TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAMS: CREATING A FEEDBACK LOOP Peter W. Bates, Michigan State University : TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAMS: CREATING A FEEDBACK LOOP Peter W. Bates, Michigan State University
Slide2 : Promoting Rigorous Outcomes in
Mathematics and Science: PROM/SE
Slide3 : PROM/SE Partners Ingham County Intermediate School District, Michigan
St. Clair County Intermediate School District, Michigan
Calhoun County Intermediate School District, Michigan
SMART Consortium, Cleveland, Ohio Area
High AIMS Consortium, Cincinnati, Ohio Area
Michigan State University (Lead partner)
Slide4 : PROM/SE Scope ~70 school districts
~1400 PROM/SE associates
~5000 inservice teachers
~800 preservice teachers
~400,000 K-12 students
Slide5 :
Project Leaders:
Joan Ferrini-Mundy, Associate Dean,
Science and Mathematics Education,
MSU College of Natural Science
William Schmidt, MSU Distinguished Professor,
College of Education
Co-PIs:
George Leroi, Dean, MSU College of Natural Science
Peter Bates, Chair, MSU Department of Mathematics
Terry Joyner, Director of Curriculum,
Cincinnati Public Schools
Slide6 : assessment of students
surveys of teachers and principals
improvement of standards
professional development of teachers
preparation of preservice teachers PROM/SE is a comprehensive research and development effort to improve mathematics and science teaching and learning in grades K-12.
PROM/SE is based on:
Slide7 : PROM/SE Goals for Mathematics and Science Education Build reform efforts on a base of empirical evidence
Develop challenging content standards and align instruction with those standards
Provide professional development based on disciplinary content, standards, and evidence
Reform the preparation of future teachers
Improve student learning in science and mathematics
Slide8 : PROM/SE is an Evidence-based Research and Development Initiative to Improve Mathematics and Science Teaching and Learning in Grades K-12 PROM/SE Strategies:
Create the research database:
Assess student knowledge in mathematics and science
Survey teachers and principals regarding mathematics and science preparation and instructional approaches
Slide9 : Using the research data:
Improve mathematics and science curriculum standards
Design and provide effective professional development for comprehensive mathematics and science curricula
Review and reform the teacher preparation in mathematics and science
PROM/SE Strategies cont.:
Teachers for a New Era : Teachers for a New Era
What is TEACHERS FOR A NEW ERA? : What is TEACHERS FOR A NEW ERA? national effort to strengthen K-12 teaching by developing state-of-the art schools of education
expected to directly influence public policy leaders concerned with the quality of the nation’s teachers
funded by the Carnegie, Ford, Rockefeller and Annenberg Foundations
5-year, $5,000,000 grant, requires $5,000,000 match
catalytic reform of teacher education as a university-wide undertaking
TNE Design Principles : TNE Design Principles Decisions driven by evidence
Engagement with the Arts and Sciences
Teaching as an academically taught clinical practice profession
Slide13 : MSU TNE Focus
Centrality of Content and Context
Content is Central : Content is Central
Instructional content key to student achievement
Content knowledge for teachers: focus on what is important for teaching
Context is Central : Context is Central Teaching is bifocal work: one eye on content and the other on the student.
Knowledge of students enables teachers to capitalize on student assets
Knowledge of their students’ communities helps teachers make instructional connections
Crucial Part of TNE and PROM/SE: Evaluation of Teacher Education Programs : Crucial Part of TNE and PROM/SE: Evaluation of Teacher Education Programs WHAT MUST BE EVALUATED?
Coursework, i.e. academic preparation, including: Education, Content Area, and Field experience
Outcomes
Coursework : Coursework Who is providing the instruction (regular faculty, graduate students, adjuncts)
Does the content match standards (pedagogical and disciplinary)?
Do the field experiences offer good models?
Are they good mentors?
How much field experience?
How often?
How early?
OUTCOMES : OUTCOMES Typically, programs survey graduates and employers
It would also be helpful to assess what teachers know and can do.
How effective are these teachers in helping their pupils learn?
Can this be measured?
Slide19 :
Example survey compiled by D.J. Freeman
Study by D. L. Ball
Slide21 :
What happens when you divide by 0?
Student teacher #1 : Student teacher #1
Student teacher #2
Student teacher #3 : Student teacher #3
Performance of pupils of graduates : Performance of pupils of graduates
Ed Begle (early 70’s) surveyed all literature whose focus was to correlate teacher knowledge to “effectiveness” (in terms of student learning)
“There are no experts that can distinguish effective from ineffective teachers based on easily observable characteristics. …”
“ Similarly, the effects of a teacher’s subject matter knowledge and attitudes on student learning seem to be far less powerful than most of us had realized.”
However, Monk (1994) found a weak but positive correlation between teacher knowledge and student learning
Challenges – Evaluating Teachers through Pupil Performance : Challenges – Evaluating Teachers through Pupil Performance
Threat of evaluation narrows the curriculum
Is the data reliable?
What factors must be taken into account?
Making sure that evaluation information is used
REMEMBER : REMEMBER
“Not everything that counts can be counted. Not everything that can be counted counts” A. Einstein