Using Simulations to Assess Student Teaching Readiness

• In Event: 72.044 - Teaching Simulations That Assess (the Use of) Teaching Knowledge and Skill

Abstract

Objectives
Teacher Residents (TRs) participate in a mid-year performance assessment that we call the “Gateway.” Data from this assessment informs our decisions about TRs’ readiness to begin the teaching practicum component of our yearlong residency program.

Perspective(s)
The Gateway involves planning and teaching four 6-minute lessons in which evaluators assess the following skill domains:
• Presence and Communication – does the teacher communicate clearly and project authority appropriately?
• Proactive Management – does the teacher set clear expectations and motivate students to meet those expectations?
• Reactive Management – does the teacher notice and respond to off-task behavior?
• Thinking Tasks – does the teacher plan thinking tasks that are aligned with the lesson’s objective?
• Student Practice – does the teacher give student ample opportunities to practice those thinking tasks?
• Teacher Feedback – does the teacher provide students with useful feedback on their thinking?

Methods
TRs participate in roughly 80 hours of practice to prepare for the Gateway. The practice sessions, known as “Group of 6,” involve 5 peers role playing as students with an instructional coach who sets goals and provides real-time feedback to each teacher. For the actual Gateway assessment, we train high school students to assume these roles in order to create a more authentic simulation of classroom practice.

Results & Scholarly Significance
Using video analysis assignments in the coursework that precedes the Gateway assessment, we are able to assess our TRs’ ability to describe and critique these teaching skills. However, we are not able to determine if they have the cognitive agility to perform these skills in concert, and make quick and accurate decisions about which technique to use in which situation. Group of 6 and the Gateway simulations allows us evaluate these skills in a more authentic context, and thus ensure a baseline level of teaching quality before the TRs begin their practicum with actual students.

One of the ongoing challenges of this exercise is our ability to simulate authentic student behaviors and actions. When we first started these exercises six years ago, we assigned each student a specific misbehavior to perform at a specific time in the lesson. But this was a very imperfect approximation of the different personalities, dispositions, and skill levels that underlie student behaviors in an actual class. So we have worked to create very detailed student profiles that our TRs assume so they can attempt to play a particular character during a lesson simulation and thus respond more authentically to the teacher. Coaches give the TRs regular feedback on how well they’re playing these characters to maintain quality control and consistency in the exercise.

Authors

• Orin Gutlerner, Match Teacher Residency

• Randall Lahann, Match Teacher Residency