O 

TRANSFORMING TEACHER PREPARATION:

A COLLECTIVE CASE STUDY

OF

COOPERATING TEACHERS AND TEACHER CANDIDATES

IN THE CO-TEACHING

MODEL OF STUDENT TEACHING

Dr. Kelly Meyers-WagnerCalifornia State University, Fullerton Monthly Colloquium Series

April 8, 2015

RESEARCHER’S BACKGROUND

ACADEMIC BACKGROUND

Ed.D. Pre K-12 Leadership Candidate (2014)

M.A. Special Education

B.A. German & Education

CREDENTIALS

Ryan Multiple Subject

LH Special Education

Administrative Services (pending)

National Board Certified Teacher

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Elementary School Teacher (1991-2003)

University Instructor /and Supervisor in Teacher Education (2003-present)

SPORT East-Regional Educational Consultant, Suicide Prevention LACOE (2013-2015)

Educational Consultant for PROJECT TEAL-Technology Enhanced Arts Learning in Common Core LACOE (2015-present)

Topic Background-History

Since 20th C , student teaching practicum and field placement experience has

been the standard

“Sink or swim approach”

Cooperating teachers are

randomly assigned to

teacher candidates based

on subjective judgments about

teaching

NCLB raised the stature of the teaching profession addressing

teacher quality and

accountability

Need for teacher preparation programs to produce highly skilled teachers meeting the needs of a very diverse U.S. population is significant.

Topic Background-History

• Re-thinking the practice of traditional model of student-teaching

NCATE Blue Ribbon Report (2010)

announced turning teacher education

“upside down”

• Teaching in isolation is no longer desirable for student teachers

• Seeking two professionally prepared educators actively engaged with students

Seek a clinical approach to training skilled teachers as in

the medical field

• Improving Mentor/Mentee communication

• Providing professional development as on- going and supportive

Universities begin to employ different

collaborative teaching models like

co-teaching

PROBLEM STATEMENT

The problem this study addressed was the need to improve teacher preparation especially with respect to the collaboration of the cooperating teacher and teacher candidate.

PURPOSE OF THE RESEARCH

The purpose of this study was to investigate the partnership between the cooperating teacher and teacher candidates among participants trained in a variety of co-teaching models from the participating university with a focus on the participants co-teaching interactions and how this is demonstrated in the learning environment.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1) How do participants describe their co-teaching experience?

2) How and in what ways do the cooperating teacher and teacher candidate perceive their interaction as collaborative or non-collaborative?

3) How do the participants perceive that the co-teaching model informs the preparation of teacher candidates?

THEORETICAL FOUNDATION

Social Constructivism

Construct knowledge and

the teaching practice is

mediated by social

interaction

Supports the social interaction between the pre-service

teachers and their mentors (Gardiner,

2010; Graves, 2010

Vygotsky (1978) focused on the

interactive connections between people and

the sociocultural context in which they acted. (Crawford, 1996; Creswell,

2013 Recognizes the role of

social processes of interaction

among individuals to understand the world in which they

live and work.

Major Conceptual Areas Highlighted Works

Historical Context of Teacher Preparation

Labaree (2004); Mehta (2013); Learned et al. (1920)

Theoretical Framework Vygotsky (1978); Crawford (1996); Palincsar(1998)

Research on Reform Policies• Federal Policy: National Council

for Accreditation of Teacher Education; No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top

• State Policy: Credentialing and Licensing Exams

Hammond-Darling et al. (1999); Darling-Hammond (1997, 2011); Maxie (2003); Smith & Gorad (2007); Carnegie Task Force and Holmes Reports(1986,1990),NCATE (2010) Blue Ribbon Panel Report, NCLB (2001)

Criticisms of Traditional Preparation Programs• Teacher Education Status• Lack of Professional Development• Inconsistent Selection of

Cooperating Teachers• Teacher Candidate Placement

Issues

Cuenca (2011); Darling-Hammond (2011); Ediger(2009); Killian & McIntyre (1987); Zimpher & Howey (2005); Wang, Odell & Scheille (2008)

Resistance to Change• Organizational Change• Institutional Isomorphism• People and Change

Boyd et al. (2008); DiMaggio & Powell (1983); Salerno & Brock (2008); Spiro (2011)

REVIEW OF THE LITERTURE

REVIEW OF THE LITERATUREMajor Areas Highlighted Works

Alternative Models of Teacher Preparation• Clinical Residency Model• Co-teaching Model

