Promoting Responsive Teacher Education through Effective Follow-Up Studies.

Overview & Synopsis

This paper demonstrates how teacher education follow-up studies can be designed and used to promote responsive teacher education programs. Using a recently completed study of alumni from an undergraduate teacher education program as a model, the paper presents substantive findings relevant both to the design of future teacher education follow-up studies and to the literature on the relationship between teacher preparation and professional practice. The paper also identifies methodological considerations and techniques designed to have the maximum impact on program review and planning. The paper presents results from both qualitative and quantitative analyses examining relationships among specific teacher education programs, early professional challenges, recommendations for curricular revision, perceived professional growth, and overall evaluation of the undergraduate program. The analyses examine variation among Early Childhood, Elementary, Secondary and Special Education majors with particular emphasis on comparing the most distinctive group, Secondary Education, with all other Teacher Education majors. One key aspect of the substantive findings in this research is the valuable feedback that graduates provided concerning challenges they encountered early in their professional careers and what recommendations they offered to better prepare future graduates to meet these challenges. (Contains 19 references.) (JB)