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Filmed as Xerox University Microfilms 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 76-5632 ROWAN, George Thurston, 1943AN ANALYSIS OF CLASSROCM PROBL04 SITUATICNS BY INTERN TEACHERS AND INTERN CONSULTANTS OF THE MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY ELEMENTARY INTERN PROGRAM. Michigan State University, Ph.D., 1975 Education, teacher training Xerox University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, M ichigan 48106 AN ANALYSIS OF CLASSROOM PROBLEM SITUATIONS BY INTERN TEACHERS AND INTERN CONSULTANTS OF THE MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY ELEMENTARY INTERN PROGRAM By George T. Rowan A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in p a rtia l fu lfillm e n t o f the requirements fo r the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Administration and Higher Education ABSTRACT AN ANALYSIS OF CLASSROOM PROBLEM SITUATIONS BY INTERN TEACHERS AND INTERN CONSULTANTS OF THE MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY ELEMENTARY INTERN PROGRAM By George T. Rowan This study was designed to investigate i f intern teachers and intern consultants of the Michigan State University Elementary Intern Program perceived the same classroom situations as problems in the teaching-learning situ a tio n . An analysis of individual problem areas was made to determine i f commonality existed between interns and consultants by age, race, sex, m arital status, and geographic location. The sample of this study included 121 intern teachers and 29 intern consultants involved in the Elementary Intern Program during the 1974-75 school year. The instrument developed fo r this study was the resu lt o f input given by the O ffice of Research Consulta­ tion at Michigan State University and the Testing and Evaluation Department of the Grand Rapids Public School System. The in s tru ­ ment was administered to the subjects at the nine off-campus teacher education centers. Based upon the information from the two research departments, a study was undertaken to ascertain i f there were s ig n ific a n t differences in the perception of classroom problem situ atio ns. Nine hypotheses were posed and tested, using George T . Rowan a t -t e s t for two independent sample means. The results are reported be!ow. Conclusions o f the Study Within the lim itatio n s o f this study, the following conclu­ sions were supported: 1. Interns expressed more concern about classroom observations than intern consultants. 2. Consultants expressed greater concern with stu­ dents giving the wrong answer and being laughed at by classmates than did interns. 3. Interns considered lack of response from parents as a greater problem than consultants. 4. Male interns considered turning in weekly lesson plans as much more o f a problem than female interns. 5. Female interns were much more concerned about problems concerning race than male interns. 6. Married interns considered problems about in te r ­ racial marriages as less serious than unmarried in te rn s . 7. Unmarried interns showed less consistency in th e ir responses about in te rra c ia l marriages than married in te rn s . 8. Married interns expressed less concern than unmar­ ried interns about classroom observations by the building p rin c ip a l. 9. White interns were more concerned about the chal­ lenge of a teacher's authority by students than non-white interns. 10. Non-white interns expressed less concern than white interns about students teasing other students because of fa c ia l disfigu ration s. 11. White interns considered lack of parent response as more o f a problem than non-white interns. George T . Rowan 12. White interns were more consistent in th e ir respon­ ses on a ll problem areas that produced significance than non-white interns. 13. Interns in large school d is tric ts did not d if f e r sig­ n ific a n tly from interns in small school d is tric ts on any areas involving problem situations in the classroom. 14. Interns under 23 years of age were more concerned about classroom observations than interns over 23 years o f age. 15. Consultants in large school d is tric ts showed less concern than consultants in small school d is tric ts about pupils th a t could express themselves o ra lly but were unable to express themselves in w ritin g . 16. Consultants over 40 years of age were more con­ sistent with th e ir responses on questions that produced s ig n ific a n t differences than those under 40 years of age. 17. Consultants under 40 years of age concern about observations by the morning that the teacher receives than consultants over 40 years of expressed less principal on a new students age. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This w rite r g ra te fu lly thanks his mother, Mrs. Irma Dishroom, fo r providing me with the opportunity to fin ish my bac­ calaureate degree some ten years ago. Your principles and beliefs have followed me throughout my adult l i f e . Thanks, mother, for a ll your years o f s a c rific e and guidance in allowing me to reach the pinnacle o f academic success. My grandmother, Mrs. N e llie Grayson, also deserves a word of appreciation fo r the great deal o f t ir e that she spent with her grandson teaching him the value and worth of re lig io n . Special thanks is extended to Dr. Louis Romano, chairman of the guidance comnittee, fo r his help and assistance throughout n\y graduate program. A word of appreciation is also give to Dr. Alexander K loster, Dr. P h illip Marcus, and Dr. Donald Nickerson fo r th e ir help as members of the oral examination committee. The single most contributing and inspirational person in encouraging me to fin is h my graduate work was my w ife , Jana. With­ out her love, patience, and understanding, I would never have reached th is stage of my graduate studies. God bless you, Jana, for your confidence in my a b ilit y as a graduate student. My son Scott and my daughter Shaun deserve more than a word of thanks fo r experiencing part o f a fath er over the past three years. Had i t not been fo r th e ir excitement a t seeing th e ir father fin is h his graduate studies i t would have been most d i f f i ­ c u lt to come this fa r . Thank you, children, fo r your s a c rific e and unselfishness. Acknowledgments are also extended to Mr. Wayne Scott fo r his long hours of consultation and to Mrs. Louise Davis fo r her positive reinforcement from beginning to end of my graduate studies. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES............................................................................................ vi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.......................................................................... ix Chapter I. II. III. THE PROBLEM................................................................................ 1 Introduction to the Study ................................................. Statement of Purpose ..................................................... Statement o f the Problem ............................................... Need fo r the S t u d y ............................................................ Statement of Hypotheses ............................................... D efinitio n of Terms ............................................................. Assumptions o f the Study ................................................. Limitations of the Study ................................................. Overview o f the S t u d y ....................................................... 1 4 4 4 5 6 8 9 9 REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE AND RELATEDRESEARCH . . . 11 Introduction ......................................................................... Internship Programs in TeacherEducation . . . . A ltern ative Teacher Training Programs ......................... The Elementary Intern Program .................................... Research Studies Related to the Elementary Intern Program ................................................................... A ltern ative Futures in TeacherEducation . . . . Summary.................................................................. 11 11 16 27 PROCEDURES UTILIZED IN THE S T U D Y ...................................... 41 Introduction ......................................................................... The Study Sam ple................................................................... Intern Teachers ................................................................... The Composite Intern Teacher ........................................... Intern Consultants ............................................................. The Composite Intern Consultant ..................................... Instrumentation ................................................................... V a l i d i t y ............................................................................... R e lia b ility of the I n s t r u m e n t ..................................... Design of the S tu d y ............................................................. The S ta tis tic a l Hypotheses of This Study . . . . 41 41 42 47 47 53 53 54 56 57 58 iv 30 34 39 Page C hapter IV . V. Data Collecting Process ................................................. .............................. I n i t i a l Steps in Data Processing S ta tis tic a l Procedures Used in This Study . . . Summary..................................................................................... 59 60 61 61 ANALYSIS OF D A T A ................................................................... 63 Hypothesis 1 ......................................................................... Hypothesis 2 ......................................................................... Hypothesis 3 ......................................................................... Hypothesis 4 ......................................................................... Hypothesis 5 ......................................................................... Hypothesis 6 ......................................................................... Hypothesis 7 ......................................................................... Hypothesis 8 ......................................................................... Hypothesis 9 ......................................................................... Surmiar y ..................................................................................... 63 68 69 70 73 73 74 75 77 79 SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS AND REFLECTIONS............................................................................... 81 Summary..................................................................................... Lim itations of the S t u d y ................................................. Conclusions of the S t u d y ................................................. Implications of the S tu d y ................................................ Recommendations fo r Further Research ........................ R e f l e c t i o n s ......................................................................... 81 85 86 87 88 89 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................... 92 APPENDIX....................................................................................................... 96 v LIST OF TABLES Table 2 .1 . Conceptual Design of the Grand Rapids Public ................................................ Schools Intern Program 28 Age D istribu tio n of the Intern Population by E .I.P . Centers, 1975 (120 Interns) ........................ 43 D istribu tio n of Grade Levels Taught by Intern Teachers ............................................................................... 44 3.3. White and Non-White Interns by E .I.P . Center . 44 3 .4 . M arital Status D istribution of Students, 1975 (141 Subjects) ................................................................... 45 High School Socio-Economic Background o f 121 Intern Teachers ................................................................... 46 Future Plans o f Interns by September 1980 (114 Interns) ................................................................... 46 D istribu tio n of Consultants by E .I.P . Center, 1975 ......................................................................... 48 Age D istribu tio n of Intern Consultants by E .I.P . Center, 1975 ....................................................... 49 White and Non-White Intern Consultants by E .I.P . Center ................................................................... 49 M arital Status D istribution of Intern Consultants, 1975 (29 Subjects) ............................................................. 50 High School Socio-Economic Background of 28 Intern Consultants ............................................................. 50 Future Plans of Consultants by September 1980 (27 Intern Consultants) ................................................. 51 D istribu tio n of Intern Consultants' Years of Experience as a School Administrator ........................ 52 D istribu tio n o f Intern Consultants' Years of Experience as a Classroom Teacher .............................. 52 3 .1 . 3.2. 3 .5 . 3.6. 3 .7. 3.8. 3.9. 3.10. 3.11. 3.12. 3.13. 3.14. vi . T ab le 3.15. Page D istribution of Years of Experience as an Intern C o n s u l t a n t ......................................................................... 52 Means, Standard Deviations, and t-Scores for Interns and Consultants on the Survey I n s t r u m e n t ......................................................................... 64 4 .2 . Survey Question 2 fo r Males and Females . . . . 68 4 .3 . Survey Question 9 for Males and Females . . . . 69 4 .4 . Survey Question 1 fo r Married and Unmarried I n t e r n s ............................................................................... 69 Survey Question 3 fo r Married and Unmarried I n t e r n s ............................................................................... 70 4 .6 . Survey Question 7 fo r White and Non-White Interns . 70 4 .7 . Survey Question 10 fo r White and Non-White Interns . 71 4 .8 . Survey Question 19 fo r White and Non-White Interns . 71 4 .9 . Survey Question 21 fo r White and Non-White Interns . 72 4.10. Survey Question 24 fo r White and Non-White Interns . 72 4.11. Survey Question 1 for Intern Teachers Under 23 Years of Age and Over 23 Years o f Age 4 .1 . 4 .5 . 4.12. 4.13. 4.14. 4.15. 4.16. . . . 73 Survey Question 16 fo r Intern Teachers Under 23 Years of Age and Over 23 Years o f Age . . . 74 Survey Question 4 fo r Intern Consultants in Large and Small E .I.P . C e n te rs ..................................... 75 Survey Question 1 fo r Intern Consultants With Under and Over Ten Years o f Classroom Teaching Experience ....................................................... 76 Survey Question 8 fo r Intern Consultants With Under and Over Ten Years of Classroom Teaching Experience ....................................................... 76 Survey Question 22 fo r Intern Consultants With Under and Over Ten Years of Classroom Teaching Experiennce ....................................................... 76 T a b le 4.17. 4.18. 4.19. 4.20. 4.21. Page Survey Question 24 fo r Intern Consultants With Under and Over Ten Years o f Classroom Teaching Experience ....................................................... 77 Survey Question 7 fo r Intern Consultants Under and Over 40 Years of A g e ............................................... 77 Survey Question 8 fo r Intern Consultants Over and Under 40 Years of A g e ............................................ 78 Survey Question 12 fo r Intern Consultants Over and Under40 Years of A g e ............................................ 79 Survey Question 22 fo r Intern Consultants Over and Under40 Years o f A g e ............................................ 79 viii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Page 3 .1 . Problem Situations That Might Occur in the C la s s ro o m ............................................................................... ix 55 CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM Introduction to the Study Internship as a means o f tra in in g prospective new teachers before induction into the teaching profession is o f notable in te re s t to those in the f ie ld o f education. Internships are based upon the theory th at (1) laboratory and fie ld experience are combined to make the internship p ra c tic a l, (2) on-the-job train in g with profes­ sional help serves to minimize erro rs , (3) progress is c a re fu lly monitored to determine growth during f ie ld experience, and (4) in-service programs designed to help the intern are u tiliz e d to enrich his knowledge about the profession. The constant state of turmoil in education today has to do with accountability and competency-based teacher c e rtific a tio n . There is a great deal o f concern on the part o f parents, administra­ to rs, and local boards o f education that those being trained and c e rtifie d w ill be the best teachers fo r our nation's children. Postman and Weingartner have expressed the following concern on the admission of teachers to the fie ld of education: Every state in the union has a State Education Depart­ ment, whose main function is to c e r tify teachers. This function is based on the assumption that (1) not ju s t any­ body can be a teacher, and (2) i t is possible to tra in people to perform competently as teachers. The f i r s t assumption is undoubtedly tru e. Some people do not lik e child ren , or have no in te re s t in th e ir development, or are 1 2 poor listeners or bad question askers—no matter what is done with them--and should be barred from the profession. At present, however, there is no way to do th is , because the c e rtific a tio n requirements o f most states have nothing whatever to do with these things. Instead, state c e r t ify ­ ing agencies assume th at graduation from college and the accumulation o f credits in education courses serve as ade­ quate preparation fo r a teaching career. Of course, this assumption simply sidesteps the question of whether or not people can be trained to be competent teachers. The fa c t that someone has passed college courses says nothing—one way or the other—about his a b ilit ie s as a teacher, and in no sense constitutes tra in in g fo r such work.' Another concern of educators is the a b ilit y of a beginning teacher to adjust to the r e a lity o f the profession. Kenneth J. Rehage recently stated his thoughts about problems encounted by f i r s t year teachers: I t is unfortunate that so many new teachers w ill have done th e ir practice teaching in situations quite unlike those they w ill encounter in th e ir f i r s t job. Whatever they have learned in th e ir preparation fo r teaching seems to have only lim ited relationship to the r e a lity they encounter in actual teaching assignments. In some instances the adjustment is fa r too d i f f ic u l t fo r an individual to make. Not infrequently he is lo st to teaching a t the end of the f i r s t year, i f not b efo re.2 Other concerns range from the q u a lity of teacher education programs to the number of aspirants who are q u a lifie d to teach. S ig n ific a n t questions being asked are: How can teachers be b e tte r trained before entering the classroom? What can be done to prevent in fe r io r teachers from a tta in in g tenure? What methods, i f any, are ^Neil Postman and Charles Weingartner, The School Book (New York, New York: Delacorte Press, 1973), p. 138. 2 Louis G. Romano e t a l . , The Management of Educational Personnel (New York, New York: MSS Information Corporation, 1973), p. 130. 