Elementary Teaching Candidates' Opportunities to Learn English Language Arts and Math Instruction and First-Year Retention

• In Event: Teacher Professional Development, Career Advancement, and Advice Seeking

Abstract

This study explored elementary teaching candidates’ opportunity(ies) to learn (OTL) English language arts (ELA) and math instructional strategies in their teacher preparation programs (TPPs) and how these OTL were associated with their first-year retention decisions. We conducted a logistic regression analysis that drew on survey data that followed 153 participants from their last year in their TPP through their first year as full-time teachers. We found that richer OTL experiences in the math instructional strategy: methods of teaching math (e.g., conceptual understanding, algorithms and procedures, and problem-solving strategies) in their preparation program was the strongest predictor of first-year elementary teacher retention in our data set. This finding has implications for teacher preparation as well as the teacher hiring process.

Authors

• Jason Michael Miller, Eastern Kentucky University

• Kim Evert, Middle Tennessee State University

• Peter A. Youngs, University of Virginia