The Impacts of Pre-service Supervised Field Experiences on Elementary Teachers Retention and Effectiveness in Mathematics

在职前准备阶段，未来的教师将获得教授数学的关键技能和知识。受监督的实地经验，即学生教师在合作教师的指导下，在课堂上运用他们的技能和知识，已被证明在培养有成效的未来教师方面特别重要。然而，关于受监督的实地经验如何影响学生的成绩和重要的教师结果，如职业保留，仍有许多需要澄清的地方。在这项研究中，研究人员将跟踪教学候选人从教师准备的最后阶段过渡到基础教学的第一年，并将调查任职前监督实地经验对参与者的保留决策和他们的学生的数学成绩的影响。这项工作将告知美国职前教师培训计划如何更好地支持他们所服务的职前教师候选人，并特别关注对教师和学生的结果具有最积极影响的受监督实地经验的组成部分。该项目由EHR核心研究(ECR)计划资助，该计划支持推进STEM学习和学习环境的基础研究，扩大对STEM的参与，以及STEM劳动力发展。研究团队将纵向跟踪大约1200名应聘教师，从他们任职前准备的最后一年到他们执教的头两年。他们将把参与者在指导下的实地经历与学生的数学成绩、出勤率和行为以及教师在职业生涯中的职业保持联系起来。他们将通过探索教师进入该专业的各个方面，包括他们用于教学的数学知识和自我效能感，数学教学质量和幸福感，进一步阐明实地经验与教师和学生结果之间的关系。通过关注职业准备和入职的认知和心理方面，这项研究将为大学教师准备计划的设计和改进提供信息，目标是确保新的小学教师不仅具备为学生提供支持数学成就的指导，而且教师本身也具备成功适应其职业生涯的能力。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

In the pre-service preparation stage, future teachers gain critical skills and knowledge for teaching mathematics. Supervised field experiences, where student teachers apply their skills and knowledge in classrooms under the mentorship of cooperating teachers, have been shown to be particularly important in preparing effective future teachers. However, there is still much to be clarified about how supervised field experiences impact student achievement and important teacher outcomes such as career retention. In this study, the researchers will follow teaching candidates as they transition from the final stages of teacher preparation into the first years of elementary teaching and will investigate the impact of pre-service supervised field experiences on participants’ retention decisions and their students’ mathematics achievement. This work will inform how U.S. pre-service teacher preparation programs can better support pre-service teaching candidates they serve, with a specific focus on the components of supervised field experiences that have the most positive impacts on the outcomes of teachers and students. This project is funded by the EHR Core Research (ECR) program, which supports work that advances fundamental research on STEM learning and learning environments, broadening participation in STEM, and STEM workforce development.The research team will follow approximately 1,200 teaching candidates longitudinally from their final year of pre-service preparation through their first two years of teaching. They will connect participants’ experiences in supervised field experiences to students’ mathematics achievement, attendance, and behavior, and teachers’ career retention once in the career. They will further explicate the relations between field experiences and teacher and student outcomes by exploring aspects of teachers’ entry into the profession, including their mathematical knowledge for teaching and self-efficacy, mathematics instructional quality, and well-being. By focusing on both the cognitive and psychological aspects of career preparation and entry, this research will inform the design and refinement of university-based teacher preparation programs with the goal of ensuring that new elementary teachers are not only equipped to provide students with instruction that supports mathematics achievement, but that teachers themselves are equipped to adjust to their careers successfully.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.