3 being employed to s e le c tiv e ly provide children with the best new teachers from the ranks o f university graduates? In answer to these questions, Michigan State University's College of Education in 1959 in s titu te d the Student Teacher Educa­ tion Program (S .T .E .P .) fo r the purpose of train in g b e tte r teachers. In 1964 the program was o f f i c ia ll y named the Elementary Intern Program ( E . I . P . ) . Experienced and outstanding tenure teachers were released from the local school d is tric ts to provide guidance fo r intern teachers within the d is t r ic t . designated as "intern consultants." The experienced teachers were Responsibility fo r the selec­ tion and placement o f consultants rested solely with the local school d is t r ic t . University o ffic ia ls were allowed input before the fin a l selection. I n i t i a l l y , there were no guidelines fo r operation of the program. Success or fa ilu re depended e n tire ly upon the intern consultants and the neophyte interns. As early as 1964, Corman and Olmsted reported that . . . there were few pressures to establish firm bureaucratic controls on th e ir practices. . . . adjustment to the position was complicated by the fa c t that the i n i t i a l group of consultants were given few operational guidelines. The most commonly repeated admonition they received was th a t, "u n til we see how things go, we can only guess at what the problems and answers may be, so you w ill have to play i t by ear."^ In the f a l l of 1964, the College of Education demonstrated its fa ith in E .I.P . by making i t a part of its regular curriculum. 3 Bernard R. Corman and Ann G. Olmsted, The Internship in the Preparation of Elementary School Teachers (Bureau o f Education Research, Michigan State U n iversity, East Lansing, Michigan, 1964). 4 As a new and innovative teacher train in g program i t was deemed successful. Statement of Purpose The purpose o f this study is to determine i f intern teachers and intern consultants perceive the same situations as problems in the teaching-learning s itu a tio n . An analysis of individual problem areas w ill be made to determine i f commonality exists between the interns and consultants by age, sex, m arital status, and geographic location. I t is anticipated that intern consultants and Elementary Intern directors w ill be able to focus upon specific problem areas of intern teachers a t the beginning of the school year. Needless to say, i f problem areas are id e n tifie d early in the teachinglearning s itu a tio n , positive results w ill be much easier to ascertain. Statement o f the Problem The problem o f th is study is to id e n tify problem areas by interns and consultants by geographic areas in the ten E .I.P . centers in the state of Michigan. An attempt w ill be made to see i f both groups perceive the same situations as problems in the teachinglearning s itu a tio n . Need fo r the Study The E .I.P . Research Committee has steadfastly maintained that differences e x is t between centers throughout Michigan. C le a rly , a need exists to determine i f in fa c t that differences do e x is t and 5 what factors contribute to individual differences between centers. Some questions th at E .I.P . directors consider relevant are: Does the location of the center lend i t s e l f to certain kinds o f prob­ lems? Does age among interns make a difference as to how a problem is solved? What im plication does a person's skin color have in per­ ceiving a situ atio n as a problem? Do married interns view s itu ­ ations d iffe re n tly than single interns? Indeed, th is study is needed to point out that certain factors mentioned in the above paragraph do or do not make a d i f ­ ference as to how a situ atio n is perceived. Statement of Hypotheses This study was designed to te s t the following hypotheses: 1. Interns and intern consultants w ill id e n tify same situations as problems in the teachinglearning s itu a tio n . the 2. Male and female interns w ill id e n tify the same s itu ­ ations as problems in the teaching-learning s itu a tio n . 3. Married and unmarried interns w ill id e n tify the same situations as problems in the teachinglearning s itu a tio n . 4. White and non-white interns w ill id e n tify the same situations as problems in the teachinglearning s itu a tio n . 5. Interns in small school d is tric ts w ill id e n tify the same classroom situations as problems as interns in large school d is tr ic ts . 6. Age among intern teachers does not make a d if f e r ­ ence in id e n tify in g problems.in the teachinglearning s itu a tio n . 7. Intern consultants do not d if f e r in th e ir percep­ tions o f classroom problems among E .I.P . centers. 6 8. Experience among intern consultants does not make a difference as to how they perceive classroom problem situ atio n s. 9. Age among intern consultants does not make a d if ­ ference in id e n tifyin g problems in the teachinglearning s itu a tio n . D e fin itio n o f Terms The following d e fin itio n s are presented as an aid to c la rific a tio n and to assist in the in te rp re tatio n and understanding of th is study. 1. Elementary Intern Program ( E . I . P . ) : An academic program encompassing four calendar years which terminates in a Bachelor of Arts Degree and a Provisional Teaching C e r tific a te . During the fourth year a student has the opportunity to teach in a public school system with the help of an intern consultant. 2. Intern teacher: A student enrolled a t Michigan State University who is completing his senior year by teaching in a public school classroom, fo r which he receives a stipend. Stipends are paid a t a rate set by the cooperating school d is t r ic t . 3. Intern consultant: A tenure teacher who has demonstra­ ted outstanding a b ilit y in the classroom and is on loan to the university from the cooperating school d is t r ic t fo r one f u ll school year. The consultant's re s p o n s ib ilitie s are to (1) v is it and assist intern teachers once weekly, (2) give help, support, and guidance to intern teachers during the intern year, (3) maintain a close working relatio n sh ip with the cooperating school d is t r ic t and the u n iv e rs ity , (4) assist in the area of in-service and pre-service 7 programs fo r intern teachers, and (5) screen prospective new a p p li­ cants fo r the intern program. 4. P re -in te rn : A student in his ju n io r year o f college who has made application and been accepted into the E .I.P . program and who takes methods courses and completes student teaching as requirements fo r entering his (senior) intern year. Pre-interns normally complete th e ir requirements in the cooperating school d is t r ic t in which they in tern . 5. Methods courses: Professional teaching methods courses taught by university personnel to prepare interns fo r th e ir internship. Students must have 18 term hours of methods courses before the cooperating school d is t r ic t and the un iversity permit him to do an internship. 6. Cooperating school d i s t r i c t : A school d is t r ic t which enters into an agreement with the university to provide intern teaching station s, releases consultants, and agrees to support the program. The d is t r ic t also allows E .I.P . personnel to have access to a ll resources that regular teaching personnel have w ithin the d is t r ic t . 7. Elementary Intern Program d ire c to r: A university facu lty member who is responsible fo r the organization and admin­ is tra tio n o f a local program. He is the lia is o n person between the university and the cooperating school d is t r ic t . He is also respon­ sible fo r developing and creating new intern stations w ithin the school d is t r ic t . Pre-interns and interns are counseled by him while they are p a rtic ip a tin g in the program. 8 8. F a ll-w in te r cycle: A period during the u n iversity's academic year in which pre-interns take th e ir methods courses during the f a ll term and student teach during the w inter term. 9. Winter-spring cycle: A period during the school year in which pre-interns take th e ir methods courses during the winter term and student teaching during the spring term. 10. Perception: A unique and individual sensory construct or awareness in the mind of a human being; i . e . , "(1) how an in d i­ vidual sees him self, (2) how he sees the situations in which he is involved, and (3) the in te rre la tio n s o f these two." 11. Family seminars: 4 Informal meetings, once monthly, of interns and intern consultants to discuss progress and plan class­ room strateg ies. 12. S.T.E.P. (Student Teacher Education Program): origin al name of E .I.P . The This program was in itia te d by the College of Education at Michigan State University in 1959. Assumptions of the Study I t is assumed th at E .I.P . d irecto rs, intern consultants, and methods instructors w ill glean information from th is study which w ill improve th e ir approaches toward the p a rtic u la r facets of the intern program fo r which they are responsible. I t is also assumed th at agreement among interns and consultants w ill res u lt in a b e tte r working relationship between the two groups. I t is 4 Arthur W. Combs, The Professional Education o f Teachers: A Perceptual View of Teacher Preparation (Boston: Allyn and Bacon, In c ., 1965), p. 12. 9 further assumed that interns and consultants w ill respond to the questionnaires in an open and positive manner. Lim itations of the Study This study is lim ited to cooperating school d is tric ts in the state o f Michigan. A ll of the schools in which interns teach are designated as elementary school buildings. The participants of th is study were not regarded as a sample fo r any other popu­ latio n representing teacher trainin g programs in the College of Education at Michigan State University nor any other in s titu tio n of higher learning that is involved with teacher tra in in g programs. Overview o f the Study The review o f the lite r a tu re in Chapter I I w ill address i t s e l f to four areas: (1) the internship as i t relates to teacher education, (2) a lte rn a tiv e teacher train in g programs, (3) the Michi­ gan State University Elementary Intern Program, and (4) a lte rn a tiv e futures in teacher education. how the internship evolved. An explanation w ill be given as to Pertinent comments by scholars w ill point out what characteristics are necessary to sustain a successful internship program. An explanation of the Michigan State University Elementary Intern Program is also included in th is chapter. A step-by-step analysis of the program is outlined in Table 2 .1 . This table depicts how a Grand Rapids Junior College Student in Grand Rapids, Michigan, would m atriculate to the E .I.P . program a fte r completing his 10 associate degree. Table 2.1 is the conceptual model that a ll nine E .I.P . centers use in the state of Michigan. Attention w ill be focused upon other a lte rn a tiv e teacher trainin g programs in the la t t e r part o f Chapter I I . A description o f these programs w ill be given to provide the reader fu rth er insight as to other facets o f teacher train in g that are in vogue today. As the educator trie s to envision the best teacher train in g program of the several that are described in Chapter I I , i t would be p ro fitab le to heed the words of Alvin T o ffle r: . . . we need to accelerate the trend in many colleges and u niversities to o ffe r c re d it fo r action-learning done o ff campus through p a rtic ip a tio n in real work, in business, in communities . . . such e ffo rts not only must be continually but must be ra d ic a lly expanded . . . th is action-learning ought to become the dominant form o f learning, with class­ room learning seen as a support rather than as the central element in education.5 Chapter I I I contains the research design. An analysis of the population, research methods to be employed, and the testable hypotheses are explained. The selection o f the s ta tis tic a l pro­ cedures used in the study are discussed. Chapter IV focuses upon the analysis o f data. hypotheses are again restated. Attention is given singularly to the nine hypotheses to be tested. point of Chapter V. The The major summary is the focal I t is the concluding chapter of the study and concerns i t s e l f with recommendations and im plications for future study. g Alvin T o ffe r, e d ., Learning fo r Tomorrow—The Role o f the Future in Education (New York, New York: Vintage, 1974), p. 14. CHAPTER I I REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE AND RELATED RESEARCH Introduction The review of the lite r a tu re is concentrated upon four areas which are germane to the study. The areas are (1) in te rn ­ ship programs in teacher education, (2) a lte rn a tiv e teacher tra in in g programs, (3) the Michigan State University Elementary Intern Program and (4) a lte rn a tiv e futures in teacher education. Internship Programs in Teacher Education The College o f Education at Michigan State University under the sponsorship of the U.S. O ffice of Health, Education, and Welfare reported in a document the following d e fin itio n of an internship. The most intense period of f ie ld experience is the intern ship. During the e n tire fourth year the trainee is assigned to one of the schools within the c lin ic school network where, as an employee of the local edu­ cation authority (school d is t r i c t ) , he is on salary and in charge of an elementary classroom o f s p e c ia lis t's c ir c u it , according to the program in which he is enrol l e d .' Michigan State University College of Education, Behavioral Science Elementary Teacher Education Program (Wash­ ington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing O ffic e , 1968), V o l. I , p. 177. 11 12 Teaching internships are not new to the f ie ld o f educatio n . As early as 1895, Shaplin 2 and Garnder 3 reported the ex is­ tence of an intern program in the public schools o f Providence, Rhode Island. The emphasis o f the Providence intern program was to place students in the classroom fo r one school year. Supervision was provided by a professor of education a t Brown U niversity and a supervising teacher. The interns were paid h a lf the salary of a beginning teacher. Since the days of the Brown program the concept of teaching internships has grown to great proportions. By 1967 the American Association o f Colleges reported 51 internship programs in the nation's school d is tr ic ts . The growth of internship programs a t such a steady pace coincides with the teacher shortage during the 1950s and early 1960s. McGlothlin surmised that the number of intern programs was not related to the shortage of teachers. He reported that the m u ltip lic ity of intern programs was due to th e ir rig id q u a lific a 4 tions and high expectations. His feelings were th at intern pro­ grams were a positive a ttrib u te to teacher tra in in g . 2 To fu rth e r Judson T. Shaplin, "A Comparison o f Internship Programs," 1963 N.C.T.E.P.S. Columbus Conference Report (Washington, D.C.: National Education Association, 1968), p. 321. 3 Harrison Gardner, "The Teacher Education Internship in H istorical Perspective," in Internships in Teacher Education, p. 1, Forty-Seventh Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: 1968). 4 William J. McGlothlin, Patterns of Professional Education (New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1960), pp. 97-99. 13 elaborate, McGlothin said the internship must meet the following c r ite r ia to be successful: 1. 2. 3. 4. I t challenges the capacity of the in te rn . I t does not exceed the capacity of the intern . I t a c tiv e ly involves the in te rn . I t helps the intern to analyze and evaluate his experience.5 Although the internship stands on its merits as being a successful teacher tra in in g program, i t has met with opposition from some quarters. An unemployed teacher recently voiced her dissatisfactio n in a le tt e r to the Michigan Education Association newspaper, Teacher's Voice. In the e d ito ria l column the prospec­ tiv e teacher stated: . . . there should be a committee to see th a t this type of teacher preparation is discontinued and only studentteaching type of preparation is done under a c e rtifie d teacher. In this time of surplus teachers and teacher unemployment, interns are not helping the s itu a tio n .6 There is l i t t l e doubt th a t, whenever a program deviates from the tra d itio n a l, i t is attacked by those who view i t as a threat to th e ir liv e lih o o d . Despite individual and group attacks upon new programs, impetus must s t i l l be provided fo r positive changes in education. Watson has emphasized that one part o f a strategy of change is to develop an experimental program and to te s t i t while retaining the tra d itio n a l program.^ 5I b i d . , p. 100. ^News item in the MEA Teacher's Voice, October 29, 1974. 7 Goodwin Watson, "Creating A ltern atives: A Strategy fo r Change in Higher Education," New York University Education Quar­ t e r ly 11 (July 1971): 22-27. 14 In e ffe c t, internship programs have provided a blend of the old and the new. They have integrated with tra d itio n a l teacher train in g programs and have managed to be successful. This in te ­ gration has proved to be somewhat o f a thorn in the sides o f the tr a d itio n a lis ts . Haberman 8 found that intern teachers were superior to graduates of a regular program at the .01 level of confidence. He suggested th at th is resulted from interns having had broader work experience, broader l i f e experiences, and better motivation. He a ttrib u te d some of this difference to the s e lf-s e le c tio n process of the internship program at the University of Wisconsin-Mi1waukee. Successful intern programs, according to Parker and g Withycombe, are fie ld based and are in the best position to mediate the needs of trainee teachers. Field-based programs are, of course, the tower of strength needed to make an internship a valuable learning experience. S lig h tly more than ten years ago, Corman and Olmstead defined an internship as: . . . an adequately supervised, fu ll-tim e teaching experi­ ence which follows an organized program of formal instru c­ tion in pedagogy and which precedes c e r tific a tio n . I t is assumed that the internship w ill be pursued in a regular school, as opposed to a university-adm inistered laboratory school.10 O Martin Haberman, "The Teaching Behavior of Successful Interns," Journal o f Teacher Education 16 (June 1965): 215-220. q John L. Parker and Richard J. Withycombe, "Mediation in an A ltern ative Teacher Training Program," Phi Delta Kappan 54 (March 1972): 483. ^Corman and Olmsted, op. c i t . 15 The questions now posed are: program developed? How is an e ffe c tiv e internship What c r ite r ia are necessary to sustain an internship program and to make i t successful? William E. K1ingele attempted to answer these questions nearly two years ago. In a research study, Klingele lis te d six points th at merit thought fo r maintaining the existence of strong internship programs. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. He recommended that: The program must stress in d iv id u a liza tio n . I t should have a probationary period o f one year preceding tenure. The program must be an integral phase of the teacher education program. The program must be operational with adequate and continuous fin ancial support. The program must provide fo r continuous integration of laboratory experiences with formal course work. The program must provide improved supervision. The program must be cooperatively developed and adm inistered.