California Alliance for Teacher Preparation Partnerships (2013); Capraro,Caparao & Helfeldt (2010); Comstock (2010); Sivakumaran et al.(2011); Badiali& Titus (2010), Bacharach, Heck & Dahlberg (2010); Scruggs, Mastropieri & McDuffie (2007)

Co-Teaching Model of Student TeachingChallenges University Coursework School and University Partnerships Professional Development RelationshipsAdvantages Two Trained Professionals Reflective Practice Shared TeachingCo-Teaching Strategies

Bacharach (2011); Cook & Friend (1995); Bacharach et al (2008);Stang & Lyons(2008); Graham (2006);Goodnough et al.(2009); Darragh, Picanoco & Tully (2011);Crow & Smith (2005);Gardiner (2010); Graves(2010);Kamens (2007); Beninghof (2012).

RESEARCH DESIGN

Collective Case StudyStake (1995)

states that a collective study is

“several cases within the same

project”(p.4).One issue or concern is

selected, but the inquirer selects

multiple cases to illustrate the

issues

Researcher talks directly to people in their “natural

settings, attempting to

make sense of, or interpret,

phenomena in terms of the

meanings people bring to

them”(Denzin & Lincoln, 2011, as cited

in Creswell, 2013, p.44).

Creswell (2013) wrote, “we

conduct qualitative

research when we want to empower

individuals to share their

stories, hear their voices...” (p.48).

METHODOLOGYSETTING

EDWARDS ELEMENTARY:

Large suburban Southern California school districtK-6 elementary school with 490 studentsCelebrated 50th AnniversaryDiverse school population –

52.8% White, 31.1% Hispanic, 11.0% Asian/Pacific Islander and 3.3% Black or African American21.3% student population is lower SES 9% ELs 5.9% identified with disabilitiesStaff consists of 39 full or part time members15 Teachers are credentialed and classified as NCLB (2002) “highly qualified”High parent volunteerism and involvement

CONTEXT

School district is partnered with the local university implementing the co-teaching model at local school sites.

Each participant attended same professional development co-teaching sessions

Led by university co-teaching faculty Held spring and summer trainings preceding 2013-2014 school year

Pairs-training sessions included :

PARTICIPANTSCollective Case study included a purposeful sampling of 1 male and 7 female participants.3 Co-teams:Co-Team A= CT Lorraine, TC Anthony, CT Kaley and TC Mary (K)

Co-Team B=CT Debbie and TC Candace (3/4 combination)

Co-Team C= CT Katherine and TC Carol (2nd grade)

The 4 cooperating teachers have 10+ years of teaching experience. Teaching candidates -1st semester student teachers

PROCEDURES & INSTUMENTATION

Audio Recorded Interviews

• Two formal 25 min. interviews: week 1 and week 5• Asked same Open Ended Questions

• probed further during interviews for clarification• Transcribed each audio recording

Classroom Observations

• Attended weekly 1.5 to 3 hour observations for each co-team over 5 weeks

• Wrote descriptive field notes of interactions of TC and CT

• Utilized observational protocol for recording description of activities chronologically at each visit

• Researcher reflected–memoing after observation -rich narrative description and developing a sense of the data (Creswell, 2013).

Informal Interviews

• Engaged in informal conversations• Conducted and documented

Informal interviews and conversations with CT and/or TC (Creswell, 3013; Yin, 2009)

Managing, Analyzing & Categorizing the Data

Miles, Huberman & Saldaña (2014) to ensure credibility and reduce the data

VALIDITY

•Researcher applied generic qualitative study procedures (Creswell, 2013)•Triangulation of multiple sources•Observation field notes •Post observation field notes•Interview field notes•Audio interview transcriptions

My professional role as

supervisor of student teachers

could pose the threat

to researcher

bias

Study Limitations

one semester

Participants are all at one school

site located in

a suburban school district

Ethnicity:7 of the 8

participants was white

Gender: 1 male and 7

femalesTeachers

were not a diverse

representation of typical

California demograp

hics

The 4 TC were

randomly placed

with CT by the

University faculty

I depended on level of cooperatio

n , forthrightn

ess and truthfulness of each

participant

Co-Teaching Model of Student Teaching

STUDY FINDINGS

FINDINGSQuestion 1:How do participants describe their

co-teaching experience?

