Methodology: Aligned student teaching
Catalogs, websites and student teaching handbooks were reviewed to ascertain the options available to teacher candidates for student teaching. Alternatives available for student teaching were evaluated in the context of 1) whether they took place in Illinois or elsewhere, 2) the total length of the student teaching experience, and 3) whether they were conducted under the auspices of the preparation program itself or outsourced to another organization.1
If an alternative to "standard student teaching"2 was offered, the number of teacher candidates who chose that alternative was not relevant to the rating. The only exception to this was an alternative that was offered under clearly extenuating circumstances and for which a rigorous approval process was required.
2"Standard student teaching" entailing: 1) a quarter or semester-long experience in a local school, 2) teaching in the classroom of a teacher in which the preparation programs played some role in selection, and 3) supervision by individuals under contract to the preparation program.