^ An important component o f the internship revolves around security. Although in d iv id u a liza tio n , improved supervision, and fin an cial support must be of top p r io r ity , the intern must feel as though he has an external crutch. Marashio 12 reports th at an intern has an advantage over a beginning teacher because he has an authority to re ly upon and a feelin g of security is developed. Even the most vociferous teacher who is a product of a regular teacher education program would have to agree th at (1) security 11 William E. K lingele, "Developing E ffective Programs of Teacher Internship, Education 93 (December 1972): 180-181. 12 Paul Marashio, "A New Teacher Training Program," The Clearing House 45 (March 1971): 419-421. 16 from a consultant, (2) high expectations, (3) constant supervision, and (4) integration o f classes with f ie ld work provide an excellent avenue for positive direction of the neophyte teacher. A ltern ative Teacher Training Programs Most of the teacher train in g programs th a t have been devel­ oped over the past ten years are of the cl in ic a l-la b o ra to ry type. They combine theory and practice to simulate actual classroom conditions. The University of Massachusetts developed more than 20 teacher train in g programs over two years ago to meet the needs of today's public school students. emerged as being outstanding. Of the 20 programs, only six have The programs range in proximity from local school d is tric ts in Massachusetts to overseas school d is tric ts throughout the world. 1. 2. 3. Among the programs are: The Center fo r Urban Education Teacher Education Pro­ gram (CUETEP). This program u tiliz e s interns in various urban school d is tric ts throughout the nation. Examples of such d is tric ts would be the Chicago Metropolitan School D is tric t and Philadelphia's Parkway. Interns not only teach in these areas but are expected to liv e near the school where they are assigned. Community oriented programs must be developed so th at interns can f a m ili­ arize themselves with the problems o f the school d is t r ic t . The Off-Campus Teacher Education Program (OCTEP). This program was designed to help student teachers accustom themselves to a varie ty of cultural environments throughout the world. Students work in small groups with public school sutdents in a concentrated manner so th at they may gain valuable insight to a number o f edu­ cational problems. Explorations! Students take a fu ll academic year to pursue th e ir own interests in th e ir own ways. They are counseled throughout the year by doctoral students. Student teaching is done in a public school fo r one month. At the completion o f student teaching the 17 4. 5. 6. student is given the option of becoming a c e rtifie d teacher. The thrust o f this program is upon the a ffe c tiv e rather than the cognitive domain. Mark's Meadow (TEPAM). The U n iversity's laboratory school is used as a train in g ground. Each trainee picks two students and observes th e ir development fo r two years. At the end of the two year period the trainee becomes an intern fo r fiv e semesters. A fte r the f i f t h semester the intern takes one semester of coursework and seminars. F in a lly he becomes a fu ll member of the teaching s t a f f and assumes responsi­ b i l i t y fo r working with a new train ee. Education in Community Service (ECS). The student uses the community as his classroom. He becomes involved with schools, community agencies, meetings of community groups, and m ultiple intensive weekly seminars. Integrated Day Program (METEP). The trainee f i r s t becomes involved in a f u ll semester of coursework con­ ducted in a workshop setting and designed to model, at the university le v e l, the teaching behaviors advocated by the program. During the following semester the stu­ dent interns at one of four sites under the guidance of teachers who are simultaneously involved in inten­ sive inservice programs rela tin g to the integrated dayJ3 The programs previously described are o f the laboratoryfie ld type. The emphasis is on experience in the f ie ld with supplementary help from seminars dealing in situations th at are practical in nature with a blend of theoretical concepts usually provided a fte r f ie ld experience. Since so much of the emphasis is based upon what happens in the f ie ld , one might begin to question the application o f curriculum concepts in new teacher train in g programs. Curriculum, of course, is necessary fo r the survival o f any educational program--be i t teacher tra in in g , classroom manage­ ment, or even the teaching of basic s k ills . The a rt of guiding, 1o Richard J. Clark and Donald J. Kingsbury, "Simultaneous A ltern ative Teacher Preparation Programs," Phi Delta Kappan 54 (March 1973): 477. 18 supporting, and planning in any program is o f primary importance before attempting to embark upon any new fro n tie r. Planning has been and w ill always be necessary to formulate the concepts of any program, whether i t is innovative, revised, or exploratory. Such is the case with a lte rn a tiv e teacher train in g programs. Their standards are much the same as any other program. Propo­ nents o f new programs want to succeed and want to incorporate a sound curriculum base to substantiate th e ir claims as being inno­ v a tiv e , yet tra d itio n a l enough to a ttra c t the attention of everyone concerned with education. new programs. Stone offers some sound ratio n ale for He stresses the following points as being crucial to the development o f teacher tra in in g : 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. The paid teaching internship, which has been the means o f re c ru itin g hig h-caliber 1iberal arts graduates to teaching, has made c lin ic a l practice the heart of the tra in in g program and has made i t possible fo r public school systems to f u l f i l l th e ir indispensable c lin ic a l role in teacher education. The continuous integration of theory and practice throughout the professional curriculum, embodying in s titu tio n al-sch o o l d is t r ic t cooperation and u tiliz in g a s ta ff team th a t teaches, supervises, evaluates, and guides a p a rtic u la r group of students throughout the professional sequence. A reorganization of the professional content o f educa­ tion courses along some other lines than compartmentalization of separate courses taught by d iffe re n t instructors separate from c lin ic a l practices. The use by the prospective teachers of the newest cur­ r ic u la r , the la te s t m aterials, the most experimental methods, and the newest techniques and organization of carrying on instru ctio n. High personal, academic, and professional standards fo r admission to , retention in , and graduation from the program. 19 6. M ultip le pathways to teaching, recognizing the diverse needs of the teaching profession and the varying a b ilit ie s and backgrounds of those who wish to te a c h .'4 A ll of the aforementioned teacher train in g programs appear acceptable on paper, but nothing is mentioned about evaluation. Questions pertaining to the effectiveness of these new programs remain unanswered. Fads and gimmicks look good to those who yearn fo r changes in education. Until new fie ld s are explored and properly evaluated, judgments cannot be made in support of them. Ebel stated in the middle 1960s th at evaluation of teacher education programs or even segments o f programs, is spotty and inadequate. 15 He proposed four ways that could be used in the evaluation process. The c r it e r ia could be used in (1) selection of students, (2) advising and counseling students, (3) evaluating th e ir achievement in courses, and (4) helping to c e r tify th e ir competence to teach. 16 In retrospect, the a lte rn a tiv e teacher tra in in g programs described thus fa r do not seem to meet a ll o f the c r it e r ia of Ebel's evaluation model. Looking back at the University o f Massachusetts School o f Education a lte rn a tiv e programs, one finds th a t the CUETEP model stresses tra in in g in s k ills and knowledge. Students are con­ tin u a lly being evaluated by th e ir community contact work and the degree to which they implement change in th e ir p a rtic u la r school ^James C. Stone, "Breakthrough in Teacher Education?" Phi Delta Kappan (1967): 165-190. 15 Robert L. Ebel, "Measurement Applications in Teacher Education: A Review o f Relevant Research," Journal of Teacher Edu­ cation 1966 (17): 15-25. 20 d is t r ic t . The program does not re ly heavily upon selecton o f students. By not stressing student selection the program is in vio la tio n of Ebel's model. The CUETEP program does not evaluate student achievement in course work but does re ly heavily upon student interactio n to make i t successful. There is no mention of helping students to c e r tify th e ir competency to teach. Explorations! is very sele c tive . I t purposely applies a subjective selection process so th at only certain students with attitu d es s im ila r to the facu lty administering the program are admitted. Students are advised and counseled throughout the duration of th e ir tra in in g . Evaluation is on-going by the student as he determines i f he is engaged in a meaningful course of study. The c r it e r ia fo r the attainment of teaching competency is also very sub­ je c tiv e . I t is determined by the student. Mark's Meadow (TEPAM) is very outstanding in helping to c e r tify teachers in th e ir respective subject areas. This program permits former interns to c e r tify th e ir student colleagues. By doing th is there is constant evaluation and feedback from student to teacher. A basic fa u lt is the selection process fo r admittance into the program. There are v ir tu a lly no provisions made to deter­ mine i f a prospective candidate is of high teaching c a lib e r. The emphasis o f the program is on the individual child and the teacher's rapport and understanding with children and groups of children. This strategy is reminiscent of the goals that former Oakland, C a lifo rn ia , School Superintendent, Marcus Foster, set fo r 21 a ll teachers o f his school d is t r ic t . His goals for teachers are the follow ing: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. People are more important than the system. Success is important to the in te g rity o f any group. People tend to ris e or f a ll to the level of th e ir expectations. To move people, s ta r t where they are. In any group every member, no matter what assigned ro le , can make s ig n ific a n t and unexpected contribu­ tions to the success and w ell-being of the group. The energy th a t is found in interpersonal c o n flic t should be channeled toward solution o f the underly­ ing problems. Go with what you have. In a c o n flic t s itu a tio n , a ll sides usually have legitim ate concerns. The best way to help people is to get them to help themselves. ,7 Massive problems are solved l i t t l e by l i t t l e . TEPAM is incorporating a ll of Foster's goals in th e ir teacher tra in in g program; however, a ll o f Ebel's c r it e r ia are not v is ib ly evident fo r evaluation purposes. Education in Community Service (ECS) is a highly selective tra in in g program th a t meets three of Ebel's four requirements fo r evaluating new programs. I t selects 40 students who are w illin g to involve themselves in community work. There is constant rhetoric in the advising and counseling aspect o f students. Achievement is evaluated via the methods of seminars and in -service work. program f a lls down in the area o f c e rtify in g competence. The C rite ria fo r evaluating competence is basically l e f t up to the student. The Integrated Day Program (METEP) selects juniors and seniors to involve them in preparatory work designed to meet the 17 Marcus A. Foster, Making Schools Work (Philadelphia: Westminister Press, 1971), p . 1 9 . The 22 needs o f understanding the elementary student's learning environ­ ment. There is no vio la tio n o f Ebel's evaluative c r ite r ia in the area o f selectio n. Students are not advised and counseled to a meaningful degree. Their achievement o f course work is happenstance and the model does not give any cogent indication of c e rtify in g a candidate to teach. As a lte rn a tiv e teacher programs evolve, th e ir primary empha­ sis demonstrates the need fo r theory combined with actual (not simulated) conditions to help the prospective teacher merge into the profession. A ll teacher tra in in g programs appear to be break­ ing away from the tra d itio n a l tra in in g procedures. Featherstone o ffers an explanation fo r th is radical departure form normative preparation programs. He states: . . . the inadequacy o f teacher tra in in g w ill also become more evident, although i t is fa r from c lea r how to improve i t . What we do know is th at theory has to be reunited with p ractice. Without a solid growing in child develop­ ment, much o f our informal teaching w ill be gimmickry; and without a sound base in actual practice in classrooms, theory w ill remain u s eles s.'8 Among the many new programs developed fo r teacher train in g w ithin the la s t decade, several have emerged as being promising fo r meeting the needs o f prospective teachers. These programs d iffe r somewhat in scope but basically they are sim ilar in terms of tra in in g aspects. One program, the Tutorial and C lin ica l Program at Northwestern U n iversity, shows promise fo r the future. I t is undergraduate in nature and places its primary emphasis on the TO Joseph Featherstone, "Tempering a Fad," The New Republic, September 1971, p. 21. 23 laboratory and f ie ld approach. An outstanding feature is its com­ mittment by a ll departments of the university to hopefully insure its success. tions: The planning was based on three fundamental assump­ (1) that the program meet the requirements for general education established by the university fa c u lty , (2) th at academic majors be planned jo in tly with the appropriate departments of the college of arts and sciences, and (3) that a ll professional instruc tion be given through tu to ria ls and related c lin ic a l experiences rather than through formal course work. 19 At this point in time the Northwestern University program has proven to be rather success fu l. Early reports from the university indicate that i t has a bright fu tu re . Another promising program, developed at the University of Wisconsin, is the Wisconsin Intern-in-Team program. This program is very sim ilar to the one a t Northwestern U niversity. four-year program that stresses the internship. I t is a Unlike North- western's prgram, i t builds upon the team teaching concept. 20 Students demonstrate th e ir worth in a team teaching situation using constructive c ritic is m from th e ir team members. "Ned Flanders" method fo r evaluation purposes. They also use the The internship portion o f the program only lasts fo r one semester. At the end of the semester, students return to the classroom fo r an in-depth 19 William Hazard, "The Tutorial and C lin ic a l Approach to Teacher Evaluation," Northwestern U n iversity, Evanston, Il l i n o is , 1966, p. 109. (Mimeographed.) on Dean W. O 'Brien, "A School of Education in the L ife of Our Time," University o f Wisconsin, 1965. (Mimeographed.) 24 look at th e ir strengths and weaknesses in seminars and workshops. The strength o f the program lie s in the constant evaluation by team members of interns. Thus f a r , most o f the tra in in g programs described fo r teachers have been concentrated on the middle class c h ild . Atten­ tion has centered around actual classroom situations th a t have children that are able to perform up to middle class standards. No mention has been made of programs geared fo r racial m inorities and lower class children. Although some of the programs previously discussed do focus on the neighborhoods of children they are going to work w ith , there is no real e ffo r t put forth to zero in on students that su ffe r from acts of discrim ination. A program that is attempting to meet the needs of prospec­ tiv e teachers of m inority children is the Cardoza Project in Urban Teaching. The project is located in Washington, D.C. The combined e ffo rts of facu lty members from Howard University in conjunction with the local public school system has resulted in an intern program fo r people who are going to be teaching m in o ritie s. Several factors have made th is project most in teres tin g and enlightening to urban educators. Outstanding features of the Cardoza Project are (1) interns attend a series o f lectures on urban sociology before teaching, (2) emphasis is on the development of instru ctio n al units geared to the inner c ity , and (3) interns get to know th e ir students and th e ir community before assuming classroom re s p o n s ib ilitie s . 21 21 Larry Cuban, "The Cardozo Peace Corps Project: Experiment in Urban Education," Sociology of Education 28 (1964): 446-449. 25 Heavy emphasis is placed upon the s o cia liza tio n process in this p ro je c t. Interns have a r e a lis tic picture of th e ir students and th e ir fam ilies before entering the classroom. An in-depth look provides the interns meaningful insight to the needs of th e ir stu­ dents. Adams says th at: The individual cannot id e n tify with someone he knows nothing about. He may read about the way in which a certain con­ temporary, h is to r ic a l, or fic tio n a l person acts or performs his roles. More o fte n , however, ac tu ally seeing the person in operation makes one aware o f his ch a rac te ristic s. Fur­ thermore, in te n s ity and continuity of observation increase the likelih oo d o f id e n tific a tio n .22 The Cardoza project was reported by S tile s to be extremely successful in preparing students to be e ffe c tiv e teachers o f inner c ity children because of th is development of instructional units and its concentration on o b s ervatio n -p articip atio n . 23 Stanford U n iversity's Teacher Intern Program is another program that has made great strides in the f ie ld of education. Although i t is not s p e c ific a lly geared toward teacher tra in in g , i t is most in te re s tin g and worth discussion. important functions: The program serves four (1) th a t of a vehicle of research and experi­ mentation fo r the testin g of a lte rn a tiv e concepts and procedures, (2) th a t of a laboratory fo r the preparation of teacher educators, (3) that of promoting closer u n iversity-p ub lic school cooperation, and (4) th a t of id e n tify in g and re cru itin g candidates fo r careers 22 Bert N. Adams, The American Family—A Sociological In te r ­ pretation (Chicago: Markham Publishing Company, 1971), p. 141. 23 Lindley J. S tile s , Cardozo Project in Urban Teaching: Evaluation and Recommendations, Model School D ivision , Washington, D.C., Public Schools, 1967. 