Improving Teacher Quality: Outcomes of a Clinical Model for Teacher Preparation

Teacher quality, as it relates to the preparation of new teachers, has drawn widespread national attention in recent years.  With problems such as teacher attrition, especially among early career teachers (Cochran-Smith, 2004; Darling-Hammond, 2003; Ingersoll, 2001), the need for a new model to educate teachers in the service of P-12 student learning is compelling.  Guided by principles detailed in the Blue Ribbon Panel Report (NCATE, 2010), current reform in teacher education focuses on clinical preparation and partnerships between higher education and P-12 to prepare teachers for improved student learning. 

Using qualitative and quantitative data, this project examines the implementation of a clinical partnership for teacher preparation involving a college of education at a Midwestern research university and one large urban public middle school in the local district.  The partnership builds on the previously established collaboration among educators in the district, the college, and the university, to offer a more authentic, comprehensive, and systemic approach to clinical teacher preparation.  The project addresses two goals: 

1. 1.     To determine the extent to which the clinical model in this middle school develops toward “integrated” on the Continuum of Partnership Development for Clinically Based Teacher Preparation (Howell, 2013; NCATE, 2001);
2. 2.      To document, assess, and track improvement of teacher candidate performance and related outcomes of a clinical partnership.

Project findings inform the development and implementation of model of teacher preparation and provide direction for educators who are establishing or refining clinical partnerships.  The transformation of teacher education through clinical partnerships forms the organizing structure within which all stakeholders commit to the recruitment, admission, preparation, assessment, and continuing development of teachers who effectively enhance student learning in all contexts.  The extent to which this is successful holds broader implications for replicating and sustaining the model at other middle schools with similar characteristics both locally and beyond.