A lack of knowledge about the usefulness of a field experience component within the associate principal preparation program for assistant principals drove this study. The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe the beliefs of system leaders and past participants regarding the usefulness of the field experience component and to examine archival end-of-course survey data from past participants. Constructivism and adult learning theory constituted the conceptual framework. Twelve leaders who were participants or administrators of the program within a large mid-Atlantic school district in the United States were participants. Qualitative data sources included interviews and archival data from the associate principal preparation program. A combination of descriptive and in vivo coding was used to support interpretive analysis. Results indicated the most useful components of the principal preparation program were the experiential nature of the program, opportunity for reflective thinking for participants, benefits of mentoring throughout the field experience, and empowerment felt by participants as they practiced skills learned during the field experience in their first year as principals. Recommendations based on these findings included a lengthened field experience and greater focus on the criteria used to match aspiring principals with mentor principals. Participants also noted fiscal and human capital resources were needed. A related recommendation could be to extend the field experience over 2 years to provide opportunities for associate principals to participate in experiences in the beginning and end of the school year in addition to the middle of the school year experiences provided. This research could provide support for districts interested in assessing the usefulness of their principal preparation programs.

Field experiences function as a link between LIS theory and practice. Students should be provided with an experience that is a true reflection of the professional environment. The increasing focus on research by academic librarians provides an opportunity and responsibility to integrate research into the field experiences of LIS students. / Selinda Adelle Berg Clinical Medicine Librarian University of Windsor, Canada sberg@uwindsor.ca; Kristin Hoffmann Research & Instructional Services Librarian The University of Western Ontario, Canada khoffma8@uwo.ca; Diane Dawson Natural Sciences Liaison Librarian The University of Saskatchewan, Canada diane.dawson@usask.ca

Most research in music education using the Communities of Practice (CoP) framework (Wenger, 1998) has focused on analyzing the creation or existence of a CoP. In contrast, this study used the CoP framework as a means to analyze and explore the potential of music education field experiences as boundary encounters—experiences where an individual engages with an unfamiliar CoP. The purpose of this descriptive collective case study was to investigate the tensions that occur at the boundary between music student and music teacher practices. Research questions explored (a) how undergraduate field experiences served as productive encounters for negotiating and exploring the boundary between music student and music teacher practices, (b) the tensions that occur at the boundary between music student and music teacher practices, (c) which boundary objects helped coordinate music student practices with music teacher practices, and (d) who acts as brokers at the periphery of music teacher practice, and how. Three undergraduate music education majors enrolled in a secondary music education methods course participated in this semester-long study. Analysis of interview transcripts, participant journals, course assignments, and observations revealed how undergraduate field experiences in this course served as productive encounters for negotiating the boundary between music student and music teacher practices. Practicum encounters and attendance at a professional arts conference provided the strongest opportunities to engage with the music teaching practice, whereas observations were less productive. Pursuant to Wenger-Trayner and Wenger-Trayner (2015), tensions were explored as learning assets. Findings highlight how the school check-in process, relationship with cooperating teachers, opportunities to participate, and lack of brokering generated tension for the participants. Further analysis revealed a general lack of boundary objects between practices and an absence of brokers beyond the university supervisor. Findings support the need for authentic field experiences, with sustained access to the CoP. Moreover, the identification of brokers to facilitate and coordinate these experiences emerged as paramount. Given the unique positionality of university supervisors, they appear ideally positioned to serve as brokers. Finally, results also offer insights into how the timing, type, and student placement in field experiences may impact their productiveness.

The purpose of this study was to build a task list for the clinical experience program, both early field and student teaching, for the agricultural teacher education programs in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. The objectives were: (1) compile a list of clinical experiences, both early field and student teaching, that currently are provided in the clinical experiences for students of agricultural education in three-selected teacher education programs, and (2) use an expert panel to determine what should be included in early field experiences and student teaching experiences for students enrolled in the agricultural teacher education program. A modified Delphi technique was used to collect data via three questionnaires. Data were analyzed using mean scores and standard deviations of tasks rated on a five point Likert-type scale. Those tasks that the panelists rated with a standard deviation of less than or equal to one were considered to have met consensus. The population for this study consisted of agriculture teachers, secondary school administrators, agricultural education field staff, and agricultural education teacher educators from North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. Thirty-four Delphi panel members were purposively selected from the population. Thirty-one panel members responded to Round I, 33 panel members responded to Round II, and 29 responded to Round III yielding an overall response rate of 92%. This researcher asked the Delphi panel members to rate each task on a five-point Likert type scale, 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = not sure, 4 = agree, and 5 = strongly agree. The study used mean scores and standard deviations to analyze the results. Consensus was met if the standard deviation of a task was equal to or less than one. Rounds I, II, and III resulted in 102 tasks for early field and student teaching experiences that met consensus. Based on the findings, the researcher developed a task list for early field experiences and student teaching experiences to be considered for use by the agricultural education programs in the three cooperating states. The task list developed is a very comprehensive list that relates to every aspect of clinical experiences. / Ph. D.

I report how methods course assignments shifted from simulation to actual participation in remediation, assessment, and co-teaching in a K- 6 methods course in a state where policies dictate a residency model in place of traditional courses followed by student teaching

No description available.

Preparedness, efficacy, and commitment to a teaching career are important products of the teacher preparation process. Yet research on how the context of field experiences influences the development of these products is limited. The purpose of this study is firstly to confirm the existence of hypothesized differences between urban and suburban field placements and secondly to investigate the relationship between individual components of these contextualized field experiences and the outcomes of preparedness, efficacy, and commitment. Field experiences are examined through the lens of Bandura's (1997) sources of teacher efficacy belief development (mastery experiences, vicarious experiences, verbal persuasion, emotional arousal) and their interactions with student teaching contextual influences. The results suggest that urban-based student teachers have a qualitatively different experience from their suburban-based counterparts. Although the study did not find significant differences in resultant teacher efficacy, or preparedness for assuming fulltime teaching responsibilities, urban-based teachers report less long-term teaching commitment, but are more likely to be seeking an initial placement in an urban school. Regression analyses were performed to identify those components of the field experience and individual student characteristics that predict preparedness, efficacy and commitment. Location and on-site school contextual variables (school climate, school poverty) play an integral role in prediction of teaching efficacy. While long-term teaching commitment was most strongly predicted by emotional interpretations of the experience (satisfaction, stress, confidence) together with feeling supported by the field supervisor, intentions regarding teaching location were more dependent on support and encouragement received from mentor teachers in those locations, and viewing the mentor as a good career model. The findings of this study have important implications for teacher training since the results confirm that student teachers have very different experiences based on field site location and that these experiences do contribute differentially to the development of preparedness, efficacy and commitment. / Educational Psychology

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 semi-structured 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.