Themes Sub-themes Co-Teaching helpfulness

• Supportive benefits

• Co-teaching challenges

• University sponsored pairs trainings

• Teacher candidate boot camp• Co-teaching strategies

• Small groups• Partnerships• Extra person & flexibility of

strategies

• Time management• Professional demands

Question 1 con’t…

Themes Sub-themes• Co-teaching professional

growth experiences• Personal growth (CT and TC)• Improved mentoring practices• Self-confidence

Question 1: The Co-Teaching Experience“Helpfulness”

• We [teacher candidate and cooperating teacher] got to know each other’s personalities and probably learning styles…fears, strengths and challenges that we were comfortable with….We were able to talk about ways to communicate when in the classroom...and ways to give constructive criticism….just having that communication with my student teacher before we’re even in the classroom is [was] so helpful (Cooperating Teacher Lorraine, April 2014).

• …it [the pairs-training] would have been a little bit awkward not really knowing each other [in the classroom]…. it got me to meet my master teacher and we got to build some rapport which was really nice….I liked just being able to see those [co-teaching] strategies and then just go out and try to employ them in the classroom (Teacher Candidate Anthony, April 2014.

FINDINGSQuestion 2: How and in what ways do the cooperating

teacher and teacher candidate perceive their interaction as collaborative or non-collaborative?

Theme Sub-themes• Collaborative professional

relationships

• Teacher candidate instructional position

• Professional relationships• Partnership of support for

candidates• candidate input

• Insight in candidates role as developing teacher

• Shared responsibility• Perceptions of classroom

community

Question 2: Co-teaching Interactions“Professional Relationships”

• Cooperating Teacher Katherine said, “it’s [co-teaching] like a partnership but I have more experience….I’m there to support her but if not she tries it on her own and the best way to learn to be a teacher is to make those mistakes and try it and find out what to do” (April, 2014).

• Cooperating Teacher Debbie explained, “I’m there to support them [teacher candidates] and that every idea that I give them to not take it personal. You [teacher candidate] are going to make mistakes. And don’t worry if I jump into help or whatever….We need to have a conversation so that we can move forward for our job. It’s not like a family, it is different. This is our professional life” (May, 2014).

Question 2: Co-teaching Interactions

“Professional Relationships”Teacher Candidate Candace stated in her interview,

It is very professional…she can take me seriously. I don’t want to come across as being too open about personal things…. I wouldn’t just come in and just do whatever I wanted….We’re doing it together…we’re co-teaching… We do collaborate…on the lessons that we are going to teach. She [Debbie] has them pretty much planned already…because it is so far into the school year, she knows what she needs to be teaching, but she will say what do you want to put into this lesson? I can go home and create something on my own…and find a new idea because we have collaborated ( April, 2014)

FINDINGSQuestion 3:How do the participants perceive

that the co-teaching model informs the preparation of teacher candidates?

Themes Sub-themes• University support and

communication

• Relevancy of co-teaching strategies

• Impressions of the co-teaching model

• University faculty and staff role

• Type of communication• On-going feedback

• Reinforces collaboration• Individual strategies

• Station Teaching• One-teach, One-observe• One-teach, One assist

• Co-teaching timeline• Comparisons to traditional

Preparation models

Question 3: Perception of the Co-Teaching Model

“University Support and Communication”

• Cooperating Teacher Kaley “faculty sent weekly emails …this is what you should be working on this week. Here are videos to see…go with it, if you are not sure what was modeled…(April, 2014)”

• Cooperating Teacher Debbie reported that the university sent her emails to inform her, for example, “of this new link that we can go to if we need to see models [co-teaching strategies] and they gave us a folder with all sorts of information.(April, 2014)

Question 3: Perception of the Co-Teaching Model

“University Support and Communication”

O I don’t feel like I learned much this semester which is unfortunate. I do not feel like I was taught to teach…I was taught about teaching but not given any methods on really how to implement and how to teach…Throughout the semester our professors should have invited maybe one of our other professors…to come and model these [co-teaching strategies] for us….Aside from the readings we did at home in the book….I really don’t feel like we applied or even talked much about the strategies….(Teacher Candidate Carol, May 2014).

INTERPRETATION

Co-teaching experience

Overall

positive

growth experience

Universit

y sponsore

d pairs trainings well received

TC and CT

attend the same trainings to

build rapport

TC increased self-confidenc

e

Question 1How do the participants describe their co-teaching experience?

INTERPRETATION

Co-Teaching ChallengesProfessionally

demanding

Time consumi

ng

INTERPRETATION

Co-teaching Interactions

Feedback and reflective

dialogue with TC

Professional partnership of

trust and respect

TC s are actively involved in co-

planning & shared responsibilities

A sense of professional

equality and status develops

Being included within classroom

community

CT’s became more reflective of their

own teaching practices

TCs showed that with more

interaction and feedback with CT,

confidence increased

Question 2: How and in what ways do the CT and TC perceive their interactions as collaborative or non-collaborative?

