Education Teacher Preparation Programs Research Articles

Rural adapted physical education teacher preparation programs: A pilot study

The purpose of this study was to investigate the teacher preparation programs in adapted physical education among colleges and universities in the United States. Twenty-two adapted physical educators from colleges and universities representing 13 states were interviewed during the 1987 AAHPERD convention in Las Vegas, Nevada. The interview questions focused on the existence of an adapted physical education program and the inclusion of training in rural adapted physical education programming. Significant among the findings were that (a) 67% of the respondents were provided with a segment of rural-oriented information during a 3-unit undergraduate course, (b) the amount of time allocated to rural adapted physical education ranged from less than one week to four weeks, (c) from the total of 22 institutions, 10 respondents indicated the existence of a major in adapted physical education, and (d) four (40%) of ten institutions with an adapted physical education major required practical training in rural districts. Although variations exist in the content, requirements, and enrollment in adapted physical education, the conclusion from this investigation is that training in rural adapted physical education is minimal.

Nontraditional Approaches to Recruiting and Retraining Minority Future Special Educators

Minorities receiving bachelor degrees in special education are scarce. This paper proposes two models for recruiting and retaining minority students in special education teacher preparation programs. The first model is to be implemented at the middle and high school levels; and the second model at the college/university level. Also included are methods for evaluating the models. These models identify nontraditional approaches for recruitment and retention that are adaptable to various programs of study.

Interactive Video Technology in Teacher Education

Interactive video technology is being applied as an instructional strategy in various ways in education. It is a particu larly powerful technology when working with sport and human movement. O'Sullivan, Stroot, Tannehill, and Chou outline some applications ofthetechnol ogy in education; the final section de scribes development of an interactive video instructional package for use in skill analysistraining in a physical educa tion teacher preparation program. The authors suggest this medium holds great potential for assisting physical education teachers in learning to dis criminate appropriate and inappropriate elements of skill performance, thereby enabling them to provide appropriate feedback to students and improve per formance.

Cooperative Learning in Special Education Teacher Preparation Programs

The purpose of this article is to provide education professors with guidelines for designing and incorporating cooperative group learning siraiegies into their courses. The student satisfaction results of a pilot project in one graduate course are proesented.

Administrators' Perceptions of Health Education in the Special Education Curriculum

Both the fields of special education and health education have objectives related to behavior and health. In fact, special education teachers frequently perform some of the duties of a health educator. Although the literature acknowledges that the preparation of special education teachers should include study in health education, there is very little information on whether courses in health education are included in the preparation of special educators. This study investigated the perceptions of 298 administrators of special education training programs regarding the beneficial nature of health education courses to special education majors and the extent to which courses in health education were included in the training of special educators. Findings indicated that 56% of the special education teacher preparation programs required their majors to complete a course in either first aid or personal health as a graduation requirement.

Selection of Physical Education Students and Success in Student Teaching

This is an extension of a 1977 study on the effectiveness, in terms of success in student teaching, of a process for screening students for a physical education teacher preparation program. Preentry data including interview ratings, secondary school GPAs, and skill and fitness scores, as well as postentry data including university GPAs, were correlated with student teaching ratings (STRs) on a total of402 graduates between 1967 and 1983 at the University of Victoria. In the 1986 study, in addition to the correlations, ANOVAs were computed. The correlation matrix revealed significant but low positive correlations between secondary GPAs and university GPAs generally, and between STR and 3rd-, 4th-, and 5th-year GPA, respectively. ANOVAs revealed no significant differences in achieved STRs between interview categories, teaching attitude categories, or the four levels of entering GPAs. The only predictive power of preentry data was exhibited by entering GPA in presaging academic attainment in the 5-year program. In general, no preentry data were helpful in predicting teaching success.

Undergraduate Special Education Teacher Training Programs in Comprehensive and Noncomprehensive Schools: Phase 1

This article describes the results of a nationwide study designed to assess the emphasis placed upon selected training areas by undergraduate special education teacher preparation programs. Two groups of randomly selected schools comprised the study. Group / (noncomprehensive schools) included schools that grant an undergraduate degreelcertification in special education but do not grant a doctoral degree in special education. Group II (comprehensive schools) included schools that grant both an undergraduate degree/certification and a doctoral degree in special education. Schools were asked to indicate the emphasis their programs placed on 11 training areas. The training areas were adapted from the "common body of knowledge" research. Comparisons were made both between and within groups. Results suggest that comprehensive schools place a greater emphasis upon the training area of curriculum. In addition, differences were found in the degrees of emphasis placed on the training areas within programs by the two types of schools.

A survey of teacher preparation programs in education of the hearing impaired.

A 33-item questionnaire was sent to 81 teacher education programs in the United States and Canada. The respondents, representing 76.5% of the identified programs, answered multiple-choice and open-ended questions regarding student enrollment, selected aspects of their student teaching programs, and student teacher evaluation. Follow-up telephone interviews with 24 of the teacher educators were also conducted. The results provided basic information about the current status of teacher preparation programs in the education of the hearing impaired.

Research Requirements in Special Education Programs

The purpose of this study was to identify the amount and type of research or statistical training required by teacher education programs in special education. Twenty percent of the special education teacher preparation programs throughout the country were randomly selected to participate in the study. Results of the study are presented, and the implications are examined.

Effect of laboratory experiences on undergraduates’ perception of the ideal pupil

Purpose of this study was to determine the impact of laboratory experiences on undergraduate students’ perception of a creative pupil. The Ideal Pupil Checklist developed by E. Paul Torrance was administered to 179 students enrolled in six different segments within an elementary education teacher preparation program. The Kendall Rank Correlation Coefficient was used to determine the degree of association between the students’ rankings and a panel of experts’ rankings of 66 affective characteristics. Based on the analysis of data, implications and recommendations for colleges of education and local school systems are proposed.

Perceptions of the Quality of Student Teaching Supervision

Sixty-three recent graduates and 171 university supervisors of special education teacher preparation programs served as a sample in a survey determining perceptions of the quality of student teaching supervision. A questionnaire was completed by all randomly selected subjects from across the nation. The results indicated that slight differences of opinion were found between the perceptions of the recent graduates and the university supervisors related to the quality and nature of student teaching supervision. It is suggested that in some instances greater emphasis is placed on the prestudent teaching knowledge base than on the development of teaching competencies acquired by the student teaching experiences.