2 6 leadership in education. The Stanford program u tiliz e s such tech­ niques as micro-teaching, photography, and computer assisted instru c­ tio n . While th is program does not re ly upon actual classroom situations to provide impetus fo r growth of prospective teachers, i t does introduce and use new techniques fo r educators in teacher evaluation. The program constantly stresses teaching techniques using audio-visual equipment. One o f the most unusual programs is the Wayne State Univer­ s ity Teacher; Education Experimental Program. undergraduate-graduate program. I t is a six-year A close look uncovers the follow ­ ing curriculum throughout six years: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. The f i r s t three years are devoted e n tire ly to work in the lib e ra l a rts . The second three years require professional study and c lin ic a l experience. The fourth year requires an integrated series o f learn­ ing cycles. The f i f t h year combines course work w ith 12 weeks of fu ll time teaching. During the sixth year the student teachers f u ll time and participates in research seminars. ^ The program o ffe rs co n tin u ity , follow-through, and follow-up on a ll o f its participants fo r the e n tire six years. There is constant evaluation both during and a fte r a ll segments of the pro­ gram. Students are able to gain a Master of Arts degree in addition to a Bachelor o f Arts degree. Id e a lly speaking, a program of this type offers many in trin s ic rewards to a student who is constantly reinforced over a period o f years by university and public school 24 Edward A. B antel, "Teacher Education Experimental Project: A Design fo r Preparing Career Teachers," Childhood Education 42 (1966): 417-421. 27 personnel. made. He knows where he is going and what mistakes he has In addition, he is able to correct his mistakes during the f i f t h and sixth years while he is in the classroom. Programs of the variety th at Wayne State has developed o ffe r hope fo r future teachers o f America. The Elementary Intern Program The cooperating public school d is t r ic t s , in conjunction with the College of Education at Michigan State U n iversity, in itia te d the Student Teacher Education Program (STEP) in 1959. The program was designed so that prospective teachers could fin is h th e ir under­ graduate classes w ithin a period of three years. The fourth year was a fu ll-tim e teaching position in the student's own classroom on a paid basis equal to one-half (and in some cases, tw o-thirds) o f a beginning teacher's salary. At the beginning o f the fourth year a student usually had completed a ll but 10-15 term hours o f c re d it fo r his degree. Upon completion o f a successful intern experience and completion of his d e fic it term c re d it hours, he was awarded a Bachelor o f Arts degree and a Michigan Elementary Provisional Teach­ ing C e rtific a te . Table 2.1 gives a conceptual design of the Grand Rapids intern program. The f i r s t two years o f school are spent e ith e r a t Michigan State U niversity or Grand Rapids Junior College. Shortly before the beginning o f the ju n io r year, the candidate spends ten weeks on the Michigan State U niversity campus fo r continuation of course work toward major or minor areas. During the ju n io r year, TABLE 2.1.— Conceptual Design of the Grand Rapids Public Schools Intern Program. F ir s t Year Where Second Year Grand Rapids Junior College (o r o th er) Four semesters T ir e MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY-ELEMENTARY INTERN PROGRAM P re -In te rn Year (Third Year) Summer School F a ll Term W inter Term MSU Campus GR Center GR Area Schools 10 Weeks 10 Weeks 10 Weeks PRE-INTERNSHIP METHODS COURSES Areas of Study Basic Courses Hours C re d it 45 45 (plus P .E .) Cumulative C re d it 45 90 Majors or Minors ED 321a Common Elements ED 325a Reading ED 325b Language Arts ED 325d Social Studies ED 325e Mathematics ED 325f Science Spring Term In te rn Year (Fourth Year) Summer School MSU Campus MSU Campus or GR Center 10 Weeks 5 Weeks PRE-INTERNSHIP TEACHING ED 446 Student Teaching ED 485 Independent Study in Education GR Area Schools School Year INTERNSHIP Consultant Assistance M ajors, Minors, or E le c tiv e s M ajors, Minors, or E lectives ED 450 School and Society ED 446 In te rn Teaching ED 483 Reading 16 18 19 15 7 15 106 124 143 158 165 180 29 or pre-intern year, ten weeks are spent in classes at a local teacher education center. Students enroll fo r 18 hours o f methods courses taught by instructors from the university or representatives from the cooperating school d is t r ic t . The next ten weeks are spent student teaching in the d is t r ic t . Pre-interns are under the tutelage o f a tenured teacher and are supervised by a representative o f the un iversity. A fte r completing th e ir student teaching, candidates return to campus fo r continued course work in major or minor areas. Following th is ten-week term, students may e ith e r return to campus fo r a five-week summer session or take the remainder of th e ir course work through the local teacher education center. The student's fourth year, or intern year, is spent teaching in the cooperating school d is t r ic t . The intern has the services of a consultant one day per week during the internship experience. A ll interns have to ta l re s p o n s ib ility fo r th e ir classrooms, with assis­ tance from the consultant. School principals and university facu lty personnel have l i t t l e or no res p o n s ib ility fo r classroom supervision of the in te rn . University personnel, most frequently E .I.P . d ire cto rs , meet with interns once a month in fam ily seminars to aid and assist in planning classroom s trateg ies. The seminar, referred to as Education 450, is the la s t course requirement fo r prospective teachers at the u n iversity. Sharing o f problems and concerns is common, as is the exploration of new ideas and innovations in the f ie ld of education. 30 Research Studies Related to the Elementary Intern Program Since 1966 representatives o f E .I.P . have conducted follow-up studies o f former interns. A study conducted in the spring o f 1973 indicated that school principals rated former interns a t "above expectation" or "greatly exceeding expectation" when compared with other teachers on th e ir s ta ffs . 25 Principals were also impressed with the frequency o f v is its by consultants and observed that con­ sultants helped interns in a wide variety of ways. Conley u tiliz e d the Minnesota Teacher A ttitud e Inventory, the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule (E .P .P .S .), and the Min­ nesota Teacher Education Inventory (M .T .A .I.) to e l i c i t biographical information from intern teachers. The findings of this study indicated that: 1. I n i t i a l a ttitu d es toward children and teaching as measured by the M .T .A .I. were higher fo r female student teaching program students than fo r female E .I.P . students. 2. Female E .I.P . students indicated higher needs than female student teaching program students in the areas of deference, autonomy, abasement, and endur­ ance, as measured by E.P.P.S. 3. On the basis of the Teacher Education Inventory, E .I.P . female students were d iffe re n t from female student teaching program students in the following ways: 25 Robert W. Scrivens, "Elementary Intern Program Follow-Up Study," College of Education, Michigan State U n iversity, East Lansing, Spring 1973. (Mimeographed.) 2fi James L. Conley, "A Study of Selected Biographical Data, Personality Characteristics and Attitudes o f Elementary Intern Pro­ gram Students a t Michigan State University" (Ph.D. d is s e rta tio n , Michigan State U n iversity, 1968), pp. 1-121. 31 a. E .I.P . females were older (23.7 vs. 21.7 years o f age. b. E .I.P . females were more lik e ly to have been married. c. 70 percent o f E .I.P . females spent one year at a two-year college as opposed to 17 percent of student teaching program female students. d. The education level fo r both the mother and fath er o f E .I.P . students was lower. e. Family income was lower fo r E .I.P . female stu­ dents. f. E .I.P . female students came from a larg er fam ily. g. E .I.P . female students indicated they decided to become a teacher e a r lie r than did female student teaching students. h. E .I.P . female students indicated they were more lik e ly to derive satisfactio n from teaching than student teaching students. i. E .I.P . female students indicated they were less lik e ly to doubt the "rightness" o f th e ir deci­ sion to become a teacher. j. E .I.P . female students were less "risk-takin g" than female student teaching students. k. E .I.P . students tended to view teaching as a profession while student teaching students viewed teaching as a profession but one which is not highly specialized. 1. E .I.P . students viewed the opportunity of con­ tr o llin g th e ir own marketing conditions less important than female student teaching students. Perhaps the most popular and well known research study o f the E .I.P . was conducted by Dr. Bernard R. Corman and Dr. Ann 6. Olmsted. The two collaborated to evaluate the program in a fiv e -y e a r study of the elementary school teacher. Their research was based upon interviews with students, instructors and resident university 32 facu lty members. The most important findings of Corman and Olmsted are as follows: 1. The internship consultantship d iffere d in three ways from the helping teacher position; f i r s t , the con­ sultant enjoyed university involvement which provided additional autonomy; second, intern consultants were assigned fewer individuals to supervise; th ird , con­ sultants v is its to in tern s' classrooms were both regular and frequent. 2. The character of the relationship that could be estab­ lished between intern and consultant was substantially d iffe re n t and the helping teacher model fa ile d to provide clear guidelines fo r those asked to assume the consultantship. 3. The original general expectations, of both university and public school personnel, fo r the intern consultant position included (1) aid fo r interns in analyzing th e ir classroom s itu a tio n , (2) fusing theory with prac­ tic e by re la tin g previous formal study to day-to-day teaching practices, and (3) maintenance of high q u ality standards within the in te rn 's classroom. 4. Consultants were not to infrin ge upon the building p rin c ip a l's authority by assuming any d ire c t role in the evaluation of the in te rn . 5. Both the university and the school cast the consultant as an "expert," but gave her only the power of persua­ sion to enforce her "expertness." 6. A working relationship had to be established with the intern and with her pupils which would permit the consultant to be a "second teacher in the classroom" without diminishing the authority o f the in tern . 7. The i n i t i a l response o f the consultants was to back away from establishing a "supervisory" relationship in the usual sense, and to seek to develop a no n-d irective, colleague relationship with th e ir interns. 8. A period of watchful waiting appeared to be a necessary prerequisite to the establishment of a "successful" consultant-intern teacher rela tio n s h ip , i f success meant a relationship where the consultant's suggestions were acted upon by the in te rn . 33 9. The more successful consultants appeared to be those who were w illin g to "get th e ir hands d irty " ; to illu s tr a te th e ir suggestions by demonstration. 10. The real te s t came in being able to s h ift from one intern to another in both the pacing and the substance of the guidance offered. 11. The consultant had to be perceptive enough to deter­ mine the kind of teacher the intern wished to become and wise enough to assist the intern to achieve that goal even though i t might c o n flic t with what the consultant herself valued. 12. Consultants hoped to be sympathetic listeners to guard against the isolatio n which occurs when a beginning teacher finds herself in a school situation where discussion of teaching is not encouraged. 13. Consultants hoped th a t, by th e ir consistent a v a il­ a b ilit y and by encouraging dialog, they could help interns make the basis o f th e ir teaching practice more e x p lic it .2' The Corman and Olmsted study was reinforced four years la te r by former interns. The Association for Student Teaching reported on the overall strengths and weaknesses of E .I.P . while studying the v a lid ity of teacher intern programs throughout the United States. Their review o f the E .I.P . is as follows: Some of the interns feel that they are somewhat isolated from the campus by spending so much time in the centers. Some of them also consider the extra course work taken during the internship year to be somewhat burdensome a t times. In spite of th is , the enthusiasm fo r the program is apparent and appreciation is expressed fo r the q u ality o f supervision given.2^ 27 28 Corman and Olmsted, op. c i t . , pp. 62-75. The Association for Student Teaching, Internships in Teacher Education, Forty-Seventh Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: The Association, 1968), pp. 180-181. 34 A lternative Futures in Teacher Education This section of the review o f lite ra tu re gives insight from others as to what educators should expect in the future. Treatment is given to th e ir comments and an analysis is provided fo r the reader. The various subjects that are quoted a ll have one common outlook on the fu tu re—that i t must change to coincide with an ever changing society. Alvin T o ffle r feels that future teachers must be trained to deal w ith b r ie f units around a future theme. 29 An explanation of T o ffle r's statement is interpreted as developing teacher tra in in g programs that lend themselves to teaching the future in units or blocks o f study. A ll future elementary teachers must be taught to teach others about the expectations of tomorrow's society, one step a t a time. Courses about the future should not be developed solely fo r the purpose of teaching them but rather the future should be included in every segment of our planning. To develop one course would be fr u itle s s —to incorporate in every course would be sensible. An example fo r future planning would be to fe rr e t out of every course a unit that would take into account the changes that could occur by the next century. How could this be done? What could the classroom teacher do to extrapolate these indices from what informa­ tion is given a t the present time? The Delphi technique developed by Rand Corporation is a p a rtia l solution to the problem. 29 (New York: Classroom teachers can use the Nation's Schools, Fu turisties: Crystal Ball fo r Curriculum McGraw-Hill, In c ., 1972), p. 62. 35 Delphi technique to get th e ir students to think about the future and begin to plan fo r i t . I t is a very simple te st to use and can be modified fo r classroom use with ease by the teacher. The Delphi is e a s ily adaptable fo r use in social studies, science, and language a rts . This method could be transmitted to future teachers in th e ir college methods courses. Trend analysis is another technique to be employed by methods instructors. Prospective candidates in education could be trained to id e n tify trends in certain areas. By pointing out future trends teachers can provide th e ir students with the oppor­ tu n ity to begin thinking about the future in specific areas. Margaret Mead feels th at teachers o f the future should i n s t i l l in th e ir students the d iffe re n t kinds of cultures th a t they are lik e ly to encounter, such as: . . . p o s t-fig u ra tiv e , in which children learn prim arily from th e ir forebears; configurative, in which children and adults learn from th e ir peers, and p re fig u ra tiv e , in which adults learn also from th e ir c h ild re n .30 C e rta in ly , a preparatory course in which teachers deal with diverse cultures is needed now. I t behooves educators to take more than a passing glance at Mead's proposals for dealing with d iffe re n t cultures. Mead gives the d is tin c t impression th a t the future is now, fo r studying about future cultures. Psychologists such as Carl Rogers suggest th at future teachers ought to be concerned with urban crowding and its probable 30 Margaret Mead, Culture and Commitment (New York: and Company, In c ., 1970), p. 113. Doubleday 36 e ffe c ts . Rogers' philosophy could well be inculcated into the curriculum of a teacher education program mentioned e a r lie r in this study--the Cardoza Peace Corps Project in Washington, D.C. Rogers mentions one trend that a ll educators should be interested in studying. The trend is closeness and intimacy. Rogers states that: One trend which we may follow is to crowd more and more closely together, as we are now crowded in our ghettos. I understand that P h illip Hauser, the noted demographer, has stated th at i f a ll of us were crowded together as closely as the residents o f Harlem, a ll of the people in the United States could be contained in the fiv e boroughs o f New York C ity .3 ' Perhaps educators would be wise to synthesize Rogers' words and begin developing a curriculum fo r prospective teachers that takes into account the problems th at an overburgeoning population can cause to society. Developing a curriculum that takes problems of the population into consideration could cause uneasiness among parents of elementary school children. Topics covering planned parenthood, abortion, and b irth control would have to be introduced to make the curriculum relevant. Needless to say there would be an ecstatic cry among some (such as Ivan I l l i c h ) and a v eritab le denun­ ciatio n of such practices by others ( e .g ., Marshall McLuhan). However, a future curriculum that is meaningful and seeks relevance must incorporate the tru th into its structure. 31 Carl R. Rogers, "Interpersonal Relationships: U.S.A. 20000," Journal of Applied Behavioral Science 4 (April 1970). 37 M itzel believes th at individualized instruction is the predominant mode of learning fo r the future. Listed below are the characteristics that he believes form the base fo r a ll learners. 1. F ir s t, most educators agree that instruction is 'In d i­ vidual" when the learner is allowed to proceed through materials at a s e lf determined pace that is comfortable fo r him. 2. A second concept of individualized instruction is that the learner should be able to work at times convenient to him. 3. That a learner should begin instruction in a given sub­ je c t at a point appropriate to his past achievement is a th ird way of looking at in d iv id u aliza tio n . 4. A fourth concept of ind ividu alization is the idea that learners are inhibited by a small number of easily id e n tifia b le s k ills or knowledges. 5. A f i f t h concept is that ind ivid u alizatio n can be achieved by furnishing the learner with a wealth of instructional media from which to c h o o s e . 32 M itz e l's c r ite r ia fo r the future in education appears to be taken into account in today's educational society. We are now innundated with such educational terms as in d ivid u ally prescribed in s tru c tio n , programmed reading m aterials, computer based instru ctio n, and computer assisted instruction. These programs are but a few of many that are making inroads into the educational profession. Although the above mentioned pro­ grams are r e la tiv e ly new to the f ie ld i t is a sign that instruction is being shifted away from normative standards and applied to a ll segments o f society. 32 Harold E. M itz e l, "The Impending Instruction Revolution," Phi Delta Kappan (April 1970): 434-439. 38 The important facto r now to consider is the dimension that education w ill cover in future years. Questions to be answered are What w ill be the e ffe c t of curriculum and instruction? What is the p rob ability of increasing or decreasing funds as applied to the educational arena? school and society? What is the status of the relationship of the In answer to these questions, Shane and Nelson queried 570 educators to respond to possible education futures. Their answers ranged from extreme pessimism to cautious optimism. Listed below is a summation of th e ir responses: 1. M ultim ed ia--V irtu ally everyone agrees that a multimedia approach is desirable, that such approaches would be f a ir ly easy to bring about, and that they w ill become prevalent between 1975 and 1985. 