Enhancing the Community-Based Practice of a Teacher Education Program to Serve Children From High-Need Communities

• In Event: Roundtable Session 9
  In Roundtable Session: Community Service

Abstract

The purpose of this paper was to examine the community-based practice of a graduate level preservice teacher education program sponsored by a federally funded grant project. The focus of the paper was a systematic evaluation of 13 course syllabi. Specifically, three components of each syllabus was reviewed and rated using a project-developed evaluation form including the course objectives, readings, and assignments. Six indicators of community-based practice were identified. The evaluation process involved 5 phases consisting of internal and external review of course documents. The results indicated that community-based practice was mentioned in all course syllabi suggesting the importance of community-based practice; however, in-depth understanding of community-based practice was less evident because of the weak connections between learning objectives and assignments.

Authors

• Yaoying Xu, Virginia Commonwealth University

• Serra De Arment, Virginia Commonwealth University

• Mary Ellen Huennekens, Virginia Commonwealth University