Comparative Assessment of Critical Goals and Competencies Related to Teacher Preparation

Abstract

Purpose. The purpose of the study was to determine the extent to which the relative importance of specific goals and objectives held for teacher preparation programs vary between master teachers, university teacher education department chairmen, and consortium representatives. Procedures. Comparisons of the rankings of goals and objectives held for teacher preparation programs were made between master teachers and teacher education department chairmen, between master teachers and consortium representatives, and between teacher education department chairmen and consortium representatives by using Spearman-Rho rank-order correlational techniques to determine the strength of the relationship between the respective groups. Findings. There is a significant negative relationship between the perceptions of master teachers and education department chairmen concerning the relative importance of specific goals and objectives held for teacher preparation programs. There is a significant negative relationship between the perceptions of education department chairmen and consortium representatives. There is a significant positive relationship between the perceptions of master teachers and consortium representatives. Conclusions. There is similarity in the relative importance assigned specific goals and objectives of teacher education programs by master teachers and consortium representatives. There is no identifiable relationship between teacher education department chairmen and consortium representatives. There is disagreement in the direction of importance of goals and objectives for teacher education programs between master teachers and university teacher education department chairmen. Recommendations. Colleges and universities should seek the advice and council of classroom teachers' representatives in order to determine those things that teachers view as being particularly important to their effectiveness. The U.S. Office of Education, along with state and local accreditation agencies, should address themselves to reviewing instructional needs of the classroom teacher as perceived by the classroom teacher. Similar research can be conducted examining factors such as age, sex, experience, training, etc. of respondents to determine if such demographic data relates to perceptions held as goals and objectives for programs.