Exploring stakeholders' perceptions of the evaluation of early fieldwork experiences in an undergraduate teacher preparation program

Abstract

EXPLORING STAKEHOLDERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF THE EVALUATION OF EARLY FIELDWORK EXPERIENCES IN AN UNDERGRADUATE TEACHER PREPARATION PROGRAM By Amber Rhodes Peacock A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2015 Major Director: Joan A. Rhodes, Ph. D. Associate Professor, Department of Teaching and Learning School of Education This study is a qualitative meta-evaluation of the early field experience (EFE) program at a small, private, undergraduate teacher preparation program in Virginia focusing on the perceptions of preservice teachers, cooperating teachers and course instructors about the EFE evaluation objectives, evaluation experience, and resulting data usage. The EFE evaluation protocol at the study site is explored using a participatory-oriented evaluation model that solicited the perceptions of stakeholders. Analysis of EFE evaluation documents and semistructured interviews with the stakeholders were conducted to explore the extent to which (1) official EFE objectives are congruent with the EFE evaluation, (2) the intended evaluation experience is congruent with stakeholders’ perceptions of the evaluation experience, and (3) intended data usage is congruent with reported data usage. The findings indicate that the EFE evaluation process is logistically sound, but does not assess and facilitate preservice teacher learning. Recommendations to improve the merit and worth of the evaluation process are presented.