Element 3C: Candidates' development and demonstration of knowledge, skills, and dispositions to help all students learn
The assessment results presented in Standard 1 show how candidates from the units have demonstrated the knowledge, skills and dispositions to help all students learn. Teacher candidates are required to complete at least 25 hours of field observation as part of their course work for each of their four methods courses for a total of 100 hours.  As participant observers they are asked to:

• work with or tutor small groups of students
• participate in individual and small group teaching activities
• design and implement a sequence of activities to be used with the same group of students
• perform demonstration lessons (if deemed appropriate by their teacher mentor)
• interact with other school staff as appropriate
• analyze, reflect, discuss and evaluate educational experiences
• develop and teach lessons

The quality of their performances at their school sites are evaluated by their teacher mentor and shared with the course instructor at Adelphi University through the completion of the Quality of Performance rubric that the teacher completes and sends to the course instructor.  A copy of this rubric and samples of teacher responses are offered as Exhibit S3-9.  Methods instructors and faculty at Adelphi who are teaching courses with "observation hour requirements" are asked to reflect upon the candidate's progress through the use of a Participant Observer Evaluation Form (Exhibit S3-10) that has been created by the university.  The form follows the four domains and their elements of Danielson's model as well as Adelphi's Conceptual Framework.

Table 3-6 shows the number of candidates eligible for student teaching and successfully completing student teaching during 2005-2006. All but one candidate completed student teaching.

*School Psychology is a year long program

Candidates for student teaching are cleared for placement by the Coordinator of Certification and the director of the program in which the candidate is seeking certification.  Candidates must have earned a 3.0 in their Education courses and a 2.75 overall cumulative average.  Candidates for student teaching must also submit satisfactory health and speech evaluations and present recommendations from two members of the faculty of the School of Education attesting to their personal and professional qualifications. Early warning letters are sent to candidates who are having difficulty in their courses.  Candidates who receive an early warning letter must meet with their course instructor to develop a plan to address this deficiency.

Teacher candidates are also asked to create lesson plans and units of instruction, after conferencing for each formal lesson given by the teacher candidate, in addition to informal conferencing that is continually taking place between the teacher candidate and the teacher mentor/field supervisor. During weekly seminars, teacher candidates are asked to reflect upon their teaching and learning for that week through the use of a reflection log. These are written reflections that are used as the basis for group discussion and learning during the seminars (Exhibit S3-11).

Clinical faculty members are expected to meet with candidates experiencing difficulty with content area or pedagogical and professional knowledge to counsel them and suggest sources of remediation.  Each candidate has a counselor to whom he/she can go and Kappa Delta Pi, the candidate honor society, provides tutoring for fellow classmates.  

The Pathwise rubric is shared with the candidate and used as one measure that the teacher uses to evaluate the candidate, as well as for candidate self evaluation. There are written procedures that are followed for teacher candidates who need to be part of a plan for improvement. These procedures are outlined in the candidate handbook, Teacher Candidate Handbook (Exhibit S3-3).  A special meeting is held in these circumstances with the University supervisor, teacher mentor, and teacher candidate, followed by a second meeting that includes a member of the Office of School and Community Partnerships for teacher candidates who are having difficulty meeting the demands of student teaching.

Candidates have full access to university resources to meet their academic needs.  The library has extended its hours on Friday and Saturday evenings to 10 pm during times when candidates are preparing for exams and working on papers.  The Career Placement Office provides candidates with workshops on interviewing techniques and job opportunities. The Learning Center has specially designed services to assist candidates in preparing for graduate school entrance examinations and in completing graduate school applications. These services are free to all Adelphi candidates and alumni.  Small group instructional sessions are held during the academic year for the following exams: GRE, GMAT, LSAT, MCAT, DAT, LAST, ATS-W and CST.

Candidates work collaboratively with other candidates and clinical faculty to critique and reflect on each other's practice and their effects on student learning with the goal of improving practice.  Candidates engage in group projects and discussions in class and are encouraged to respond to one another as well as to respond to the teacher.  Group projects within various classes permit this collaboration. Candidates are encouraged to work with instructional teams with either mentor teachers or with other candidates. At our Adelphi Model sites candidates become an integral part of the school community. At the beginning of each semester Adelphi Model candidates and their teacher mentors are invited to Adelphi University to share their expectations for the participant observation/student teaching experience. At this meeting, there are presentations by former teacher candidates, field supervisors, and teacher mentors and a time is set aside for discussion among the teacher mentors at each site and the teacher candidates assigned to that site.

Rubrics for all presentations are used to promote self assessment and growth in learning. The teacher mentor and the field supervisor use the Pathwise rubric to evaluate a teacher candidate's lesson plan, lesson, and units of instruction. Discussions during the conferences held between a teacher candidate and a teacher mentor/field supervisor are based on this rubric and the candidate's ability to adhere to its domains of teaching. Candidates are placed in sites and classes in terms of their area of certification and are supervised by field supervisors who are certified in that area.  Sites are evaluated by field supervisors through the use of a questionnaire and placements are changed based on input from candidates and field supervisors.

All lesson and units of instruction created by candidates must show evidence of individualization of instruction and a means for assessment of learning.  Candidates need to plan for group work, remediation and enrichment within their lessons/units.  Candidates are taught that it is their assessment of learning that drives their instruction. Each lesson must also incorporate technology and the use of materials that encourage manipulation and inquiry.  Questioning techniques are stressed and candidates learn to present open-ended questions that promote discussion and debate.