How Teacher Education Program Coherence Is Associated With Elementary Candidates' Opportunity to Learn and Practice Ambitious Instruction

• In Event: Exploring the Contours of Coherence in Teacher Preparation: Four Perspectives on the Concept, the Pathways, and the Challenges

Abstract

Objective. A growing body of scholarship has argued for the importance of teacher preparation program coherence (Darling-Hammond, 2006; Grossman, Hammerness, McDonald, & Ronfeldt, 2008; Hammerness, 2006). These studies point to the importance of alignment across courses, between courses and student teaching experiences, and across course instructors, university supervisors, and cooperating teachers. But few studies have examined how program coherence is associated with teaching candidates’ opportunity-to-learn (OTL) and practice ambitious instructional strategies. This study addresses this gap by investigating how 197 elementary candidates’ perceptions of program coherence predict OTL ambitious instruction. We also draw on social network data from candidates’ cooperating teachers and university supervisors to consider how the degree of alignment in their expectations shapes candidates’ OTL.
Perspective. We ground this study in program coherence theory (Grossman, Hammerness, McDonald, & Ronfeldt, 2008; Newmann, Smith, Allensworth, & Bryk, 2001). This theory suggests two key types of preparation program coherence: conceptual alignment and structural alignment. The former refers to the extent to which program faculty and staff share common goals for candidate learning and outcomes, including a common vision for the types of instructional practices candidates will develop. The latter refers to the degree to which shared goals and a common vision are aligned across courses and field experiences. Further, we draw on social network theory to consider the nature of university supervisors’ and cooperating teachers’ expectations and how the degree of alignment in their expectations can impact elementary candidates’ development.
Data Sources and Methods. Our sample consists of 197 elementary teaching candidates from four universities, 81 university supervisors, and 120 cooperating teachers. Each candidate completed one survey during their final year of teacher preparation (2015-16) about their OTL and practice ambitious instructional strategies in mathematics and English language arts (ELA) as well as their perceptions of preparation program coherence. The university supervisors and cooperating teachers also completed one survey in 2015-16 about their practices and expectations for student teachers.
We used multiple regression and social network analysis to study the main outcomes as a function of several independent variables (including individual candidate characteristics and characteristics and expectations of university supervisors and cooperating teachers) and interactions among these variables. Our primary outcomes were candidates’ OTL mathematical and ELA instructional strategies. All models included a vector of controls for candidate attributes (e.g., the candidate’s ACT/SAT score, selectivity of undergraduate institution, undergraduate grade point average) and school attributes (e.g., student race/ethnicity, student eligibility for free/reduced lunch, school size, urbanicity).
Findings. Our findings indicate that elementary candidates’ perceptions of teacher education program coherence were strongly associated with their OTL in mathematics while the degree of alignment among university supervisors’ and cooperating teachers’ expectations regarding ELA strongly shaped candidates OTL in ELA.
Significance. This study provides evidence about how teacher education program coherence is associated with elementary candidates’ OTL in mathematics and ELA. Further, our findings will inform preparation programs in regard to hiring and training cooperating teachers and university supervisors who can help candidates acquire knowledge and learn to engage in mathematics and ELA instruction.

Authors

• Peter A. Youngs, University of Virginia

• Jillian M Cavanna, University of Connecticut - Storrs

• Veronica Katz, University of Virginia

• Lauren Molloy Elreda, University of Virginia

• James Pippin, Michigan State University