Cheryl North, Kimberly Feldman, Michele Stites, and Eugene Schaffer have written a chapter in the New Challenges to Education Lessons from Around the World BCES Conference Book, 2021 Volume 19, titled: Impact on student learning: The Contribution of a Professional Development Collaboration.
Abstract
Schools of education are often criticized for not effectively preparing teacher candidates and
teacher education research has been criticized for lack of rigor in examining the impact on
student learning. Teacher preparation accrediting agencies have responded with requirements
for programs to demonstrate the effectiveness of their graduates based on their students’
achievement. This has proved challenging for programs that lack access to student
achievement data. To examine teacher effectiveness, one mid-size state university devised a
strategy using publicly available state data.
This case study presents an analysis of the mathematics performance of students as it relates
to a Professional Development School program for cooperation between Laurel Woods
Elementary School and University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). With almost
50% of the school’s 1st through 3rd grade teachers being UMBC graduates, this analysis of 3rd
grade achievement data provides insight into the impact of teacher education graduates on
their students’ achievement. The study compares Laurel Woods’ overall and subgroup data
with that of the state. The results indicate that teacher education programs and Professional
Development School partnerships can contribute positively to the success of schools where a
high proportion of teachers are from one teacher education program.