2. Student Tutors--Four out of fiv e feel the idea is excel­ le n t, and two-thirds think i t would be easy to s ta rt such programs. 3. A New English Alphabet—Most respondents are pessimistic about the prospects fo r a new phonetic alphabet. While three out of four concede the virtu e o f such a change, over h a lf think i t is un likely to be adopted. 4. Increased Time fo r the Expressive A rts—Over h a lf of the educators believe that work in the expressive arts w ill double its present time allotment in the curriculum within 10 to 15 years. 5. Early Childhood Education—Respondents f e l t that programs in th is area w ill be a universal r e a lity by 1985. 6. Government Agencies—The respondents forecast (62%) and endorsed (88%) rapid consolidation of federal education programs. 7. Vouchers fo r Tuition Paym ents--Little enthusiasm is indicated fo r a voucher system. Fewer than 15% see them coming into general use before 1985. 8. Salary and Teacher Performance—Nearly 54% feel that performance-based wages and increments are not lik e ly in the fu tu re . However, two-thirds of the group acknowl­ edged the d e s ira b ility o f basing salaries on competence. 39 9. 10. The Self-Contained Classroom— "One teacher-one group" instruction is on the way out, according to 69% of the respondents predicting the shape of the future. Mandatory Foster Homes—Respondents were asked whether they thought that children, before age three, might be placed in foster homes or kibbutz-type boarding schools to protect them from a damaging home environ­ ment. Opinions are about evenly divided on whether this is a good or bad p o lic y .3 y And f in a lly , Shane wrote about the future o f education in the follow ­ ing manner: . . . That the ends of ed u c atio n -fu tu re oriented knowledge and survival s k ills needed to cope with technology, mass media, p o llu tio n , the peace d e fic it in fla tio n , and a myriad of sim ilar problems—now be given "compensatory a tte n tio n ." Further resolved: That the curriculum be more fu lly anchored to the life lo n g "human needs" concept of womb-towomb educational experience provided under the sponsorship of the school s .34 Summary In summary, the review of lite r a tu re on internship programs in teacher education pointed out that teaching internships began in the la te 1800s. Its growth continued fo r a period o f over 50 years before reaching its peak in the middle 1960s. Several educators stated th at the ingredients fo r making an internship successful were (1) laboratory combined with f ie ld experience, (2) constant super­ vision by an experienced classroom teacher, (3) adequate and continu­ ous financial growth, and (4) in d iv id u a liza tio n . ^H arold G. Shane and Owen N. Nelson, "What W ill the Schools Become?" Phi Delta Kappan (June 1971): 596-598. ^H arold G. Shane, "Looking to the Future: Reassessment of Educational Issues of the 1970's," Phi Delta Kappan (January 1973): 333. 40 A ltern ative teacher tra in in g programs were found to be b as ic a lly theory and practice oriented. Their role in teacher education was found to be concentrated upon the individual trainee rather than stressing academics. as to th e ir effectiveness. Questions s t i l l remain unanswered Most o f the programs were found to be lacking adequate means of evaluation. A description of each program reveals that they are subjectively evaluated. However, the most successful and promising new programs stressed some kind o f in te rn ­ ship a fte r the completion of academic course work. The Michigan State University Elementary Intern Program was described from its inception as the S.T.E.P. program in 1959. A table depicts the program in its e n tire ty throughout four calendar years. The table gives a conceptual model fo r a student to follow from any o f the nine E .I.P . centers throughout the state of Michigan. Pertinent research studies o f E .I.P . are found in the la tt e r part of the section. These studies pointed out that E .I.P . students and consultants worked closely together throughout the school year in an independent manner to make the program successful. F in a lly , a lte rn a tiv e futures in teacher education were d is ­ cussed by prominent educators, psychologists, and an anthropologist. C o lle c tiv e ly , they surmised th at (1) education fo r the future must focus upon the in d iv id u a l, (2) that tra d itio n a l methods of teaching and teacher tra in in g are nearing an end, (3) more emphasis w ill be placed upon a multimedia approach, and (4) more time w ill be spent on early childhood education and the expressive a rts . CHAPTER I I I PROCEDURES UTILIZED IN THE STUDY Introduction The primary purpose o f th is chapter is to give a description o f procedures u tiliz e d in the development of the study. included in th is chapter are: The parts a description of Michigan State U niversity intern teachers and intern consultants, the construction of the questionnaire, a description o f how the data were collected, a restatement of the hypotheses and research questions to be resolved, and the s ta tis tic a l procedures employed. The Study Sample The subjects selected for th is study were intern teachers and intern consultants from the Michigan State University Elementary Intern Program. Intern consultants were selected because they (1) were considered to be master teachers of th e ir p a rtic u la r public school d is t r ic t , (2) had d ire c t contact on a weekly basis with intern teachers, (3) were exposed to a varie ty of teaching-learning s itu ­ ations, (4) were not d ire c tly responsible fo r the evaluation or h iring of the intern teacher, and (5) were interested in the improvement and evaluation of the internship on a continuing basis. Intern teachers were selected as subjects because they (1) were in th e ir f i r s t year o f d ire c t contact on a regular basis 41 42 with elementary school age students, (2) were located in various intern centers throughout the state of Michigan, (3) were teaching in a ll types of socio-economic schools, ranging from extreme lower to upper middle class, (4) were exposed to other professionals for the f i r s t time over a period of one school year while engaged in teaching, and (5) were considered of in te re s t to the study by the E .I.P . research committe. The subjects in the study represented nearly 87 percent of the population of E .I.P . teachers and consultants during the 1974-75 school year. Intern Teachers During the 1974-75 school year, 141 interns were teaching in elementary school classrooms. Elementary Intern Program. survey instrument. A ll interns were enrolled in the Of the 141 in tern s, 121 responded to the The responses totaled more than 85 percent of the e n tire intern population. Of this number, 22 interns or 18 percent were males and, correspondingly, 99 interns or 82 percent were females. Fitch^ reported in 1969 th at 17 percent of the interns were male and 83 percent of the interns were female. Data of intern teachers were gathered a t the beginning of the spring term, 1975. These data r e fle c t demographic information of interns located in the nine E .I.P . centers throughout Michigan. ^Thomas C. Fitch, "Role Expectation fo r Intern Consultants: Views of Intern Teachers and Intern Consultants in the Michigan State U niversity Elementary Intern Program" (Ph.D. d is s e rta tio n , Michigan State U n iversity, 1969), p. 60. 43 Table 3.1 includes a description of the age d is trib u tio n of intern teachers by E .I.P . center. The table depicts th at the average age of intern teachers was 24 years old. TABLE 3 .1 .—Age D istribu tio n of the Intern Population by E .I.P . Centers, 1975 (120 In te rn s ). Number of Interns D is tric t Standard Deviation Average Age 1. B attle Creek 7 6.1 28.3 2. D etro it 9 9.1 21.2 3. F lin t 3 0.6 22.7 4. Grand Rapids 15 9.3 27.2 5. Lansing 41 3.8 23.2 6. Livonia 14 0.5 21.4 7. Oakland 7 2.3 22.7 8. Port Huron-Macomb 18 5.9 24 9. Saginaw-Bay 7 3.5 23 In Table 3.2 the grade levels taught by interns are given by E .I.P . center. Of special note is the fa c t that the Lansing center has seven intern teachers assigned to the Michigan School fo r the Blind. Although these interns work with visu a lly impaired c h il­ dren, they are s t i l l c la s s ifie d as elementary intern teachers. A ll of them teach several grades. Table 3.3 shows the number of white and non-white interns by center. The m ajority of non-white interns are located in the D e tro it and Lansing centers. 44 TABLE 3 . 2 . — D i s t r i b u t i o n o f Grade L evels Taught by In t e r n Teachers. Grade Levels* School D is tr ic t K 1 2 3 4 5 6 1. B attle Creek 2 2 2 4 3 3 3 2. D e tro it 1 2 4 5 2 3 3 3. F lin t — 4. Grand Rapids — 2 6 4 2 5. Lansing 7 10 13 10 6. Livonia 1 1 2 7. Oakland 8. Port Huron-Macomb 1 9. Saginaw-Bay 1 — 2 — 8 — - - 1 — 2 — — 4 1 — 2 14 11 9 4 3 4 5 1 2 3 1 1 7 2 3 1 — 3 1 — 7 — 1 — 1 4 — 4 1 — - - 3 — 1 1 *Interns were teaching more than one grade level TABLE 3 .3 .--White and Non-White Interns by E. I.P . Center School D is tr ic t White Non-White 1. B attle Creek 6 1 2. D e tro it 0 9 3. F lin t 3 0 4. Grand Rapids 14 1 5. Lansing 32 9 6. Livonia 14 0 7. Oakland 7 0 8. Port Huron-Macomb 18 0 9. Saginaw-Bay 6 1 100 21 Total 45 A description o f the m arital status of intern teachers is given in Table 3 .4 . The table depicts the number o f interns that c la s s ifie d themselves as e ith e r married or not married. Allowances were not made fo r those who might consider themselves liv in g together but not le g a lly married, separated, or divorced. TABLE 3 .4 .--M a rita l Status D istribution of Students, 1975 (141 Subjects). M arital Status Number Percent Married 52 43 Not Married 43 57 The socio-economic background of the intern teacher's high school is presented in Table 3.5. of three categories. Interns were allowed one choice They were to respond to whether or not they considered the students o f th e ir high school to be (1) mostly from low income fa m ilie s , (2) mostly from middle income fa m ilie s , and (3) mostly from upper income fam ilies. Table 3.6 illu s tra te s what intern teachers think they w ill be doing in fiv e years. A d is trib u tio n o f projections is given fo r interns by E .I.P . center. A ll 121 interns followed the prescibed course o f study as outlined by the Department of Elementary and Special Education at Michigan State U n iversity. The curriculum provides fo r the interns to become a f u lly c e r tifie d teacher in grades kindergarten through eight at the end o f th e ir internship. Interns having completed a 4 6 TABLE 3 .5 .--High School Socio-Economic Background of 121 Intern Teachers. School D is tric t 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Low Income B attle Creek D etro it F lin t Grand Rapids Lansing Livonia Oakland Port Huron-Macomb Saginaw-Bay Middle Income 1 2 1 7 4 2 12 35 9 4 16 6 14 94 5 1 — 4 - - Total Upper Income - ------- 3 2 5 2 - - 1 13 TABLE 3 .6 .--Future Plans of Interns by September 1980 (114 Interns) +-> o *r— & >■ -M to •r— a r— O O -C o CO ......... C~ •i— r— so +J <0 s+-> to *1— sc ■i— E ■o < Sa> 4o JC o CJ •*-> *rco +J ro =3 O +J -o c lu a> C to s~ s- a) XJ O •i—’f— ta E O CO i o □c o rn — 7 1 o o -£C u C TJ O E "O O O i— 3 -a O 3 +J 3 0 1- r— *r—i— o r- a) o § -r-C Ll. a £ o ^ C S £ 1_ S_ 43 O •»— JD LU +-> 4—CL. 4 -0 0) CC — — — — 4 — 2 2 — 2 - - — — 1 - - -- 1 — 1. B attle Creek 2. D etro it 3. F lin t 4. Grand Rapids 1 13 5. Lansing 4 28 4 1 4 — 6. Livonia — 10 — 1 1 2 7. Oakland — 5 -- -- 2 — 8. Port Huron-Macomb 1 12 1 2 2 — 9. Saginaw-Bay — — — — — — 5 6 Total S 7 81 12 — 47 successful internship receive a Michigan Provisional Elementary C e rtific a te . The seven interns th a t were assigned to the Michigan School fo r the Blind receive a provisional teaching c e r tific a te that allows them to teach v isu a lly impaired children. This c e r t i f i ­ cate is given to them in addition to th e ir elementary provisional c e r tific a te . The Composite Intern Teacher The composite intern teacher in the E .I.P . in 1974-75 was lik e ly to f i t the following ch aracteristics: 1. be a white female (83 percent female; 82 percent w h ite ); 2. be between 21 and 23 years o f age (75 percent); 3. come from a middle income fam ily (80 percent); 4. be s a tis fie d with her job (87 percent); 5. be assigned to an upper lower or lower middle income school (90 percent); 6. have approximately 20 to 30 students in her classroom (77 percent); 7. have 0 to 10 percent m inority students in her classroom (79 percent). This description summarizes the data provided by the 121 intern teachers who p articip ated in the study. The composite intern teacher represented more than 40 school d is tric ts throughout Michigan. Intern Consultants There were 29 out o f 32 consultants, or 90 percent, that responded to the survey instrument. Of th is number, 26, or 89 percent, 48 were female consultants. Fitch reported in 1969 that 35 consultants, 2 or 87 percent, were female. Table 3.7 describes the d is trib u tio n of consultants through­ out Michigan. The largest number of consultants is located in the Lansing center. TABLE 3 .7 .—D istribution o f Consultants by E .I.P . Center, 1975.* School D is tric t Number o f Consultants Number Par­ tic ip a tin g in the Study 1. B attle Creek 2 2 2. D etro it 3 3 3. F lin t 2 2 4. Grand Rapids 5 5 5. Lansing 9 8 6. Livonia 4 3 7. Oakland 2 2 8. Port Huron-Macomb 3 3 9. Saginaw-Bay 2 1 *These figures represent consultants actu ally assigned to E .I.P . centers. Figures were provided by the E .I.P . o ffic e at Michigan State U niversity. Table 3.8 gives the age d is trib u tio n by E .I.P . center. A ll ages given and averages computed fo r age were based on age a t the consultant's la s t birthday. 2 F itc h , op. c i t . , p. 67. 49 TABLE 3 .8 .--Age D istribution of Intern Consultants by E .I.P . Center, 1975. School D is tr ic t Standard Deviation Number of Consultants Average Age 1. B attle Creek 2 1.4 37 2. D etro it 3 3.5 37.3 3. F lin t 2 27.6 45.5 4. Grand Rapids 5 3.1 45.4 5. Lansing 8 10.6 40.6 6. Livonia 3 6.0 32.7 7. Oakland 2 4.2 38 8. Port Huron-Macomb 3 11.0 9. Saginaw-Bay 1 0.0 40.7 31 The number o f white and non-white consultants are included in Table 3.9. All of the non-white consultants were located on the eastern side o f the s ta te . The only centers reporting non-white consultants were Lansing, Saginaw-Bay and D e tro it. TABLE 3 .9 .-W h ite and Non-White Intern Consultants by E .I. P. Center. School D is tr ic t White Non-White 1. B attle Creek 2 0 2. D etro it 1 2 3. F lin t 2 0 4. Grand Rapids 5 0 5. Lansing 7 1 6. Livonia 3 0 7. Oakland 2 0 8. Port Huron-Macomb 3 0 9. Saginaw-Bay 0 1 25 4 Total 50 Table 3.10 gives the number o f married and unmarried con­ sultants. A percent of the to ta l number of married and unmarried consultants is also reported. TABLE 3 .1 0 .—M arital Status D istrib u tio n of Intern Consultants, 1975 (29 Subjects). M arital Status Percent Number Married 24 83 5 17 Not Married A description of the consultants' high school socio-economic backgrounds is provided in Table 3.11. Consultants were asked to respond to one of the following categories: (a) low income status, (b) middle income status, or (c) upper income status. The m ajority of consultants indicated that the high school they attended was of middle income status. TABLE 3 .1 1 .--High School Socio-Economic Background of 28 Intern Consultants. School D is tric t Low Income Middle Income Upper Income 1. B attle Creeek — 2 - - 2. D etro it - - 3 — 3. F lin t — 2 — 4. Grand Rapids 1 4 — 5. Lansing 1 6 1 6. Livonia 1 2 — 7. Oakland — 2 — 8. Port Huron-Macomb — 2 — 9. Saginaw-Bay 1 — 51 Table 3.12 includes the number of years that consultants spent as to what they think they w ill be doing by September 1980. TABLE 3 .1 2 .—Future Plans o f Consultants by September 1980 (27 Intern Consultants.) c +■> o •r" s+J (/> •r— a +-> ra •r— sz u C •r£ T3 c i+> (/■ > i— o o 4O S- o fO 4-> 3 «/> C o o i. a» o fa (U h- •< —*i— in +j +J fO 3 O O 3 -a XI LU o •3 c -a *po a> O § -rx: .2 u _ x .2 ai U jjT o 43 00 -£u- ^ la £ M o ^ +-> O 3 ^ sS a> C LU 4S- S» 43 0 -r- +■>4—0. 0) Q£ +j 4- a — 1 2 — 1 Grand Rapids 2 2 1 5. Lansing 1 3 1 6. Livonia 1 1 1 7. Oakland — 2 8. Port Huron-McComb — 2 9. Saginaw-Bay 1 1 — — — 1 1 - - Table 3.13 re fle c ts the number of years th at consultants spent as adm inistrators. Table 3.14 includes the number of years that consultants taught in a public or nonpublic school classroom. Table 3.15 gives the number o f years spent as an E .I.P . consultant or supervised teacher interns. 52 TABLE 3 .1 3 .—D istribu tio n o f Intern Consultants' Years o f Experience as a School Adm inistrator. Years Experience as a School Administrator Never 1-3 Years 4-10 Years Over 10 Years Number 1 25 2 1 Percent 3.4 86.2 6.9 3.5 TABLE 3 .1 4 .--D is trib u tio n o f Intern Consultants' Years of Experience as a Classroom Teacher. Years Experience as a Classroom Teacher Never 1-3 Years 4-10 Years Over 10 Years Number 0 2 13 14 Percent 0 6.9 44.8 48.3 TABLE 3 .1 5 .—D istribu tio n of Years of Experience as an Intern Consultant. Years Experience as a Consultant Never 1-3 Years 4-10 Years Over 10 Years Number 0 16 11 2 Percent 0 55.2 37.9 6.9 53 The Composite In t e r n C o n s u lta n t The demographic data provided in this study showed th at the composite intern consultant was lik e ly to: 1. be a white female (89 percent female; 86 percent w hite); 2. be 3. be married (83 percent); 4. come from a middle class family (93 percent); 5. be 6. have been a school adm inistrator fo r one three years (86 percent); 7. have been a school teacher for four years or more (93 percent). between 24 and 66 years of age (100 percent); s a tis fie d with her job (97 percent); to The description given was computed on averages given by the 29 intern consultants who participated in this study. Instrumentation The instrument developed for this study was the re s u lt o f several conferences with a member of the O ffice o f Research Consul­ tatio n at Michigan State U niversity. Input was also given by a member o f the Testing and Evaluation Department o f the Grand Rapids Public School System. Several meetings were held independently with un iversity and public school representatives o f th e ir respective research depart­ ments. I t was concluded by both parties th at a suitable instrument fo r th is study was not availab le to te s t the variables of in te re s t for interns and consultants. 54 The te s t experts, with the approval o f a Professor of Administration and Higher Education a t Michigan State U n iversity, suggested th at classroom problem situations be constructed to repre­ sent the following areas: 1. Administration, 2. Classroom management, 3. Teacher-learning, 4. Evaluation o f pupils, 5. Interpersonal rela tio n s. Illu s tr a tio n 3.1 gives an example o f classroom problem situations from the fiv e areas deemed necessary to make the in s tru ­ ment v iab le. There are approximately fiv e questions per area placed throughout the questionnaire. The te s t experts f e l t that questions should be interspersed throughout the questionnaire rather than to group them by area. By randomly placing the questions the experts f e l t th a t the respond­ ents would give more accurate answers and not be subject to concen­ tra tin g upon one area at a time. For the development of this instrument, more than 20 school journals were read to give credence to what problem situations might occur in the classroom. V a lid ity A ll questions were submitted to an independent panel of fiv e experts for th e ir suggestions. Panel members consisted o f (1) a Professor in the Elementary Department at Michigan State 55 Illu s tra tio n 3 .1 .