Whitworth University

To ensure that every child - regardless of race or background - receives a quality education, their teachers need to be effective. To support that aim, programs should screen for academic caliber during admissions to ensure that teacher candidates come from the top half of the college-going population. For consideration under this standard, tests used as an academic screen must be normed to the college-going population.

Institution-level selectivity for Whitworth University

• Median SAT score: 1130
• Median ACT score: 26

Program admissions requirement(s):

• Program GPA admissions requirement: 2.75

The selectivity of the institution ensures that teacher candidates are among the top half of the college-going population.

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: 16 percent candidates of color²
• Washington teacher workforce: 12 percent teachers of color³
• Local demographics: 15 percent persons of color⁴

Programs earning an A contribute to the diversification of the teacher workforce. Programs earn this grade when the percentage of enrolled candidates of color meets or exceeds (by up to 9 percentage points) the diversity of the state teacher workforce and also meets or exceeds the diversity of the local population.

Whitworth University is found to be 3.1 percentage points more diverse than the Washington teacher workforce and 1.0 percentage points more 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 EDU 340, EDU 440, EDU 441, and EDU 442 could not be completed because the necessary documentation was not provided. As a result, the quality of reading instruction at Whitworth 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: MA 221, MA 222, EDU 341, and EDU 342

Through a review of the coursework noted above, the program was found to provide teacher candidates with adequate coverage of numbers & operations, algebra, geometry, and data analysis & probability. The program was also found to require at least three SCHs of coursework focused on the methods of mathematics instruction.

Because they teach all subjects, elementary teacher candidates need to have a solid grasp of literature and composition, American and world history, geography and science. Teacher candidates should also develop some expertise outside of their professional studies, not only to enrich their own academic experience, but also to serve as a fallback major in the event that the student teaching experience is unsuccessful.

Requirements established by the program and/or the institution in which it is located ensure that all elementary certification candidates must take relevant classes in the checked topics below.

Literature & Composition
	✗ World literature
	✗ American literature
	✗ Writing, grammar and composition Because of the range of course options permitted, all elementary teacher candidates are not required to take the equivalent of a three semester credit hour general education course that addresses composition, in particular the writing of expository, argumentative, descriptive, and narrative essays.
	✗ Children's literature
History & Geography
	✔ Early American history
	✔ Modern American history or Government
	✗ World history—ancient
	✗ World history—modern
	✗ Geography
Science
	✔ Biology
	✗ Chemistry
	✗ Physics Consider revising required coursework in Physics so that it falls into one of these broad categories. Physics: an introductory course covering motion, energy, conservation laws, gravity, phase changes, thermodynamics, electricity, magnetism, sound, light, and wave dynamics. Physical Science: an introduction to physical science which features physics prominently. Earth Science: an introductory course that covers one or more of geology, climatology, astronomy, and oceanography.
	✗ Earth 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 6 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.
• 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
• Low-profile Redirection
• Consequences

The program partly meets the standard because the feedback provided to student teachers addresses some 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
• Praise