Date of Award

2017

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Education (MAE)

Department

Education

First Advisor

Diane Kern

Abstract

From K-12 schools to higher education institutions, policy makers, parents, teachers, and other education stakeholders are concerned about the state of our nation’s public schools. Issues of reform, accountability, retention, paths to licensure, and preparation of teachers populate education news and research. In the era of accountability, it is important for teacher preparation programs to look within themselves to ensure the structure and requirements of their program help prepare teacher candidates for student teaching and careers. While some insist on raising admission requirements, such as grade point averages (GPAs), others are concerned about the role of high stakes admission and licensure requirements in teacher preparation programs.

The focus of this thesis was to examine one Secondary English Language Arts teacher preparation program within a large, Research I institution in the northeast. A correlational study was conducted to determine the relationships between the various preservice benchmarks and candidates’ student teaching performance. Regression models were used to determine if any of the pre-service benchmarks were predictors of other preservice benchmarks or predictors of student teaching performance.

Findings from this study reinforce existing literature on correlational relationships between pre-service benchmarks. Findings from the regression models add to the literature in the field. The results and implications of this study offer similar programs potential areas of reform.

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