—Problem Situations That Might Occur in the Classroom. Descriptor Not a Problem Very Mi nor Problem R elatively Minor Problem Moderately Serious Problem Very Serious Problem Response Adm inistration: The principal has scheduled a classroom observation on a morning th at the teacher is to receive two new students. Classroom Management: A group of sixth graders decide to challenge the teach­ e r's au th o rity. They taunt and tease her throughout the day. Just before recess the principal sees her crying in fro n t o f the class. Teaching-Learning: Several children in a r a c ia lly mixed f if t h grade room begin to vigorously question the teacher about the pros and cons o f in te rra c ia l marriages. Evaluation o f Pupils: The teacher has a class of 30 th ird grade students. Five pupils are unable to express in w ritin g what they can express o ra lly . Interpersonal Relations: The f i r s t grade class is ju s t getting s ettled fo r th e ir story period when a g ir l raises her hand and te lls the teacher th at "the new g ir l" has called her a "black nigger." 5 6 U niversity, (2) a math consultant in the Kentwood, Michigan, Public School System, (3) an Assistant D irector o f Elementary Education in the Grand Rapids Public School System, (4) an elementary p rin ­ cipalin the Grand Rapids Public School System, and (5) an elementary teacher in the Lowell, Michigan, Public School System. A fte r the independent panel of experts critiqu ed the te st instrument, several suggestions were made fo r the purpose of improving the questionnaire. Among the suggestions were: 1. Eliminate 30 of the 55 items because of th e ir lack of a p p lic a b ility to the teaching-learning situ atio n . 2. Add more situations th at involve m inority and poor children. $ 3. Place more emphasis on problems th at might occur in the lower elementary grades. 4. Reduce the number of situations involving upper elementary grades. A ll suggestions were taken into consideration and the questionnaire was then revised and resubmitted to the panel. Panel members then arranged to have the instrument f ie ld tested using ten former E .I.P . interns who are presently tenure teachers in public school d is tric ts located in Kent County, Michigan. The f ie ld te s t was deemed successful and the panel agreed that the questionnaire should be put in fin a l form to be d istrib u te d to E .I.P . centers throughout Michigan. R e lia b ility o f the Instrument The purpose of th is study is to determine i f intern teachers and intern consultants perceive the same situations as 57 problems in the teaching-learning s itu a tio n . I t was assumed that there are differences not only between interns from d iffe re n t centers but also differences w ithin the same center. Thorndike and Hagen report that there are two ways in which we can express the r e l i a b i li t y or precision of a set o f instruments. They are: . . . the amount of v a riatio n in a set o f repeated measurements of a single specimen and the standard e rro r of measurement, since i t is the standard deviation o f the "errors" of measurement.3 Establishing and reporting r e l i a b i li t y was p a rtic u la rly d iffic u lt. The instrument was designed to measure differences among interns and consultants. A comprehensive s ta tis tic a l study could not be employed because of the size of the study sample. Secondly, there were no rig h t or wrong answers. T h ird ly , i f the subjects were retested, the information desired would not have been as meaningful as the f i r s t te s t. Design of the Study The two populations o f th is study were intern teachers and intern consultants. Each intern consultant worked with at least one intern while other consultants (some in the same centers) worked with six interns. As reported e a r lie r , consultants made contacts a t least once a week to assist intern teachers. 3 In some cases, consultants Elizabeth Hagen and Robert L. Thorndike, Measurement and Evaluation in Psychology and Education (New York, New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1961), p. 175. 58 could only assist interns every other week because of th e ir work load and other variables involved. The data fo r interns were treated in a purely descrip-' tiv e manner. Means and standard deviations are recorded to emphasize the differences in which interns perceive problems by (1) school d is t r ic t , (2) sex, (3) age, (4) m arital status, and (5) by race. Data fo r intern consultants were treated in the same manner as intern teachers with the following exception--that of adding years o f experience as a variable to determine i f there was any difference in perceiving a problem s itu a tio n . S ty lis tic a lly speaking, the design o f th is study included a ll o f the variables b u ilt into the instrument to determine i f there were real differences in the perceptions of problems by both groups. The S ta tis tic a l Hypotheses of This Study This study was designed to test the following hypotheses: 1. Interns and intern consultants w ill id e n tify the same situations as problems in the teachinglearning s itu a tio n . 2. Male and female interns w ill id e n tify the same situations as problems in the teaching-learning s itu a tio n . 3. Married and unmarried interns w ill id e n tify the same situations as problems in the teachinglearning s itu a tio n . 4. White and non-white interns w ill id e n tify the same situations as problems in the teachinglearning s itu a tio n . 5. Interns in small school d is tric ts w ill id e n tify the same classroom situations as problems as interns in large school d is tr ic ts . 59 6. Age among intern teachers does not make a d if f e r ­ ence in id en tifyin g problems in the teachinglearning s itu a tio n . 7. Intern consultants do not d if f e r in th e ir percep­ tions of classroom problems among E .I.P . centers. 8. Experience among intern consultants does not make a difference as to how they perceive class­ room problem situ atio ns. 9. Age among intern consultants does not make a d i f ­ ference in id en tifyin g problems in the teachinglearning situ a tio n . Data Collecting Process Data fo r this study were collected during the spring term of 1975. Spring term was selected because E .I.P . directors f e l t that data collected at th is time would serve as a c atalys t to help them plan th e ir f a ll methods courses in accordance with the results gleaned from th is study. Questionnaires were distributed a t the E .I.P . spring con­ ference in Sarnia, Ontario. The E .I.P . Research Committee suggested that th is would be an excellent time to explain the nature o f the investigation because o f the presence of a ll E .I.P . directors and most of the consultants at the conference. A question and answer period was held to provide a ll parties the opportunity to inquire about the necessity of the research being conducted and its importance to the E .I.P . The un iversity d ire cto r of E .I.P . endorsed the study and encouraged a ll directors and con­ sultants to p artic ip a te in the study and to comply with getting the surveys back as soon as possible. 6 0 A fter the conference, both consultants and directors took the surveys back to th e ir respective centers and began a process o f d is trib u tin g them to th e ir interns. E .I.P . directors required the interns to f i l l out the ques­ tionnaires in th e ir monthly Education 450 classes. Directors also called s ta ff meetings of th e ir consultants fo r the purpose o f com­ pleting the p roject. In some cases, consultants hand delivered the instruments to interns and waited u n til they were f i l l e d out. Questionnaires fo r the most part were mailed back to Grand Rapids, Michigan, courtesy o f the d irec to rs. Some directors waited u n til th e ir monthly on-campus E .I.P . s t a f f meeting to d eliv er the surveys in person. The e ffo rts of the directors in obtaining the completed surveys was most rewarding. The to ta l percentage of return among intern consultants and intern teachers was more than 85 percent. I n i t i a l Steps in Data Processing A ll subjects responded to the instrument by marking th e ir responses on the answer sheet. The information from the answer sheet was then key punched to obtain demographic data fo r the purpose o f w riting the beginning of th is chapter. Key punched cards were then taken to the learning center of the Grand Rapids Junior College fo r tabulation of frequency responses, means, and standard deviations. The f i r s t computer run provided demographic information qn a ll interns and consultants throughout Michigan. 61 S ta tis tic a l Procedures Used in This Study A careful review of the lite r a tu r e followed by advice from the O ffice of Research Consultation at Michigan State University and the Testing and Research O ffice in Grand Rapids, Michigan, pro­ vided the w rite r with a suitable technique fo r analyzing the data. A t - t e s t was chosen to determine significance o f the class­ room problem situations on the survey instrument. The alpha level was set a t .05 and s ig n ific a n t differences were noted i f the res u lt of the t - t e s t f e ll below a -1.96 or above a 1.96. The means of both groups were analyzed using the s ta tis tic a l technique on a ll hypothe­ ses to be tested. Reynolds says: . . . the development of clear and intersubjective measures (operational d e fin itio n s ) o f the abstract concepts, and ask­ ing important research questions usually take precedence over tid y s ta tis tic s when scien tists are evaluating the q u a lity o f research. The best research design is one in which the results are so obvious that other scien tis ts have high confidence in the results without considering the sta­ t is t ic a l significance. The best research design is the one th at does not require s ta tis tic a l analysis.^ Summary In summary, th is chapter was w ritten to give a description o f procedures u tiliz e d in the development o f the study. The f i r s t part of the chapter gives a description o f the study sample. Demo­ graphic data are provided fo r intern teachers and intern consultants 4 Paul Davidson Reynolds, A Primer in Theory Construction (Indianapolis and New York: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, In c ., 1971), pp. 1 2 6 -1 2 7 . 62 in the Michigan State University Elementary Intern Program. A composite intern and consultant are provided based upon the data given by those p a rtic ip a tin g in the study. Sample questions from the survey are provided in Il lu s ­ tra tio n 3 .1 . A report o f the r e lia b ilit y and v a lid ity of the survey instrument is included in separate sections of this chapter. The s ta tis tic a l hypotheses o f the study are given along with a description of the data collecting process. The concluding section o f the chapter focuses upon the s ta tis tic a l procedures used in the study. CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS OF DATA This chapter consists o f the findings from the data that have been gathered and analyzed from intern consultants and intern teachers. The hypotheses to be tested are stated and, correspondingly, results are given a t the .05 level o f confidence using the t - t e s t . A discussion of the nine hypotheses to be tested follows in Chapter V. Hypothesis 1 Interns and intern consultants w ill id e n tify the same situations as problems in the teaching-learning s itu ­ atio n . Result On the basis o f the t - t e s t fo r two independent sample means, Hypothesis 1 was rejected. Table 4.1 gives a ll questions on the survey instrument fo r interns and consultants. Means and standard deviations are reported along with the corresponding t-score fo r each question. S ig n ific a n t differences were found between the two groups on six of the tw enty-five questions on the instrument. Inspection o f the confidence interval indicates that the mean fo r interns was greater in four o f the six areas of significance. 63 64 TABLE 4 .1 .--Means, Standard Deviations, and t-Scores fo r Interns and Consultants on the Survey Instrument. Mean 1. Standard Deviation t-Score The principal has scheduled a classroom observation on a morn­ ing that the teacher is to receive two new students. Intern 1.8 .95 Consultant 1.3 .67 2 .7* 2. The principal requires a ll new teachers to turn in th e ir weekly lesson plans every Friday. Intern 1.8 1.03 Consultant 1.5 1.09 1.4 3. Several children in a r a c ia lly mixed f if t h grade room begin to vigorously question the teacher about the pros and cons of in te rra c ia l marriages. Intern 2.0 1.06 Consultant 2.5 1.08 -2 .3 * 4. The teacher has a class o f th ir t y th ird grade students. Five pupils are unable to express in w ritin g what they can express o ra lly . Intern 2.6 1.09 Consultant 2.5 1.06 .5 5. Johnny asks the teacher to keep his wristwatch every day a t recess and during the lunch hour. Intern 1.7 .92 Consultant 1.5 .69 1.1 6. Several low achieving students are d ilig e n tly at work in th e ir textbooks. The music consultant arrives unexpectedly and announces th a t i t is time to rehearse fo r the school program. Intern 2.6 1.31 \ Consultant 1.9 *In d ic a te s s ig n ific a n c e . 2 .7 * 1.03 65 T able 4 . 1 . - - C o n t in u e d . Mean 7. Standard Deviation t-Score A group of sixth graders decide to challenge the teacher's au th o rity. They taunt and tease her throughout the day. Just before recess the principal sees her crying in fro n t of the class. Intern 4.1 1.33 Consultant 4.1 .96 0.00 8. Several fourth graders decide to launch a school campaign against abortion. They ask th e ir teacher fo r help to promote the project. Intern 2.8 1.31 Consultant 3.2 1.14 -1 .5 9. The children are choosing teams fo r gym class. The teacher suddenly realizes that a ll of the black students are on one side and a ll of the white students are on the other side. Intern 2.9 1.29 Consultant 3.0 1.12 -0 .4 10. Bobby's classmates constantly tease him because o f a noticeable scar on his face. The teacher decides to avoid the issue thinking th a t i t w ill be resolved during the school year. Intern 3.8 1.27 Consultant 4.0 1.05 - 0. 8 11. Martha, a f i r s t grade student, does not understand why she is avoided by her classmates. Several students t e ll the teacher th at Martha does not bathe reg u la rly . Intern 3.3 1.05 Consultant 3.4 .94 -0 .5 12. The teacher sees ten students running o ff the school He y e lls , "Where are you chicanos going?" Intern 3.9 1.43 Consultant 4.2 1.37 grounds. -1 .0 66 TABLE 4 . 1 .- - C o n t in u e d . Mean 13. Standard Deviation t-Score A second grade teacher is having a great deal o f d if f ic u lt y working with children who lack reading m aterials in the home. Intern 3.1 1.29 Consultant 2.8 1.24 1. 1 14. Mrs. Jones requests that the teacher administer a prescribed drug ( r i t a l i n ) to her daughter twice a day. Intern 2.3 1.48 Consultant 2.5 1.53 -.0 6 15. The f i r s t grade class is ju s t period when a g ir l raises her "the new g ir l" has called her goes to the g ir ls and asks i f They say "no." getting s e ttle d fo r th e ir story hand and t e lls the teacher that a "black nigger." The teacher they were angry and/or fig h tin g . Intern 3.1 1.16 Consultant 3.2 1.12 -.0 4 16. The kindergarten children are lying on th e ir rugs resting. During the rest period Edward crawls across the flo o r to jo in his frie n d . Intern 1.6 .75 Consultant 1.3 .53 2 . 0* 17. Mr. Smith has tw enty-five fourth graders of which two thirds don't lis te n to , remember, or follow instru ctio ns. The p rin ­ cipal in s is ts th a t the class be given homework to remedy the s itu a tio n . Intern 3.4 1.34 Consultant 3.8 1.16 -1 .5 18. A group o f second grade children have ju s t returned from noon recess and are beginning the afternoon a c tiv it ie s . Two boys begin to argue. The teacher goes over to them and trie s to fin d out the reason fo r th e ir argument. I t seems that one boy is constantly annoying the other. Intern 2.7 1.05 0 .5 Consultant 2.6 *Indicates significance. .87 67 TABLE 4 . 1 . - - C o n t in u e d . Mean 19. Standard Deviation t-Score A student raises her hand during math class and says th at 3 and 2 equals 11. The rest o f the class begins to laugh. Intern 2.5 .97 Consultant 3.2 1.12 -3 .4 * 20. A black teacher in a r a c ia lly integrated school takes the side o f a white student during a class debate. The black students re fe r to the teacher as an "Uncle Tom." Intern 3.2 1.1 Consultant 3.2 1.01 0.00 21. The teacher t e lls Ronnie th a t i f he doesn't behave, he w ill be sent to the p rin c ip a l's o ffic e . Ronnie laughs a t her comment. Intern 3.4 1.21 Consultant 3.5 .83 - .4 22. An experienced teacher is transferred from an urban school to a suburban school w ithin the same school d is t r ic t . He refuses to tran sfer because he feels urban school students are in greater need o f his services. Intern 3.0 1.41 1.4 Consultant 23. 2.6 1.18 The teacher returns to the classroom during the lunch hour. Upon entering the room she sees S a lly , the only m inority in the f i f t h grade, going through her closet. Intern 3.3 1.29 Consultant 3.1 1.15 0.8 24. Susie's parents w ill not respond to school notes, messages, or report cards. The teacher wants to discuss with the parents about the p o s s ib ility of not passing Susie to the next grade. Intern 4.1 1.16 Consultant 3.5 1.27 2 .5 * *In d ic a te s s ig n ific a n c e . 68 TABLE 4 . 1 .- - C o n t in u e d . Mean Standard Deviation t-Score 25. Mrs. Thomas feels that the required reading te xt does not meet the needs of her students. She prefers using programmed m aterials but has met with opposition from the reading con­ s u lta n t. Intern 3.3 1.23 0.00 Consultant 3.3 0.00 Hypothesis 2 Male and female interns w ill id e n tify the same situations as problems in the teaching-learning s itu a tio n . Result Hypothesis 2, tested by using the t - t e s t , was rejected. Male and female interns d iffere d s ig n ific a n tly on two o f the tw enty-five problem situations on the survey instrument. Table 4.2 indicates that the mean fo r males was 2.3 while the mean fo r females was 1 .6 . Table 4.3 illu s tra te s th at the mean fo r males was 2.3 while females recorded a mean o f 3.0 fo r the same problem s itu a tio n . The level of significance was 3.02 a t the .05 level of confidence. TABLE 4 . 2 . —Survey Question 2 fo r Males and Females. Mean 2. Standard Deviation t-Score The principal requires a ll new teachers to turn in th e ir weekly lesson plans every Friday. Males 2 .3 1.19 Females 1.6 .95 3 .0 2 * i n d i c a t e s s ig n ific a n c e . 69 TABLE 4 . 3 . --S u r v e y Question 9 f o r Males and Females. Mean 9. Standard Deviation t-Score The children are choosing teams fo r gym class. The teacher sud­ denly realizes th at a ll of the black students are on one side and a ll of the white students are on the other side. Males 2.3 1.15 Females 3.0 1.29 -2 .4 * in d ic a te s significance. Hypothesis 3 Married and unmarried interns w ill id e n tify the same situations as problems in the teaching-learning s itu a tio n . Result The application of thet - t e s t for significance resulted in the rejection of Hypothesis 3. interns was 1 .6. problem s itu a tio n . Table 4.4 shows the mean fo r married Unmarried interns had a mean o f 2.0 fo r the same Problem situ atio n 3, which is illu s tr a te d in Table 4 .5 , s ig n ifie s that married interns had a mean o f 1.8 while unmarried interns had a mean o f 2.2. TABLE 4 .4 .