Documenting the Instructional Growth Trajectories of Teacher Candidates During the Preservice Period

• In Event: Preservice Courses, Student Teaching Experiences, and Beginning Teacher Outcomes

Abstract

Objective & Perspective. Rich longitudinal data sets have facilitated deeper understandings of in-service teachers’ growth trajectories, with important policy implications (Atteberry et al., 2015; Kraft, Papay, & Chi, 2019). Analogous measures of how teacher practice develops in the pre-service period, however, are rare. As such, we lack an understanding of teacher candidate growth trajectories as well as the ability to assess effects of pre-service learning experiences on teachers’ developing instructional practice (Goldhaber, 2019). This study leverages unique longitudinal data to document candidates’ growth trajectories at a large Southeastern public university. Our research questions are: 1) How does teacher practice change during the in-service period? and 2) How do these trajectories vary based on candidates’ learning experiences?
Data & Methods. We use two observational measures of teacher practice. The first consists of candidates’ Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) scores (Pianta & Hamre, 2009) from at least three timepoints during their clinical (student teaching) placements. The second consists of two researcher-designed observational rubrics for assessing instructional practice in a pair of standardized simulation scenarios: one focused on classroom management, aligned with the Classroom Organization domain of CLASS; and one focused on instructional feedback, aligned with the Instructional Support domain of CLASS. All pre-service teachers participated in these simulations four times during their degree program. In these mixed-reality simulations, candidates practice teaching virtual students voiced by a trained actor. These simulations provide opportunities for candidates to engage in “approximations of practice” (Grossman et al., 2009) and also serve as a standardized assessment platform. As part of a larger study, candidates were randomized to either receive coaching or engage in self-reflection after their second simulation experience in order to evaluate the effects of coaching on candidate practice.
We use multivariate regressions and hierarchical linear models to estimate candidate growth trajectories as a function of treatment status.
Findings. For both simulations, candidates who received coaching exhibited significant growth compared to those who engaged in self-reflection, but these differences faded out by the final simulation (Figure 1).
Candidates’ overall CLASS score did not change significantly from the first observation to the final observation. However, we observed meaningful change for the domains of Instructional Support, where candidate scores increased significantly, and Classroom Organization, where scores decreased significantly (Figure 2). Candidates who received coaching as part of their simulation experiences received higher CLASS scores for the observation that followed their coaching experience, but this difference faded out for subsequent observations in later semesters.
Significance. Measuring growth trajectories offers an important opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of how pre-service learning experiences influence candidate growth. Additionally, understanding variation in growth trajectories can inform the provision of targeted supports during the pre-service period to ensure that teacher candidates exit their programs with strong instructional skills. Our results suggest that coaching can meaningfully accelerate candidate growth in the short-term. However, they also highlight the fact that candidates may need more intensive and sustained supports to maintain this growth over time and transfer their learning from simulation experiences to the classroom.

Authors

• Arielle Boguslav, University of Virginia

• Julie Jackson Cohen, University of Virginia