INCREASING TEACHER PREPAREDNESS THROUGH EFFECTIVE STUDENT TEACHING

Effective student teaching experiences are critical to preparing new teachers, especially as the workforce becomes increasingly reliant on novice educators. However, state regulations often provide only minimal requirements, leading to wide variations in the quality and duration of student teaching experiences. Challenges include insufficient mentor teacher selection criteria, limited compensation and training for mentors, and mismatches between candidates’ training and job placements. Research shows that recruiting effective teachers as mentors, aligning student teaching with candidates’ future roles, and providing consistent feedback can enhance new teachers’ effectiveness and retention. Simply extending the duration of student teaching or using experience-based criteria for mentors does not guarantee positive outcomes, highlighting the need for intentional program design.

The EdResearch for Action Overview Series summarizes the research on key topics to provide K-12 education decision makers and advocates with an evidence base to ground discussions about how to best serve students. Authors – leading experts from across the field of education research – are charged with highlighting key findings from research that provide concrete, strategic insight on persistent challenges sourced from district and state leaders.

Matthew Truwit | University of Michigan

Thank you to Dan Goldhaber (CALDER at the American Institutes of Research) and Matthew Ronfeldt (University of Michigan) for their invaluable contributions to the original EdResearch brief on teacher training and their input and review of this brief.

October 2023 | Brief No. 27

Expand Download Report

Related Resources