--Survey Question 1 fo r Married and Unmarried Intern s. Mean Standard Deviation t-Score 1. The principal has scheduled a classroom observation on a morning that the teacher is to receive two new students. Married 1.6 0.80 Unmarried 2.0 1.01 -2 .4 * ♦ In d ic a t e s s i g n i f ic a n c e . 70 TABLE 4 . 5 . — Survey Question 3 f o r M a rrie d and Unmarried I n t e r n s . Mean 3. Standard Deviation t-Score Several children in a ra c ia lly mixed f i f t h grade room begin to vigorously question the teacher about the pros and cons of in te rra c ia l marriages. Married 1.8 .94 Unmarried 2.2 1.12 - 2 . 1* in d ic a te s significance. Hypothesis 4 White and non-white interns w ill id e n tify the same situations as problems in the teaching-learning s itu a tio n . Result. The null hypothesis, tested above using the t - t e s t , was rejected. There was a s ig n ific a n t difference between white and non-white interns on fiv e o f the tw enty-five problem situations in the survey instrument. Table 4.6 shows white interns had a higher mean (4 .2 ) fo r situ atio n 7 than did non-white interns. TABLE 4 . 6 . --Survey Question 7 fo r White and Non-White Interns. Mean 7. Standard Deviation t-Score A group of sixth graders decide to challenge the teacher's au th o rity. They taunt and tease her throughout the day. Just before recess the principal sees her crying in fro n t o f the class. White 4.2 1.19 Non-white 3.4 1.75 2 . 6* *In d ic a te s s ig n ific a n c e . 71 Table 4.7 gives the mean scores fo r white and non-white interns fo r s itu atio n 10. White interns had a mean of 4.0 while non-white interns reported a mean of 3 .1. TABLE 4 . 7 . --Survey Question 10 for White and Non-White Interns. Mean 10. Standard Deviation t-Score Bobby'sclassmates constantly tease him because of a notice­ able scar on his face. The teacher decides to avoid the issue thinking that i t w ill be resolved during the school year. White 4.0 1.09 Non-White 3.1 1.32 3 .3 * ♦Indicates significance. White interns again reported a higher mean (2 .6 ) than th e ir non-white counterparts (2 .1 ) on situation 19. Table 4 .8 describes the means and standard deviations along with the t-score fo r the two groups. Table 4 .8 .—Survey Question 19 fo r White and Non-White Interns. Mean 19. Standard Deviation t-Score Astudent raises her hand during math class and says that 3 and 2 equals 11. The rest of the class begins to laugh. White 2.6 .89 Non-white 2.1 1.18 2 . 2* ♦ In d ic a t e s s i g n i f i c a n c e . 72 Included in Table 4.9 are the results o f mean responses fo r white and non-white interns fo r s itu atio n 21. White interns had a mean of 3.5 fo r th is problem situation while non-white interns had a mean of 2 .8 . TABLE 4 .9 .—Survey Question 21 fo r White and Non-White Interns. Mean Standard Deviation t-Score 21. The teacher t e lls Ronnie th at i f he doesn't behave, he w ill be sent to the p rin c ip a l's o ffic e . Ronnie laughs at her comment. White 3.5 1.09 2 .5 * Non-white 2.8 1.57 *Indicates significance. Table 4.10 shows that white interns had a mean of 4.2 for survey question 24 while non-white interns had a mean of 3.5 fo r the same problems itu a tio n . Inspection of the confidence in terval shows that the level o f significance was 2 .6. TABLE 4 .1 0 .—Survey Question 24 fo r White and Non-White Interns. Mean 24. Standard Deviation t-Score Susie's parents w ill not respond to school notes, messages, or report cards. The teacher wants to discuss with the parents about the p o s s ib ility o f not passing Susie to the next grade. White 4.2 .95 2 . 6* Non-White 3.5 i n d i c a t e s s ig n ific a n c e . 1.78 73 Hypothesis 5 Interns in small school d is tric ts w ill id e n tify the same classroom situations as problems as interns in large school d is tr ic ts . Result On the basis of the t - t e s t fo r independent means, the decision was to f a il to re je c t the null hypothesis. S ig n ifican t differences were not found between the two groups on any o f the survey questions. Hypothesis 6 Age among intern teachers does not make a difference in id e n tify in g problems in the teaching-learning s itu a tio n . Result The decision was to re je c t Hypothesis 6 on the information provided by the results o f the t - t e s t used in this study. S ig n ifi­ cant differences were noted on survey question 1 and question 16. Tables 4.11 and 4.12 indicate that the mean fo r intern teachers under 23 years o f age was 2.0 fo r question 1 and 1.7 fo r question 16. Interns 23 years and older scores means o f 1.5 and 1.4 fo r the same classroom problem situ atio n s. TABLE4 .1 1 .—Survey Question 1 fo r Intern Teachers Under23 Years o f Age and Over 23 Years of Age. Mean Standard Deviation 1. Theprincipal has scheduled a classroom observation th at the teacher is to receive two new students. Under 23 years 2.0 1.00 Over 23 years 1.5 .72 t-Score on a morning 2 . 8* *In d ic a te s s ig n ific a n c e . 74 TABLE 4 . 1 2 . --S u r v e y Question 16 f o r In t e r n Teachers Under 23 Years o f Age and Over 23 Years o f Age. Mean 16. Standard Deviation t-Score The kindergarten children are lying on th e ir rugs resting. During the rest period Edward crawls across the flo o r to join his frie n d . Under 23 years .82 1.7 2 .1 * Over 23 years 1.4 .54 *Indicates significance. Hypothesis 7 Intern consultants do not d if f e r in th e ir perceptions o f clasroom problems among E .I.P . centers. Result According to the te s t s t a t is tic used fo r this study, Hypothesis 7 was rejected. Inspection o f the confidence interval shows that intern consultants d iffere d on only one problem area. Table 4.13 reveals th at intern consultants in large E .I.P . centers had a mean of 2.1 fo r survey question 4 while consultants from small centers had a mean o f 2.9 fo r the same question. The standard deviaions were .89 and 1 .2 , resp ectively, fo r the two groups. The t-score shows a significance o f -2.1 fo r the problem s itu a tio n . 75 TABLE 4 . 1 3 . — Survey Question 4 f o r In t e r n C o n su ltan ts in Large and Small E . I . P . C en ters. Mean 4. Standard Deviation t-Score The teacher has a class of 30 th ird grade students. Five pupils are unable to express in w ritin g what they can express o ra lly . Large centers 2.1 .89 Small centers 2.9 1.12 - 2 . 1* *Indicates significance. Hypothesis 8 Experience among intern consultants does not make a difference as to how they perceive classroom problem s itu a tio n s . Result Using the t - t e s t as a basis fo r sign ifican ce, Hypothesis 8 was rejected. Consultants with ten years or less experience as a classroom teacher d iffere d s ig n ific a n tly on four of the tw enty-five survey questions. Question 1 showed a mean o f 1.1 fo r those with under ten years'experience while those with over ten years' experi­ ence had a mean of 1.6. Question 8 shows a mean o f 2.8 fo r those with under ten years of classroom experience while those with over ten years' experience had a mean o f 3 .6 . Question 22 shows a mean of 2.1 fo r those with under ten years o f experience while those with over ten years of experience show a mean of 3 .1 . Consultants with under ten years of classroom experience had a mean o f 2.7 for question 24 while those with over ten years of experience showed a mean of 3.4 fo r the same problem s itu a tio n . 76 Tables 4.14, 4.15, 4 .1 6, and 4.17 give a description of the means, standard deviations, and t-scores fo r the four problem situations in which there were s ig n ific a n t differences reported. TABLE 4 .1 4 .--Survey Question 1 fo r Intern Consultants With Under and Over Ten Years o f Classroom Teaching Experience. Mean 1. Standard Deviation t-Score The principal has scheduled a classroom observation on a morning that the teacher is to receive two new students. Under ten years 1.1 .35 -2 .0 9 * Over ten years 1.6 .85 *Indicates significance. TABLE 4 .1 5 .--Survey Question 8 fo r Intern Consultants With Under and Over Ten Years o f Classroom Teaching Experience. Mean 8. Standard Deviation t-Score Several fourth graders decide to launch a school campaign against abortion. They ask th e ir teacher fo r help to promote the project. Under ten years 2.8 .86 Over ten years 3.6 1.28 -1 .9 9 * in d ic a te s significance. TABLE 4 .1 6 .—Survey Question 22 fo r Intern Consultants With Under and Over Ten Years o f Classroom Teaching Experience. Mean 22. Standard Deviation t-Score An experienced teacher is transferred from an urban school to a suburban school w ithin the same school d is t r ic t . He refuses to tran sfer because he feels urban school students are in greater need of his services. Under ten years 2.1 Over ten years 3.1 1.13 -2 .5 * *In d ic a te s s ig n ific a n c e . 77 TABLE 4 .1 7 .--Survey Question 24 fo r Intern Consultants With Under and Over Ten Years of Classroom Teaching Experience. Mean 24. Standard Deviation t-Score Susie's parents w ill not respond to school notes, messages, or report cards. The teacher wants to discuss with the parents about the p o s s ib ility of not passing Susie to the next grade. Under ten years 2.7 1.23 Over ten years 3.6 .85 - 2 . 2* in d ic a te s significance. Hypothesis 9 Age among intern consultants does not make a d if f e r ­ ence in id e n tify in g problems in the teaching-learning situ a tio n . Result On the basis of the t - t e s t to determine sign ifican ce, Hypothesis 9 was rejected. Table 4.18 shows that the significance score fo r interns under 40 years of age and over 40 years o f age was 2.1 fo r survey question 7. The means fo r both groups were 4.1 and 4 .4 . TABLE 4 .1 8 .--Survey Question 7 fo r Intern Consultants Under and Over 40 Years of Age. Mean 7. Standard Deviation t-Score A group of sixth graders decide to challenge the teacher's au th o rity. They taunt and tease her throughout the day. Just before recess the principal sees her crying in fro n t of the c lass. Over 40 4.4 Under 40 3.7 .65 2 . 1* *In d ic a te s s ig n ific a n c e . 1.1 78 Table 4.19 depicts the means and standard deviations of consultants under and over 40 years of age fo r question 8 on the survey instrument. respectively. The means fo r both groups were 2.6 and 3 .8 , Interns under 40 had a standard deviation o f 1.06 while those over 40 deviated .89. The level of significance fo r both groups was 3.3. TABLE 4 .1 9 .— Survey Question 8 fo r Intern Consultants Over and Under 40 Years o f Age. Mean 8. Standard Deviation t-Score Several fourth graders decide to launch aschool campaign against abortion. They ask th e ir teacher fo r help to promote the p ro je c t. Over 40 3.8 .89 Under 40 2.6 1.06 3 .3* *Indicates significance. Table 4.20 indicates that the mean score fo r consultants over 40 was 4.9 fo r question 12 while consultants under 40 reported a mean of 3 .6 . The standard deviation fo r those under 40 was 1.68 while those over 40 had a standard deviation o f .36. The t - t e s t showed a significance level o f 2 .8 . The results o f survey question 22 are reported in Table 4.21. Mean scores fo r consultants over and under 40 years o f age were 3.1 and 2 .2 . The corresponding standard deviation fo r those over 40 was 1.0 while those under 40 recorded 1.21. 79 TABLE 4 .2 0 .--Survey Question 12 fo r Intern Consultants Over and Under 40 Years of Age. Mean 12. Standard Deviation t-Score The teacher sees ten students running o ff the school grounds. He y e lls , "Where are you chicanos going?" Over 40 4.9 .36 Under 40 3.6 1.68 2 . 8* *Indicates significance. f TABLE 4 .2 1 .—Survey Question 22 fo r Intern Consultants Over and Under 40 Years of Age. Mean 22. Standard Deviation t-Score An experienced teacher is transferred from an urban school to a suburban school w ithin the same school d is t r ic t . He refuses to tra n sfe r because he feels urban school students are in greater need o f his services. Over 40 3.1 1.0 2 . 2* Under 40 2.2 1.21 *Indicates significance. Table 4.22 provides the mean and standard deviation for consultants over 40 years o f age (mean 3 .5 ) and under 40 years of age (mean 2 .7 ). The standard deviation fo r those over 40 was .86 while those under 40 had a standard deviation of 1.28. The level o f significance fo r the two groups on survey question 23 was 1.96. Summary Chapter IV consists of the findings from the data th at have been analyzed fo r intern teachers and intern consultants of the 80 TABLE 4 .2 2 .—Survey Question 23 fo r Intern Consultants Over and Under 40 Years o f Age. Mean 23. Standard Deviation t-Score The teacher returns to the classroom during the lunch hour. Upon entering the room she sees S a lly , the only m inority stu­ dent in the f i f t h grade, goingthrough hercloset. Over 40 3.5 .86 Under 40 2.7 1.28 1.96* in d ic a te s significance. Michigan State University Elementary Intern Program. Included in this chapter are the nine hypotheses to be tested in conjunction with this study. A t - t e s t was used to find s ig n ific a n t differences between intern consultants and intern teachers over 25 classroom problem areas. The t - t e s t was also used to determine i f there were s ig n ific a n t differences among groups with regard to race, sex, age, and geographic location. Twenty-two tables were used to describe those differences. The net re s u lt o f the findings supported the rejection of eight of the nine hypotheses being tested. Hypothesis 5 was not rejected because of lack o f s ig n ific a n t differences between intern teachers in large school d is tric ts and intern teachers in small school d is tr ic ts . CHAPTER V SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS AND REFLECTIONS Chapter V is organized in four sections. tion consists of a summary o f the re s u lts . The f i r s t sec­ Included in the second section are the lim ita tio n s o f the study, followed by the conclu­ sions. Implications of the study are discussed in the th ird section along with reconmendations fo r fu rth e r research. The fourth and fin a l section contains reflec tio n s of the study. Summary The analysis of the hypotheses in this study were examined with the following re s u lts . Hypothesis 1 Interns and intern consultants w ill id e n tify the same situations as problems in the teaching-learning s itu a tio n . Results . —Hypothesis 1 was rejected because of s ig n ific a n t differences by both groups on six problem s itu atio n s . The greatest area of significance was the problem situ atio n involving lack of parent response. The level o f significance was a -3 .4 . Consultants responded with a mean o f 3.2 as compared to a mean of 2.5 by interns. The standard deviation fo r consultants was greater (1.12) than fo r interns (.9 7 ) . Although the interns did not view the 81 82 problem as seriously as the consultants, they were more consistent with th e ir responses. Hypothesis 2 Male and female interns w ill id e n tify the same s itu a ­ tions as problems in the teaching-learning s itu a tio n . ResuVts. —Hypothesis 2 was rejected because of s ig n ific a n t differences found between the two groups on two problem situ atio n s. Males were found to have been much more concerned about turning in weekly lesson plans to the principal than females. Males also recorded a greater standard deviation (1.19) than females (.9 5 ). Males, however, were found to have been less concerned about the problem concerning a ra c ia l situ atio n than females. a mean o f 3.0 fo r the problem concerning Females had race as opposed to a mean of 2.3 fo r males.The standard deviation fo r both groups was about the same. Hypothesis 3 Married and unmarried interns w ill id e n tify the same situations as problems in the teaching-learning s itu a tio n . Results^--Hypothesis 3 was rejected because o f s ig n ific a n t differences between the two groups in two problem areas. Married interns were less concerned about observations by the principal and questions from th e ir students about in te rra c ia l marriages than unmarried intern s. group o v e r the two Married interns werealso more consistent as a areas o f s i g n i f i c a n c e than unm arried i n t e r n s . 83 Hypothesis 4 White and non-white interns w ill id e n tify the same situations as problems in the teaching-learning s itu a tio n . Results^— Hypothesis 4 was rejected because of. s ig n ific a n t differences found between the two groups in fiv e problem situ atio n s. Of special significance is the fa ct that none o f the fiv e areas of disagreement involved problem situations concerning race. The highest level of significance between the two groups was 3 .3 . This significance derived from the problem situ atio n involving a child being teased by his classmates because of a scar on his face. White interns viewed this situation as much more serious (mean 4 .0 ) than did non-white interns (mean 3 .1 ). In a ll areas where significance was recorded between the two groups, whites were more consistent with th e ir answers than non-whites. Hypothesis 5 Interns in small school d is tric ts w ill id e n tify the same situations as problems as interns in large school d is t r ic t s . Results. —The null hypothesis was not rejected because of the lack of s ig n ific a n t differences between the two groups. The greatest area of significance between interns in large and small school d is tric ts was a 1 .2 . Hypothesis 6 Age among intern teachers does not make a difference in id e n tify in g problems in the teaching-learning s itu a tio n . 84 Results. —Age did make a difference among intern teachers causing Hypothesis 6 to be rejected. Interns under age 23 viewed observations by the building principal as much more o f a problem than interns over age 23. Interns under age 23 considered a child crawling across the flo o r o f the classroom as more of a problem than interns over age 23. Interns over 23 years of age were more consistent as a group with th e ir answers than those under 23. Hypothesis 7 Intern consultants do not d if f e r in th e ir perceptions o f classroom problems among E .I.P . centers. Results. —Hypothesis 7 was rejected because o f the level of significance produced between consultants in large centers as opposed to those in small centers over the situation involving students that could not express themselves in w ritin g . Consultants in large centers regarded the s itu atio n as less serious (mean 2.1) than did those in small centers (mean 2 .9 ). Consultants in small centers were less consistent as a group with th e ir answers over the problem area that produced significance. Hypothesis 8 Experience among intern consultants does not make a difference as to how they perceive classroom problem s itu atio n s. ResuVts^.