Poster #118 - Student Teacher Evaluation Ratings Across the COVID-19 Pandemic

• In Event: Poster Session 13

Abstract

The rapid switch to digital learning during the COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted teachers and their students. Student teachers, who were being trained to become licensed educators during the pandemic might be at particular risk. Some preliminary research indicates that student teachers during the pandemic were concerned about their graduation status and whether they would be properly prepared to teach (Carmignola & Hagenauer, 2021). This is the first study to compare the effectiveness of student teachers pre-pandemic, peak pandemic, and a return to the typical classroom with precautions. This comparison is important to determine whether educators who completed their student teaching during the pandemic are prepared to teach.

Research Questions: Was there a difference between student teacher ratings from Fall 2019 to Fall 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic? Can any differences in student teacher ratings be explained by teacher licensure program or type of teaching standard?

Method:
Between Fall 2019 and Fall 2021, 895 (147 to 2220 per semester) cooperating teachers (CT) used a Qualitrix survey to rate the effectiveness of their student teachers (ST). CTs worked with STs in early childhood education, elementary education, secondary education, special education, and K-12 licenses. The Qualitrix survey evaluate the 10 core teaching standards identified by the Interstate Teaching Assessment and Support Consortium (InTASC). The survey included 55 questions rated on a scale of 1 (beginning) to 4 (highly effective). Figure 1 displays a timeline of the student teaching modality from pre-COVID in Fall 2019 to a return to typical face to face teaching with precautions in Fall 2021.

Data Analysis
A 5 (semester) x 5 (licensure program) x 10 (standard) repeated measures ANOVA was conducted to answer the research questions

Results
There was a main effect of semester F(4, 797) = 4.18, p =0.002. Tukey’s HSD indicated that ST ratings were higher in Fall 2020 than they were in Fall 2019, (Figure 2). There was a main effect of InTASC standard F(9, 7173) =7.14, p < 0.001 and licensure program F(4,797) = 5.21, p < 0.001. Tukey’s HSD indicated that standard 9 “professional learning and ethics” and 10 “leadership and cooperation” were rated more highly than the other 8 standards and that STs in the elementary education and special education programs were rated higher than students in the K12 licensure programs. There was no significant semester x standard, semester x program, or semester x program x standard interactions.

Discussion and Implications
There are a variety of reasons why STs might be rated higher in peak pandemic than pre-pandemic. First, CTs may have more empathy for the STs during the pandemic and inflated their scores Second, during the pandemic when more instruction was online there may have been fewer teaching skills to observe and thus fewer low ratings. Third, CTs may have been impressed with STs online teaching because STs had more experience with distance education than CTs did. Overall, results suggest that student teachers are prepared to be effective educators both online and in person.

Authors

• Jenni Petersen, University of Wisconsin - Whitewater
  Presenting Author

• Scott Peters

• Katie Casey

• Lana Collet-Klingenberg