UNDERSTANDING THE IMPACT OF HIGHER EDUCATION COURSEWORK ON TEACHER PREPARATION

Leigh Kale D’Amico, Ed.D.Center of Excellence to Prepare Teachers of Children of PovertyFrancis Marion University

TCOP Standards

Teaching Children of Poverty Standards Six Standards

Standard

Number of Courses

Fall 2009 Spring 2010 Fall 2010

1 11 9 11

2 6 4 7

3 10 6 9

4 11 10 11

5 16 16 17

6 7 6 7

TCOP Attitudes and Beliefs Survey Developed in 2005; redesigned in 2009 13-item survey administered at end-of-course Explores student perceptions related to three

areas:1) Course (7 items)2) Instructor (4 items)3) Preparedness (1 item)

High correlation among three constructs No significant correlation among constructs

and # of courses with TCOP standards completed

TCOP Attitudes & Beliefs SurveySample ItemsScale of 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 4 (Strongly Agree)

This course improved my understanding of teaching children of poverty. (Course Item)

I would recommend this course to other students interested in teaching children of poverty. (Course Item)

The instructor effectively presented material related to teaching children of poverty. (Instructor Item)

I am better prepared to teach children of poverty as a result of this course. (Preparation Item)

TCOP Attitudes & Beliefs SurveyFall 2009 (n=407 students; 20 courses)

*Scale: 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 4 (Strongly Agree)

Spring 2010 (n=433 students; 25 courses)

Mean Low High

Course Score 3.35 2.83 3.94

Instructor Score 3.40 2.88 4.00

Preparation Score 3.33 2.79 4.00

Mean Low High

Course Score 3.33 2.20 3.78

Instructor Score 3.38 2.33 3.88

Preparation Score 3.28 2.18 3.71

TCOP Attitudes & Beliefs Survey

Sample Faculty Report

Course

Sem.

Instructor

nCours

e Score

Instructor Score

Prepn. Score

# TCOP Course

s

EDU 101

Fall Smith 62 3.58 3.66 3.50 1.87

Mean Fall All 407

3.35 3.40 3.33 4.69

TCOP Longitudinal Survey

Developed in 2006; redesigned in 2009 (maintained intent of seven original items)

14-item survey administered at beginning of Fall & Spring semesters: nine items use Likert scale, three items use yes/no, two items request demographic information

Explores students’ perceived 1) knowledge2) skills 3) confidence4) preparation5) ability to use diverse instructional methods6) ability to accommodate instructional barriers

TCOP Longitudinal Survey

Sample Items

Scale of 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 5 (Strongly Agree)

I have the knowledge I need to teach children of poverty.

I am confident in my ability to effectively teach children of poverty.

I am prepared to teach using diverse instructional methods for children of poverty.

TCOP Longitudinal Survey

# Course

sKnowled

geSkills Confidenc

ePreparati

on

Use Diverse Strategi

es

Adapt to Instruc. Barriers

0 2.08 2.17 2.97 2.04 2.20 2.47

1 2.55 2.59 3.09 2.51 2.79 2.98

2 2.92 2.94 3.09 2.51 2.79 3.12

3 3.09 3.02 3.45 2.80 2.93 3.28

4 3.80 3.74 3.78 3.69 3.72 3.67

5 4.00 3.90 3.90 3.60 4.00 3.70

6 4.43 4.14 4.14 4.14 4.29 4.43

7 4.14 3.57 3.29 3.57 3.71 3.57

8+ 4.45 4.34 4.21 4.33 4.21 4.21

TCOP Longitudinal Survey

# Times

Completedn Mean

DifferenceEffect Size

2 259 0.58 .980

3 79 1.39 .497

4 16 1.89 N/A

5 1 3.42 N/A

TCOP Mastery Assessment

Developed in Spring 2009 by assessment experts with input from content specialists

48-item, multiple-choice assessment 8 items per standard Majority of items are at application level of

Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy Administered via LiveText on the final

day of student teaching seminar

TCOP Mastery Assessment

Descriptive Statistics: 48 items, 1 point per item

Semester

nMean Score

Median

Score

Low Score

High Scor

e

Fall 2009 21 28.95 29 21 35

Spring 2010

35 30.09 31 18 39

TCOP Mastery Assessment

Fall 2009 (n=21)

Standard# Correct (Mean)

% Correct (Mean)

1 5.38 67.3

2 5.14 64.3

3 4.24 53.0

4 4.43 55.4

5 5.81 72.6

6 3.95 49.4

TCOP Mastery Assessment

Spring 2010 (n=35)

Standard# Correct (Mean)

% Correct (Mean)

1 5.83 72.9

2 5.17 64.6

3 4.69 58.6

4 4.86 60.8

5 5.49 68.6

6 4.06 50.8

TCOP Mastery Assessment

Bookmarking1. Items within each standard ranked by difficulty

Faculty members individually ranked items from easiest to hardest

Items were averaged to determine final rank Meetings occurred to determine final ranking; areas of

disagreement were discussed and explored

2. Bookmark placed at level at which one would deem a student proficient in material

3. Statistics were provided related to percent of students deemed proficient based on bookmark level

TCOP Mastery Assessment

Standard# Correct

for Proficiency

% Proficient

Fall 2009 Spring 2010

1 6 57.1 62.9

2 6 52.4 37.1

3 5 33.3 48.6

4 5 47.6 71.4

5 6 61.9 54.3

6 5 38.1 34.3

TCOP Student Teacher Focus Group

Conducted annually with random sample of students

Spring 2009

53% of student teachers selected to participate 41% of those selected participated

Certification Area

n %#

Invited

% Invite

d

# Partic

pt.

% Partici

pt.

Early Childhood 7 22 4 23 3 43

Elementary 18 56 9 53 3 43

Middle/Secondary

4 13 3 18 1 14

Special Education

3 9 1 6 0 0

Total 32 17 7

TCOP Student Teacher Focus Group

Spring 2010

62% of student teachers selected to participate

42% of those selected participated

Certification Area

n %#

Invited

% Invite

d

# Partic

pt.

% Partic

pt.

Early Childhood

20 47 12 46 6 55

Elementary 15 36 11 42 4 36

Secondary 5 12 1 4 0 0

Arts Education 2 5 2 8 1 9

Total 42 26 11

TCOP Student Teacher Focus GroupFindings Use common lesson plan format and more

closely aligned ideals in all certification areas Provide more site-based experiences (e.g.,

observing and working in actual classrooms and/or simulation)

2010 student teachers indicated need for more preparation related to working with students with special needs

2009 student teachers indicated need for a better screening process for supervising teachers

TCOP Teacher Focus Group

Conducted at the 2010 Summer Institute; 2 sessions

12 participants (4 at first session, 8 at second session) 5 current teachers 1 former teacher 2 administrators 3 pre-service teachers 1 higher education faculty member

Themes analyzed across both sessions

TCOP Teacher Focus Group

Findings Include more hands-on, classroom-based

experiences in pre-service programs Engage in student teaching process earlier Increase intensity/length of student teaching

Prepare students for realities of teaching: time management, negative dispositions of colleagues, challenging family situations, communication with families, student assessment

Facilitate more collaborative relationships between higher education faculty and PK-12 schools/teachers

Future Evaluation Ideas

Survey faculty members who embed TCOP standards

Track retention of Francis Marion University graduates and non-FMU graduates at schools in Pee Dee region

Interview principals related to teacher preparation and student/school needs

Survey teachers related to perceptions of preparation

Explore PASS/MAP scores of randomly selected FMU graduates and control group of non-FMU graduates in same grades and schools Issues: PK-12 preparation; participation in professional

development

Utilization Focused Evaluation

What does a high-quality, effective teacher education program look like?

How do we evaluate it?