TEACHER COLLABORATION & INTERACTIONWe both enjoyed having the interaction and we thought it was great for the kids [students] to see how we cooperate…how we discuss things to work in a cooperative manner, how we would treat each other….We modeled for them appropriate behavior working together as a team….Kids are seeing the collaboration that is going on, the cooperation that is going on between the two teachers…like were are doing the tag team…how we can show respect to each other…through the models [strategies]that we are doing. (Cooperating Teacher Lorraine, May, 2014)

INTERPRETATIONPerceptions of the Co-Teaching Model

Support in Higher

Education and on-going

communication

Communication was direct by university

faculty

CTs satisfied with

supportUtilized weekly

emails of expectatio

ns and resources

University asked for TC

updates

On-going supervisor

weekly visits

TCs more critical of the prep

program and methods courses

Co-teaching

model and strategies questionably taught

Transference of the

concept of co-

teaching was not apparent

until applied in classroom with CT.

Co-teaching practices

Using co-teaching

strategies led to

increased interactio

n and positive teaching experienc

es

Strategies allow for positive use of class time-

mentoring is

immediateLower student to

teacher ratio

Question 3: How do the participants perceive that the co-teaching model informs the preparation of teacher candidates?

IMPLICATION FOR POLICY

Focus on Collaborative Teacher Preparation Models

Develop policy mission statements in support of collaborative models

Update current policies regarding teacher training-• Include a vision, philosophy, rationale and goals

for training program and credentialing requirements

• Consider policy language that strengthens the district and university partnership

• Reinforce a stronger commitment to ongoing professional development of CTs and TCs

• Increase purposeful placement of pre-service teachers

• Create criteria & selection of cooperating teachers that are objective an procedurally clear

IMPLICATION FOR PRACTICE

Continue high quality professional development and on-going support for CTs and TCs

Facilitate and develop collaborative skills between CTs and TCs at professional development university trainings

Repeat opportunities for the CTs and TCs to reflect and communicate during co-teaching.

Show willingness and commitment from CTs to interact and work with TCs.

Critically evaluate the successes and limitations of co-teaching partnerships

IMPLICATION FOR FUTURE RESERACH

Survey district administrators and principals about their perceptions of the co-teaching model and how resources are used

Conduct in-depth interviews with principals about communication and efforts by the local university as support

Examine the array of co-teaching components and assess effectiveness of ongoing professional development and trainings prior to student teaching.

Conduct focus-group interviews on teacher candidates perceptions of co-teaching model when taught in a university course.

RECOMMENDATION 1ON-GOING TEACHING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Support for university-sponsored PD between CT and TC with presence of

administrators

TC informally interview the cooperating teacher at trainings

Build on Leadership potential and qualities for CT

RECOMMENDATION 2RESTURCTURING

COURSEWORKTrain Education faculty to teach and model P-12 co- teaching practices in

methods courses

Hire cooperating teachers as adjunct faculty

Design coursework activities and assignments to include co-teaching

strategies and lessons ideas

RECOMMENDATION 3COMMITMENT TO CO-TEACHING PRACTICES

Attend more to teacher prep by promoting collaborative and professional

relationships

Choose cooperating teachers who willingly collaborate and believe in efforts

of co-teaching

Secure placements by cooperating teachers who have been trained and actively engage with new candidates.

When my principal brought it [co-teaching] to the table initially, it sounded intriguing. It sounded different, but now that we’re [the teachers] in the midst of it, it’s blown my expectation away as far as the positiveness of how this program is so much different than the one of years past…I hope it’s one that’s taken by other universities because I can just see how much more positive it is in so many different ways than just the typical student teaching plan that I went through (Cooperating Teacher Lorraine, April, 2014).

CONCLUSION

REFERENCESCorbin, J., & Strauss, A. (2008). Basics of qualitative research (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Creswell, J. (2013). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (3rd ed.). Los Angeles: Sage.Denzin, N., & Lincoln, Y. (2005). Introduction: The discipline

and practice of qualitative research. In N. Denzin, & Y. Lincoln, The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research (3rd ed., pp. 1-32). Thousand Oaks: Sage. Merriam, S. (1998). Qualitative research and case study

applications in education. San Francisco: Josey-Bass Publishers.

Miles, M., & Huberman, A. & Saldaña (2014). Qualitative data analysis (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Yin, R. (2009). Case study research design and methods (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

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