Examining the Interaction Between Teacher Preparation Programs, Instructional Quality, and STEM Teachers' Persistence

• In Event: Bringing All Variables Together: Mathematics and Teacher Preparation

Abstract

Research examines specific teacher characteristics or instructional quality and how they influence teachers’ persistence. Here, we combine these two bodies of research to examine the interaction of preparation programs, teacher quality, and math and science teachers’ persistence by tracing the graduates of five teacher preparation programs across the United States. To understand the teacher preparation program, we identified the overall characteristics that produced these teachers. To speak to teacher quality, we examined the instructional rigor employed by these teachers by analyzing classroom tasks, student work, and teacher expectations of students’ work. To understand teachers' persistence, we obtained data about teachers' long-term employment choices from each institution. Our findings suggest a link between the program’s structure and persistence.

Authors

• Danielle M. Rhemer, Old Dominion University

• Sherry A. Southerland, Florida State University