Date of Award

Winter 1991

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Program/Concentration

Urban Services - Urban Education

Committee Director

Stephen W. Tonelson

Committee Member

D. Wolfe

Committee Member

J. R. K. Heinen

Committee Member

Robert Lucking

Abstract

The primary task of this research was to develop, implement, and evaluate an inservice training program designed to provide cooperating teachers with supervisory skills. The research design employed to evaluate this study utilized both quantitative and qualitative methods and procedures. Quantitative methods included a quasi-experimental design with the inservice training program as the independent variable and the posttest measure of cooperating teacher effectiveness as the dependent variable. Participants in the investigation were 42 student teacher triads--student teachers from two large urban universities, their cooperating teachers in schools providing placements for the student teaching experience and their university supervisors. The 21 cooperating teachers who participated in the inservice training program were matched on a number of relevant variables with 21 cooperating teachers who received no inservice training. The inservice training program consisted of 13 hours of preparation in orientation, communication, knowledge, and supervision with an emphasis on the supervisory process incorporating methods of "clinical supervision." A two hour follow-up session was held approximately three weeks into the student teaching experience. Quantitative data analysis employed the "Cooperating Teacher Performance Profile" administered to both student teachers and university supervisors and the"Cooperating Teacher Survey" administered to the cooperating teachers. A t-test for related measures comparing the student teachers' evaluation of the cooperating teachers as supervisors and as model teachers was significant at the p <.01 level for both criteria. There was no significant difference in the university supervisors' evaluations or in the cooperating teachers' perceptions regarding their supervision. Qualitative content analysis of weekly progress reports from a group of student teachers supported a difference between the supervision provided by the cooperating teachers receiving the inservice preparation and that of the cooperating teachers who did not receive training. Further analysis indicated that the student teachers' overall perceptions of the student teaching experience were more positive for the trained cooperating teachers and reflected aspects of the inservice training program. Implications of the results as well as suggestions for further research pertaining to the training of cooperating teachers were discussed.

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DOI

10.25777/x74f-0h15

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