The undergraduate teacher preparation program at Southeastern Louisiana University has been recognized by the National Council on Teacher Quality for its pioneering efforts in supporting aspiring teachers as they complete their clinical practice experiences, also known as student teaching.
The Southeastern case study, featured in NCTQ’s new Clinical Practice Action Guide, details how Southeastern built strong partnerships with local school districts to improve the clinical practice experience for aspiring teachers. It also illustrates how Southeastern incorporated high-quality instructional materials and data throughout the program to enhance aspiring teachers’ instructional impact.
“Southeastern Louisiana University is an excellent example of a teacher prep program getting clinical practice right,” said NCTQ President Heather Peske. “As a national leader on this front, Southeastern is helping to strengthen the teacher pipeline in Louisiana and improve teacher preparation.”
Critical to their successful partnerships, Southeastern relies on data from its clinical practice program to drive changes, such as identifying additional professional learning for program faculty who supervise student teachers. This effective communication, coupled with robust data collection, supercharges Southeastern’s ability to make meaningful improvements at the program level.
Southeastern’s College of Education Dean Paula Summers Calderon said the work is important because across the country too many new teachers are unprepared for the realities of the classroom since they haven’t had enough high-quality “hands-on” practice, and their students lose out on learning because of it.
“Stronger clinical practice partnerships between school districts and teacher prep programs can address the hiring challenges many districts face by creating a pipeline of teachers who have experience in the types of districts where they will eventually teach, which increases their efficacy and likelihood of staying in the classroom,” Calderon explained. “Without quality student teaching experiences, new teachers are often left to learn on the job. Research shows that providing aspiring teachers with clinical experiences under an effective mentor can give a first-year teacher the boost they need to be as effective as a teacher in their second or third year, which is a huge win for students.”
NCTQ used a variety of sources to identify the prep programs, districts, and states to feature in the case studies included in the action guide. Sources included past NCTQ Teacher Prep Review ratings of prep programs on the Clinical Practice standard; a scan of state policies related to clinical practice; a scan of large district policies related to clinical practice; surveys of districts, prep programs, and states; and input from an expert advisory panel and qualitative feedback from the field and interviewees. They conducted semi-structured interviews with stakeholders and invited them to review the draft about their entity prior to publication to check for accuracy.