Teaching interns' level of proficiency of the MoSTEP quality indicators at the beginning and completion of the teaching internship

Abstract

The amount of growth and development by teaching interns on the MoSTEP quality indicators during the student teaching internship has not been studied intently. In addition, the use of teacher certification measures as predictors of performance related to the MoSTEP quality indicators has not been adequately studied. The purpose of the study was to assess student teaching interns' level of proficiency of the MoSTEP quality indicators at the beginning and at the completion of the student teaching internship. The study further sought to compare the self-perceived proficiency levels of the teaching interns to their cooperating teachers' evaluations of the interns' level of proficiency on the MoSTEP quality indicators. The purposeful sample (n = 16) consisted of agricultural education student teaching interns, and their respective cooperating teachers, who were certifying to teach through the University of Missouri-Columbia during the 2005 winter semester. The study was descriptive correlational research. To measure the level of proficiency of teaching interns', the Student Teaching Internship Self-Assessment (teaching interns) and the Performance Based Student Teaching Internship Evaluation (cooperating teachers) was completed. Findings suggest the student teaching internship strengthens teaching interns' level of proficiency on all 11 MoSTEP quality indicators, as self-perceived by the teaching interns and assessed by their respective cooperating teachers. In addition, no single teacher certification measure, or combination of measures, was predictive of the teaching interns' performance of the MoSTEP quality indicators.