Policy Shifts and Unintended Consequences: Preparing the Underprepared for a Yearlong Student Teacher Residency Requirement

• In Event: Moscone Center North Roundtable Session 5
  In Roundtable Session: Investing in Our Future: Mentoring for Teacher Preparation

Abstract

Mentoring pre-service teachers into the teaching profession is intricate, complex work. Responding to rapid state-level policy shifts in student teaching, faculty at a flagship university with robust PK-3 and elementary teacher preparation programs, were charged with transitioning from semester-long student teaching to a year-long experience. In this mixed method study, researchers investigated dispositional shifts of 108 teachers who participated in an intensive, semester-long (spring 2018) mentor teacher training program. Three data sources were included. Results indicated that matching and selection of mentor and mentee, communication with and coaching of the mentee, and time for mentoring
activities, all surfaced as significant issues within mentoring. Two themes emerged from data analysis: Collective Professional Skill Sets & Program Attributes and School-based Partnership Accountability.

Authors

• Margaret-Mary Sulentic Dowell, Louisiana State University

• Cynthia Fontcuberta DiCarlo, Louisiana State University

• Sassy C. Wheeler, Louisiana State University