--Hypothesis 8 was rejected because of s ig n ific a n t differences among consultants with under ten years of classroom teaching experience and those with over ten years of teaching 85 experience. The two groups d iffere d on fiv e o f the twenty-five problem s itu a tio n s . The greatest area of significance occurred between the two groups over lack o f parent response. Consultants with under ten years o f classroom experience had a mean of 2.1 while the other group viewed the problem as more serious with a mean of 3 .1 . The level of significance fo r this area between the two groups was a -2 .5 . Hypothesis 9 Age among intern consultants does not make a d if f e r ­ ence in id e n tify in g problems in the teaching-learning s itu a tio n . Result^. —Hypothesis 9 was rejected because of s ig n ific a n t differences found in fiv e classroom problem situations among con­ sultants over the age of 40 and under the age of 40. In every s itu atio n that produced differences among the two groups, intern consultants over the age of 40 recorded higher means. The greatest situation of significance involved a teacher c a llin g a group of students "chicanos." Interns over 40 had a mean o f 4.9 while those under 40 had a mean score o f 3 .6. Consultants over 40 also had greater consistency of responses as described in Chapter IV , Table 4.20. Lim itations of the Study This study is lim ited to cooperating school d is tric ts in the state of Michigan. A ll of the schools in which interns teach are designated as elementary school buildings. The participants of 86 this study were not regarded as a sample fo r any other population representing teacher tra in in g programs in the College of Education at Michigan State University nor any other in s titu tio n o f higher learning that is involved with teacher tra in in g programs. Conclusions of the Study The data gathered from th is study produced the following conclusions: 1. Interns expressed more concern about classroom observations than intern consultants. 2. Consultants expressed greater concern with stu­ dents giving the wrong answer and being laughed a t by classmates than did interns. 3. Interns considered lack of response from parents as a greater problem than consultants. 4. Male interns considered turning in weekly lesson plans as much more of a problem than female interns. 5. Female interns were much more concerned about problems concerning race than male interns. 6. Married interns considered problems about in te r ­ racial marriages as less serious than unmarried intern s. 7. Unmarried interns showed less consistenty in th e ir responses about in te rra c ia l marriages than married interns. 8. Married interns expressed less concern than unmarried interns about classroom observations by the building p rin cip al. 9. White interns were more concerned about the chal­ lenge o f a teacher's authority by students than non-white interns. 10. Non-white interns expressed less concern than white interns about students teasing other stu­ dents because o f fa c ia l disfig u ratio n s. 87 11. White interns considered lack of parent response as more o f a problem than non-white interns. 12. White interns were more consistent in th e ir responses on a ll problem areas that produced significance than were non-white interns. 13. Interns in large school d is tric ts did not d if f e r sig­ n ific a n tly from interns in small school d is tric ts on any areas involving problem situations in the class­ room. 14. Interns under 23 years of age were more concerned about classroom observations than interns over 23 years of age. 15. Consultants in large school d is tric ts showed less concern than consultants in small school d is tric ts about pupils that could express themselves o ra lly but were unable to express themselves in w ritin g . 16. Consultants over 40 years of age were more consis­ tent with th e ir responses on questions that pro­ duced s ig n ific a n t differences than those under 40 years o f age. 17. Consultants under 40 years o f age expressed less concern about observations by the principal on a morning th at the teacher receives new students than consultants over 40 years of age. Implications of the Study P a rtic u la r attention must be paid to the implications pro­ duced regarding classroom observations of interns by building p rincip als. Methods instructors w ill have to stress the importance of classroom observations by the principal to interns in th e ir ju n io r or pre-intern year of school. This implies that course content w ill have to be structured in such a way to allow greater exposure of pre-interns to building p rin c ip als. Consultants w ill have to focus th e ir attention on interns as to the seriousness of lack of parent response about the academic 88 progress of th e ir c h ild . Consultants and methods instructors may not be providing enough help in th is area. Lack o f parent response must also be focused upon by college professors before interns are ever allowed to observe or p a rtic ip a te in a classroom as part of learning requirements fo r preparatory courses in teacher education. This study also implies th at white and non-white interns do not look a t problems concerning race in the classroom with sig­ n ific a n t differences. However, white interns were found to be much more consistent in areas o f significance than non-white interns. This implies th a t there is a greater amount o f cohesiveness among whites than non-whites in certain areas of classroom problem situ atio ns. Recommendations fo r Further Research This study was designed to focus upon interns and consult­ ants and how they perceive classroom problem situations in (1) adm inistration, (2) classroom management, (3) teaching-learning, (4) evaluation o f pupils, and (5) interpersonal re la tio n s . Further investigatory procedures are needed to c la r if y the differences in the above areas. A study is needed to determine why whites and non-whites d if f e r so greatly in problem areas concerning fa c ia l disfigurations of th e ir classroom students and the subsequent taunting and teasing of th e ir peers. This study should be longitudinal and should encompass the e n tire age spectrum o f both groups. Analysis of variance could be used to see i f there are s ig n ific a n t differences 89 among non-whites in the teaching-learning s itu a tio n depending upon whether they teach in a lower or middle class school. A descriptive study is needed to determine why interns over the age o f 23 are less threatened by observations of the building principal than interns over the age o f 23. Included in th is study could be factors involving the sex, race, age, and type o f background o f the principal to determine i f these variables have any e ffe c t upon the in te rn 's reaction to classroom observation. Further studies are needed to determine i f age among con­ sultants makes a great deal of difference in th e ir perceptions of problems in the teaching-learning s itu a tio n . Perhaps these studies could provide information as to the maximum effectiveness of con­ sultants in re la tio n to th e ir age and provide minimum and maximum years o f experience needed before consultants are u tiliz e d by the u n iversity. As mentioned e a r lie r , the perceptions o f white and non­ white interns must be investigated in rela tio n to classroom problem s itu a tio n s . A study of th is type, p a rtic u la rly by social s c ie n tis ts , presents a new and promising avenue fo r continuing research. Reflections The concluding section of this chapter focuses upon areas that the w rite r expected to be at the fo refro n t o f this study but did not m aterialize for one reason or another. The problem of race in classroom problem situations was expected to produce s ig n ific a n t differences among white and 90 non-white interns. I t simply did not happen, causing the w rite r to believe the following factors were prevalent: 1. White and non-white interns do not believe race is at the fo re fro n t o f today's social issues. 2. Whites and non-whites are thinking along the same lines as to what situations are perceived by the two groups as classroom problem situ atio ns. 3. Both groups believe in getting involved in contro­ versial issues with th e ir students. Of in te re s t here is th at both groups scored a mean of 2.6 on the problem situ atio n of dealing with the abortion issue in the classroom. 4. Non-whites are thinking to the teaching-learning s itu a tio n . more as individuals in relatio n This is evident by the flu c tu ­ ation of responses of non-whites in a ll problem areas that were reported to have s ig n ific a n t differences. Another area of significance is the fa ilu re to produce significance among interns in large and small school d is tr ic ts . This leads one to wonder i f intern teachers in the nine teacher edu­ cation centers throughout the state of Michigan are complete fa ilu re s or complete copies of each other in the classroom when i t comes to perceiving a problem s itu a tio n . L a s tly , one must ponder the results o f the survey question concerning the discussion of in te rra c ia l marriages in the class­ room. Married interns did not consider this situ atio n as much o f a problem as unmarried interns. The resu lt of this survey question 91 was very thought provoking. I t leads one to wonder i f interns become more lib e ra l in thinking about in te rra c ia l marriages a fte r they are married. I f th is is so, perhaps the E .I.P . directors might give serious consideration to placing married interns in c itie s where there is a heavy concentration o f m inority students. Placing emphasis on putting married interns in urban areas might not solve a ll o f the problems of bigotry and discrim ination but i t ju s t might be the beginning o f promoting b e tte r race relations in our public schools. BIBLIOGRAPHY 92 BIBLIOGRAPHY Adams, Bert N. The American Family—A Sociological In te rp re ta tio n . Chicago: Markham Publishing Company, 1971. Association fo r Student Teaching. Internships in Teacher Education. Forty-Seventh Yearbook. Washington, D.C.: The Association, 1968. Bantel, Edward A. "Teacher Education Experimental Project: A Design fo r Preparing Career Teachers." Childhood Education 42 (1966): 417-421. C lark, Richard J . , and Kingsbury, Donald J. tiv e Teacher Preparation Programs." (March 1973): 477. "Simultaneous Alterna­ Phi Delta Kappan 54 Combs, Arthur W. The Professional Education of Teachers: A Perceptual View o f Teacher Preparation. Boston: ATlyn and Bacon, 1965. Conley, James F. "A Study of Selected Biographical Data, Person­ a l i t y Characteristics and Attitudes o f Elementary Intern Program Students at Michigan State U n iversity." Ph.D. d is s e rta tio n , Michigan State U niversity, 1968. Corman, Bernard R ., and Olmsted, Ann G. The Internship in the Preparation of Elementary School Teachers. East Lansing: Bureau of Education Research, Michigan State U niversity, 1964. Cuban, Larry. "The Cardozo Peace Corps Project: Experiment in Urban Education." Sociology o f Education 28 (1964): 446449. Ebel, Robert L. "Measurement Applications in Teacher Education: A Review o f Relevant Research." Journal of Teacher Education 17 (1966): 15-25. Featherstone, Joseph. "Tempering a Fad." September, 1971. The New Republic, F itc h , Thomas C. "Role Expectations fo r Intern Consultants: Views o f Intern Teachers and Intern Consultants in the Michigan State U niversity Elementary Intern Program. Ph.D. disserta­ tio n , Michigan State U n iversity, 1969. 93 94 Foster, Marcus A. Making Schools Work. m inister Press, 1971. Philadelphia: The West­ Gardner, Harrison. "The Teacher Education Internship in H istorical Perspective." In Internships in Teacher Education. FortySeventh Yearbook. Washington, D.C.: The Association, 1968. Haberman, M artin. "The Teaching Behavior of Successful Intern s." Journal o f Teacher Education 16 (June 1965): 215-220. Hagen, Elizabeth, and Thorndike, Robert L. ation in Psychology and Education. and Sons, In c ., 1961. Measurement and Evalu­ New York: John Wiley Hazard, W illiam . "The Tutorial and C lin ic a l Approach to Teacher Education." Evanston, Illin o is : Northwestern U n iversity, 1966. (Mimeographed.) K ling ele, William E. Internship." "Developing E ffective Programs to Teacher Education 93 (December 1972): 180-181. Marashio, Paul. "A New Teacher Training Program." House 45 (March 1971). The Clearing McGlothlin, W illiam J. Patterns of Professional Education. York: G. P. Putnams Sons, 1960. Mead, Margaret. Culture and Commitment. Company, In c ., 1970. Michigan Education Association. New York: New Doubleday and Teachers Voice, October, 1974. Michigan State U niversity College of Education. Behavioral Science Elementary Teacher Education Program, Vol. I . Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing O ffic e , 1968. M itz e l, Harold E. "The Impending Instruction Revolution." Delta Kappan (April 1970): 434-439. Phi Nation's Schools. F u tu ris tics : Crystal Ball fo r Curriculum. York: McGraw-Hill, In c ., 1972. New O'Brien, Dean W. "A School of Education in the L ife of our Time." Madison, Wisconsin: U niversity of Wisconsin, 1965. (Mimeographed.) Parker, John L ., and Withycombe, Richard J. "Mediation in an A ltern ative Teacher Training Program." Phi Delta Kappan 54 (March 1973): 483. Postman, N e il, and Weingartner, Charles. Delacarte Press, 1973. The School Book. New York: 95 Reynolds, Paul D. A Primer in Theory Construction. Indianapolis and New York: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, In c ., 1971. Rogers, Carl R. "Interpersonal Relationships: U.S.A. 2000." Journal o f Applied Behavioral Science 4 (April 1970). Romano, Louis G ., e t a l . The Management of Educational Personnel. New York: MSS Information Corporation, 1973. Scrivens, Robert W. "Elementary Intern Program Follow-Up Study." East Lansing, Michigan: College o f Education, Michigan State U n iversity, May, 1973. Shane, Harold G. "Looking to the Future: Reassessment of Educa­ tional Issues o f the 1970s." Phi Delta Kappan (January 1973): 333. Shane, Harold G ., and Nelson, Owen N. "What W ill the Schools Become?" Phi Delta Kappan (June 1971): 596-598. Shaplin, Judston T. "Practice in Teaching." In Teacher Education, A Reappraisal. Edited by Elmer R. Smith. New York: Harper and Row, Publishers, 1962. ________ . "A Comparison of Internship Programs." 1963 NCTEPS Columbus Conference Report. Washington, D.C.: National Education Association, 1968. S tile s , Lindley J. Cardozo Project in Urban Teaching: Evaluation and Recommendations. Model School D ivision, Washington, D .C ., Public Schools, 1967. Stone, James C. "Breakthrough in Teacher Education?" Kappan (January 1967): 165-190. Phi Delta T o ffle r, A lvin. Learning fo r Tomorrow—The Role o f the Future in Education. New York: Vintage, 1974. Watson, Goodwin. "Creating A ltern atives: A Strategy fo r Change in Higher Education." New York University Education Quar­ te r ly 11 (July 1971): 22-27. APPENDIX LETTER TO RESPONDENTS AND QUESTIONNAIRE 9 6 APPENDIX LETTER TO RESPONDENTS AND QUESTIONNAIRE Letter Dear Intern-Intern Consultant: The attached questionnaire is being conducted at the request of the E.I.P. Research Committee. It is also a part of a doctoral disser­ tation to ascertain if there are differences between E.I.P. Center personnel in perceptions of classroom problem situations. Your responses to this instrument will enable E.I.P. Directors to examine content of methods courses and to make generalizations about their programs. The success of this inquiry is dependent upon your completing the entire questionnaire. All information will be made available to E.I.P. Directors at the conclusion of the study. Thank you for your cooperation. Sincerely, George Rowan Grand Rapids Teacher Education Center 97 98 Q u e s tio n n a ire EIP CENTER_ SCHOOL DISTRICT Listed below are problem situations th a t might occur in the classroom. Read each situ atio n and indicate your response according to the scale. Descriptor: Not a Problem Very Minor Problem R e latively Minor Problem Moderately Serious Problem Very Serious Problem Response: Please mark your response to the l e f t o f each situation, 1. The principal has scheduled a classroom observation on a morning that the teacher is to receive two new students. 2. The principal requires a ll new teachers to turn in th e ir weekly lesson plans every Friday. 3. Several children in a r a c ia lly mixed f i f t h grade room begin to vigorously question the teacher about the pros and cons of in te rra c ia l marriages. 4. The teacher has a class of t h ir t y th ird grade students. Five pupils are unable to express in w riting what they can express o r a lly . 5. Johnny asks the teacher to keep his wristwatch every day at recess and during the lunch hour 6. Several low achieving students are d ilig e n tly a t work in th e ir textbooks. The music consultant arrives unexpectedly and announces that i t is time to rehearse fo r the school program. 7. A group o f sixth graders decide to challenge the teacher's autho rity. They taunt and tease her throughout the day. Just before recess the principal sees her crying in fro n t of the class. 8. Several fourth graders decide to launch a school campaign against abortion. They ask th e ir teacher fo r help to promote the project. 99 Descriptor: Very Minor Problem R elatively Minor Problem Moderately Serious Problem Very Serious Problem Resonse: 9. The children are choosing teams fo r gym class. The teacher suddenly realizes that a ll o f the black students are on one side and a ll o f the white students are on the other side. 10. Bobby's classmates constantly tease him because of a noticeable scar on his face. The teacher decides to avoid the issue thinking th at i t w ill be resolved during the school year. 11. Martha, a f i r s t grade student, does not understand why she is avoided by her classmates. Several students t e l l the teacher th a t Martha does not bathe reg u la rly. 12. The teacher sees ten students running o ff the school grounds. He y e lls , "Where are you chicanos going?" 13. A second grade teacher is having a great deal o f d i f f i ­ culty with children who lack reading m aterials in the home. 14. Mrs. Jones requests th at the teacher administer a prescribed drug ( r i t a l i n ) to her daughter twice a day. 15. The f i r s t grade class is ju s t getting s ettled fo r th e ir story period when a g ir l raises her hand and t e lls the teacher that "the new g ir l" has called her a "black nig­ ger." The teacher goes to the g irls and asks i f they were angry and/or fig h tin g . They say "no." 16. The kindergarten children are lying on th e ir rugs resting. During the rest period Edward crawls across the flo o r to join his frie n d . 17. Mr. Smith has tw enty-five fourth graders of which two-thirds don't lis te n to , remember, or follow instructions. The principal insists that the class be given homework to remedy the s itu a tio n . 18. A group of second grade children have ju s t returned from noon recess and are beginning the afternoon a c tiv itie s . Two boys begin to argue. The teacher goes over to them and trie s to find out the reason fo r th e ir argument. I t seems that one boy is constantly annoying the other. 100 Very Mi nor Problem Descriptor: Response: 1 R elatively Minor Problem Moderately Serious Problem Very Serious Problem 4 19. A student raises her hand during math class and says th at 3 and 2 equals 11. The rest o f the class begins to laugh. 20. A black teacher in a ra c ia lly integrated school takes the side of a white student during a class debate. The black students re fe r to the teacher as an "Uncle Tom." 21. The teacher t e lls Ronnie that i f he doesn't behave, he w ill be sent to the p rin c ip a l's o ffic e . Ronnie laughs a t her comment. 22. An experienced teacher is transferred from an urban school to a suburban school within the same school d is ­ t r i c t . He refuses to tran sfer because he feels urban school students are in greater need of his services. 23. The teacher returns to the classroom during the lunch hour. Upon entering the room she sees S a lly , the only m inority student in the f if t h grade, going through her closet. 24. Susie's parents w ill not respond to school notes, mes­ sages, or report cards. The teacher wants to discuss with the parents about the p o s s ib ility of not passing Susie to the next grade. 25. Mrs. Thomas feels that the required reading te x t does not meet the needs of her students. She prefers using programmed m aterials but has met with ooposition from the reading consultant.