Education Commons^™

Design, Implementation And Perceptions Of A Preservice Mentor Development Program, Jill R. Heiney-Smith

Education Dissertations

Teacher education programs support their mentor teachers through a variety of resources and professional development, but generally lack a dedicated curriculum for pre-service mentoring. This study was designed to learn what kinds of resources, tools, trainings, and experiences would better support mentor teachers in a teacher education (or pre-service) program. The study was grounded in social learning theories and empirical research on mentoring, as well as research on teacher induction and professional development. Mixed-methods data were collected in three sequential phases with a total sample of n = 199 mentor teachers. Results indicate that mentors have sophisticated expectations for their …

Differences In Performance On A Commercially Available Competency-Based Exam Between Traditionally And Alternatively Prepared Teacher Candidates: A Causal Comparative Study, Lara Denise Cole

Education Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Alternative route teacher education programs have increased to address personnel shortages in key areas such as special education, mathematics, and science. Alternative route programs may serve as a means to address such shortages, but require evaluation to ensure that candidates emerging from these programs demonstrate skills commensurate with those that complete traditional teacher education programs. Although studies examining aspects of alternative route programs exist, few studies comparing alternative route programs with traditional programs have been conducted. Differences in definitions used to describe alternative routes programs compound efforts to compare programs. Nevertheless, research reviewed compared outcomes for alternative and traditional …