Areas Of Responsibility Research Articles

An Analysis of Teaching-Improvement Suggestions to Student Teachers

Since the quality of the teacher-education pro gram is to a great extent reflected in the perform ance of the student teacher in the classroom, the improvement or modification of the teacher-edu cation program might start with an analysis of the student-teaching performance. It is in the c lass room that we find the confluence of all those e le ments in the teacher-education program. This test ing ground is teeming with meanings and implica tions for all those who have a hand in preparing the teacher. College instructors who have provided the aca demic and professional education background of the student teacher would benefit by an analysis and feedback of what happens in their areas of respon sibility as the student actually performs the teach ing act. Valuable data would also be available for administrators responsible for the admission, se lection, and screening of prospective teachers. The attempts to evaluate the effectiveness of par ticular courses, or patterns of courses, after the teacher has been in the field, have brought disap point i ng results. The college supervisor of student teaching, working hand in hand with the public school supervisors, is close to the data and quali fied as a trained observer. He is in an enviable position to sample that rarified classroom air, and has the responsibility for analysis and feedback. The minutia or details of the analysis might consti tute more valuable data than the researcher's de ductions or analysis of the data.* A disturbing by product of the feedback is the clear picture it mir rors of the competence of the college supervisor.

Certification and Professional Performance

In June 1959 the National Education Association granted funds for a special project to be sponsored by the National Commission on Teacher Education and Professional Standards. In scope, the New Horizons Project encompasses the same areas of responsi bility as those with which the Commission was charged at the time of its creation-re cruitment and selection of students, teacher education programs, accreditation, certifica tion, and the advancement of professional standards. In each of these areas, a national committee, with representation from all segments of the profession, has been at work for almost one year. The central purpose of each committee, and of the project as a whole, is to develop a rationale in support of the principle of autonomy for the profession and to define policies and action programs directed toward new and enlarged goals. The following paper is presented as an interim report of the Committee on Certification and Professional Performance of School Personnel. Although all of the ideas included here have been under consideration by the total Committee, not all of them have been approved. This statement must, therefore, be regarded as tentative. Its purpose, as a working paper for the San Diego Conference, is to provoke discussion.-EDITORS.