Drexel University

The standards for admission into either the institution or its teacher preparation program should be sufficiently selective to ensure that teacher candidates come from only the top half of the college-going population. In order to ensure that any test used as a screen is able to provide sufficient selectivity, it must be normed to the college-going population.

The program only partly meets the standard because while it requires a high grade point average for admission, it does not require that candidates pass a rigorous audition or provide a score on one of the standardized tests of proficiency commonly used in higher education for graduate admission that provides assurance that they have the requisite academic talent.

A diverse teacher workforce benefits all students, particularly students of color. While there has been real progress over the last twenty years in diversifying the teacher workforce,¹ these gains have not kept pace with a rapidly diversifying student population. To accelerate progress, strategic recruitment efforts by teacher preparation programs are essential.

• Teacher prep enrollment: 28 percent candidates of color²
• Pennsylvania teacher workforce: 5 percent teachers of color³
• Local demographics: 38 percent persons of color⁴

Programs earning a C do not sufficiently contribute to the diversification of the teacher workforce. Programs earn this grade under one of three conditions: 1. The percentage of enrolled candidates of color is up to 5 percentage points lower than the diversity of the state teacher workforce and local population; 2. The percentage of enrolled candidates of color meets or exceeds the diversity of the state teacher workforce, but is more than 5 percentage points lower than the proportion of persons of color in the local population; or, 3. The percentage of enrolled candidates of color meets or exceeds the diversity of the local population, but is more than 5 percentage points lower than the proportion of teachers of color in the state workforce.

Drexel University is found to be 23.4 percentage points more diverse than the Pennsylvania teacher workforce and 9.3 percentage points less diverse than the local population.

All elementary teacher candidates should learn scientifically based reading instruction, the research-based content and methods to effectively teach all children to read. This content should be clearly evident in a teacher preparation program’s course materials, including class session topics, assignments, practice opportunities, and background materials. The five core components of scientifically based reading instruction evaluated under this standard are: Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary, and Comprehension.

An attempt to review EDEX 568 and EDUC 529 could not be completed because the necessary documentation was not provided. As a result, the quality of reading instruction at Drexel University remains unclear and the program earns a "cannot be determined" designation.

For additional information on how cooperative programs are scored, please review the technical report.

Students cannot excel in mathematics without skillful instruction in the earliest years of school. Teacher candidates generally require three semesters of coursework, complemented by adequate field practice, to progress from a procedural to a conceptual understanding of the essential mathematics topics taught in the elementary grades.

Courses reviewed: MTED 517

Through a review of the coursework noted above, the program was found to require too few SCHs of content-focused coursework for teacher candidates to develop a comprehensive understanding of elementary mathematics.

Next Steps
To improve under this standard, require teacher candidates to complete at least four SCH of coursework focused on developing their conceptual understanding of numbers & operations, algebra, geometry, and data analysis & probability.

Because they cannot teach what they do not know, teacher candidates need to have content knowledge in English/language arts, social studies, and science. Graduate programs should make sure that their elementary candidates know the subjects they will teach, either by reviewing their transcripts, requiring that they pass rigorous standardized assessments, or requiring that they complete content courses by graduation. If candidates are admitted with deficiencies in content preparation, the program should clearly delineate necessary remediation.

The program does not meet this standard because its review of applicants' content preparation requires no relevant preparation in:

• English/Language Arts
• Social Science
• Science

Student teaching serves a critical role in preparing teacher candidates to take the reins of their own classroom. This apprenticeship allows candidates to build on coursework by learning directly from an established teacher, and practice and refine essential instructional and management skills.

Student teaching should be at least 10 weeks long in order to offer opportunities for repeated cycles of practice and growth. It should be full- or nearly-full-time, and include several weeks during which the candidate has primary responsibility for teaching the whole class for full days, so that the candidate can experience the full demands of being a teacher.

• Our review finds that the program includes at least 10 weeks of full- or nearly-full-time student teaching, but does not require candidates to take primary responsibility for a classroom for at least three weeks.

In addition, there are two essential steps that programs should take to safeguard the value of the experience:

1. Supply student teachers with sufficient feedback by requiring supervisors to provide student teachers with at least four instances of written feedback based on observations.

• A review of program policy finds that supervisors are required to provide a minimum of 4 instances of written feedback based on observations.

2. Establish a structured process for selecting strong cooperating teachers that includes the collection of sufficient information to confirm that cooperating teachers have relevant skills, including ability as a mentor and instructional effectiveness as measured by student learning.

• Analysis finds that this program does not collect substantive information on cooperating teachers' skills.

Based on the findings above, the program partly meets this standard.

Next Steps

• Ensure that the student teaching experience includes at least three weeks when the candidate takes primary responsibility for planning and presenting instruction for full days.
• Require program supervisors to observe student teachers at least four times during the final semester of clinical experiences and provide written feedback after each observation. Research finds that when student teachers are observed at least five times by university supervisors over the course of the student teaching placement, they are more effective when they have classrooms of their own. While feedback from cooperating teachers is also valuable, no research of comparable strength defines the ideal quantity of feedback from cooperating teachers.
• To ensure candidates are placed with the best, establish an explicit process with partner districts to gather information on potential cooperating teachers' skills including both their effectiveness (as measured by student achievement) and capacity to mentor. Collecting additional information, such as a teacher's classroom management style or communication skills, can also be valuable, as long as the focus remains on quality and the potential fit as a mentor and not on just collecting basic data, like years of experience. This information should be used to screen cooperating teachers' suitability before placing student teachers with them.
• Clear requirements for cooperating teachers can help to guide the cooperating teacher selection process. At a minimum, cooperating teachers should be both strong mentors of adults and highly effective instructors. Our review finds that program requirements do not include that cooperating teachers must be strong mentors or effective instructors as defined by student learning.

New teachers and their principals consistently report that classroom management is one of their greatest challenges. Teachers will be better prepared to establish a positive classroom environment if, during their preparation programs, they practice and receive feedback on the five classroom management strategies shown by conclusive research to be useful for all students. These strategies are:

1. Rules and Routines – Establishing classroom rules and routines that set expectations for behavior;
2. Learning Time – Maximizing the time that students are engaged in learning by pacing lessons appropriately, managing class materials and the physical setup of the classroom, and teaching interesting lessons;
3. Praise – Using meaningful praise and other forms of positive reinforcement to encourage appropriate behavior;
4. Low-profile Redirection – Using unobtrusive means that do not interrupt instruction to prevent and manage minimally disruptive behavior; and
5. Consequences – Addressing more serious misbehavior with consistent, appropriate consequences.

Student teaching and residency are crucial times for the development and refinement of classroom management skills. The first few months of school are just as critical for candidates in alternative programs who have full responsibility for a classroom of children. Evaluation and observation forms used during these experiences can shape the feedback that participants receive on key classroom management strategies.

A review of program evaluation and/or observation instruments finds that they provide feedback on student teachers' use of the following classroom management strategies:

• Rules and Routines
• Learning Time (manage time; manage materials; manage the physical classroom)
• Low-profile Redirection
• Consequences

The program nearly meets the standard because the feedback provided to student teachers addresses most but not all of the critical classroom management strategies.

Next Steps
Consider modifying evaluation and observation instruments to provide participants with feedback on their use of the following strategies:

• Learning Time (manage student engagement)
• Praise