teaching Program.” Unpublished Master's thesis, Pennsylvania State University, 1966. Butcher, James Alvin. "An Analytical Study of the Selection and Prepar ation of Off-Campus Supervising Teachers." Unpublished Doctoral dissertation, The American University, 1966. Dissertation Abstracts, XXVII, 1967, 1682 A. CasseI, Russell N. "Facilitating Student Satisfaction in Learning," Peabody Journal of Education, XLV (January, 1968), 225-228. Christoff el, Frederick William. "A Student Teaching Flandbook for Cooperating Teachers in the Area of Industrial Arts." Unpublished Doctoral dissertation, New York University, I960. Conant, James B. The Education of American Teachers. New York: McGraw-Hi II, 1963, Curtis, Dwight K., and Leonard 0. Andrews. Guiding Your Student Teacher. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-HaI 1, 1954. Diamond, Robert M. "Programmed Instruction in Audiovisual Equipment Operation and Application," Research In Education, III (October, 1968), 60. Coral Gables, Florida: Miami University, 1965. Duncan, Acheson J . Quality Control and Industrial Statistics. Homewood, Illinois: Richard D. Irwin, 1965. Eastwood, Grace Margaret. "The Preparation of a Manual to Meet the Needs of Rhode Island Home Economics Supervising Teachers." Unpublished Master's thesis. University of Rhode Island, 1954. Far West Laboratory for Educational Research and Development. "Improve Discussion Lessons," Teaching and Learning Topics to Help Children Have Better Opportunities To Learn, Anri I, 1968. Flynn, Edward Bernard, Jr. "Courses in Student Teaching Supervision." Unpublished Doctoral dissertation, The University of Oklahoma, 1959. 231 Gabriel, Lloyd Miller. "A Comparison of Self Instructional Systems in an Educational Media Laboratory." Unpublished Doctoral disser tation, Washington State University, I9G6. Pissertation Abstracts , XXVII, 1967, 2914 A. Garrison, Cecil. "Programming Teacher Education in Media," Aud io- visual Instruction, IX (October, 1964), 926. Good, Carter V., ed. Dictionary of Education. New York: McGraw- Hill, 1959. Graham, Patricia Ann. "The Status of Inservice Education Programs for Supervising Teachers and the Development of an Inservice Educa tion Course for Supervising Teachers." Unpublished Doctoral dissertation, University of Texas at Austin, 1968. Haefele, Donald L. "SeIf-1nstruction and Teacher Education," Aud i o- visual Instruction, XIV (January, 1969), 63-64. Hallman, Clemen L. "Role of the Cooperating Teacher," Speech presented at the Central Indiana Conference for Supervising Teachers, Indianapolis, October 9, 1962. Educational Resources Informa tion Center, ED 010 722. Harper, Charles. A Century of Public Teacher Education. Washington, D.C.: National Education Association, 1939. Harven, Jeraline Dorris. "The Supervising Teacher: A Synthesis of Research Findings and Thought." Unpublished Doctoral disser tation, Indiana University, 1964. Hatch, Winslow R. and Alice L. Richards, ed. Approach to Independent Study. Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1965. Hayes, Robert Bruce. "A Study of Programs of Pre-Service and In-Service Education for Cooperating School Supervising Teachers Used by Selected Teacher Education Institutions." Unpublished Doctoral dissertation, University of Kansas, I960. Ishler, Richard E. "Train the Trainer: A Proposal Enhancing the Role of the Cooperating Teacher," Clearing House, XLII I (December, 1969), 240-243. Johnson, Larry Kay. "An Analysis of Selected Factors in the Preparation of Secondary Teachers in Georgia." Unpublished Doctoral disser tation, University of Georgia, 1963. Johnson, Yvon 0. "Individualizing In-Service Education," Journal of Secondary Education, XLII (May, 1967), 229-233. 232 Joint Committee on State Responsibility for Student Teaching. Who's In Charge Here? Washington, D.C.: National Education Association, 1966. Jones, John Owen. "Comparisons Detween Most and Least Effective Cooperating Teachers." Unpublished Doctoral dissertation, University of California, Berkeley, 1963. Kapfer, Philip G. and Gardner Suenson. "Individualizing Instruction for Se'if-Paced Learning." The Clearing House, XLI I (March, I 963), 405-410. Kearns, James E. "The Supervision of Off-Campus Student Teaching." Unpublished Doctoral dissertation, University of North Dakota, 1954. Knirk, Frederick G. and Gary L. McGonehy. "Programming Teacher Education in Media," Audiovisual Instruction, IX (October, 1964), 527, 542. Lingren, Vernon C. "Three Proposals for Improving Student Teaching," Educational Administration and Supervision, XLII I (November, "195V), 305-389. McAulay, J. D. "How Much Influence Has a Cooperating Teacher?" Journal of Teacher Education, XI (March, I960), 79-83, McDowell, Joyce Newman. "Auto-Tutorial Instruction: Its Effectiveness for Teaching Questioning." Unpublished Master's thesis, The Ohio State University, 1970. Manera, Elizabeth S. and Leroy II. Griffith. "The Development and Improvement of a Programmed Learning Sequence for Use in Constructing a Teaching Unit," Research In Education, III (December, 1968), 46. Arizona State University, 1967. Merring, Merton Joseph. "The Nature of the Supervision of Student Teaching." Unpublished Doctoral dissertation, Cornell University, 1955. Dissertation Abstracts, XVI, 1956, 291. Michaelis, John U. "Student Teaching and Internship," Encyclopedia of Educational Research. Edited by Chester W. Harri s. ThIrd Ed it ion, I960, pp. T473-14 8 1. Mundt, Allen V. "Toward Self Instruction Practice," Aud i ov i suaI Instruction, XIV (March, 1969), 86. Murphy, Lila Catherine. "The Feasibility of Audiotape-Telephone Super vision of High School Teachers. "Unpublished Doctoral dissertation, The Ohio State University, 1969. 233 National Council of the Independent Schools Committee on Teacher Training. Preparation of Teachers for Secondary Schools. Boston: The Council, 19138. National Education Association. Teacher Education: The Decade Ahead. Washington, D.C.: NEA, 1955. National Society for the Study of Education. Individualizing Instruc tion. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1962. National Society of College Teachers of Education. The Education of Teachers. Twenty-third Yearbook. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1935. Nicklas, Merrill S. "A Comparative Study of Critical Incidents to Determine Recommended Techniques for Supervisors of Student Teachers." Unpublished Doctoral dissertation, University of Arkansas, 1959. Perrodin, Alex F. "In Support of Supervising Teacher Education Programs," Journal of Teacher Education, XII (March, 1961), 36-38. Pfeiffer, Robert. "A Study of the Problems and Attitudes of Beginning Cooperating Teachers in the Program of Full-time Student Teaching at Indiana University." Unpublished Doctoral dissertation, Indiana University, 1953. Prince, Odis Ouinton. "A Study of the Georgia Program of Educating Supervising Teachers." Unpublished DoctoraI dissertation, George Peabody College for Teachers, 1961. Proctor, William Lee. "A Comparison of Two Instructional Strategies Based on Computer-Assisted Instruction with a Lecture-Discussion Strategy for Presentation of General Curriculum Concepts." Unpublished Doctoral dissertation, Florida State University, 1968. Dissertation Abstracts, XXIX, 1969, 2075 A. Putnam, John F. and W. Dale Chi snore, ed. Standard Terminology for Instruction in State and Local School Systems. Washington, D.C.: United States Office of Education, 1967. Richards, Helen Louise. "Analysis of the Problems of the Off-Campus Supervisors of Student Teachers." Unpublished Doctoral dissertation, State University of Iowa, 1955. Pissertation Abstracts, XV, 1955, 1564-1565. Rogers, Charles Herman. "Factors Associated with Supervising Teacher Effectiveness." Unpublished Doctoral dissertation, Cornell University, 1965. 234 Roth, Lois H. "Selecting Supervising Teachers," Journal of Teacher Education, XI I —XI 1 I (December, 1961), 476-401. Rutrough, Janes Ellwyn. "Criteria for Orientation and Inservice Education of SuDervising Teachers in Teacher Education Programs." Unpublished Doctoral dissertation, University of Virginia, 1968. Dissertation Abstracts, XXIX, 1969, 2591-2592 A. Southworth, Horton. A Model of Teacher Training for the Individualiza tion of Instruction. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh School of Education, 1968. Steeves, Frank L. "A Summary of the Literature on the Off-Campus Cooperating Teacher," Educational Administration and Supervi sory, XXXV'l I I (March, 1952), 129-137. Stratemeyer, Florence B. and Margaret Lindsey. Working With Student Teachers. New York: Bureau of Publications, Teachers College, Columbia University, 1958. Strebel, Ralph F. The Nature of the Supervision of Student-Teaching in Universities Using Cooperating Public High Behoofs*! New York: Bureau of Publications, Teachers Coi'leae, Columbia University, 1935. Tanruther, Edgar. "Commission on the In-Service Education of the Supervising Teacher," AST Newsletter, (Fall, 1962), 15-20. Tanzman, Jack. "How To Individualize In-Service Training," School Management, XI (January, 1967), 211. Tedder, Thomas H., Jr. "The Determination of Areas of Emphasis for Acti vities of Persons Engaged in Supervision of Student Teaching." Unpublished Doctoral dissertation, University of Southern Missis sippi, 1968. Dissertation Abstracts, XXIX, 1969, 3027 A. The Center for Vocational and Technical Education. "Conference Critique Forms." Columbus: The Ohio State University, 1969. Vlcek, Charles W. "Assessing the Effect and Transfer Value of a Class room Simulator Technique." Unpublished Doctoral dissertation, Michigan State University, 1965. Ward, William and John Suttle. "Oregon Plan to Improve the Induction Process: The Program to Prepare Supervising Teachers and Organization of Schools and Colleges to Accommodate the Process," Journal of Teacher Education, XVII (Winter, 1966), 444-451. Webster, Staten W. "Suggestions for the Supervising Teacher," NEA Journal, LIV (April, 1965), 39. 235 Wiaqins, Sam P. "Improving Off-Canpus Student Teaching," Education, IXXIIi (June, 1963), 622-629. Williams, Carroll. "Guidelines for Cooperating Teachers," SchooI and Community, LV (December, 1966), 34-37. Williams, Rosemary Wood. "Rolo of the Homo Economics College Super visor of Student Teachers." Unpublished Doctoral dissertation, The Ohio State University, 1966. Wood, Charles. "Teacher Satisfaction Scale." Akron, Ohio: University of Akron. Cited by Lila Catherine Murphy, "The Feasibility of Audiotape-Telenhone Supervision of High School Teachers" (unpublished Doctoral dissertation, The Ohio State University, 1969), 46-47. Woods, Marion B. "The Development of Materials to Meet the Needs of Cooperating Teachers in Home Economics in Nevada." Unpublished Master's thesis, University of Nevada, 1961. WrobIewski, Claudia. "A Student Teacher Views the Supervising Teacher," Journal of Teacher Education," XIV (September, 1963), 333.