Methodology: Serious coursework
Looking at the syllabi of the three most advanced non-clinical professional courses for which we had obtained syllabi, we looked for evidence of a "seriousness of purpose" to the assignments required of teacher candidates. Coursework was considered lacking in seriousness of purpose based on the following four criteria: 1) group assignments with no individual accountability,1 2) assignments requiring only "reflection," 3) assignments allowing submission of an "arts and crafts" or other non-traditional product, or 4) attendance and participation (with no rubric for evaluation of individual contributions) counted for 15 percent or more of the grade. We then averaged the proportion of assignments reflecting seriousness of purpose against these other kinds of assignments.
Here are a few examples of the types of assignments captured by this standard as showing a lack of seriousness of purpose:
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A classroom-management course in an undergraduate elementary education program requires "personal reflections" in 21 assignments. The reflections address such questions as, "What classroom-management program most closely reflects your own philosophy?" and "Do you feel that establishing a positive classroom atmosphere at the beginning of the school year is important?" or ask the candidate to comment on class lectures or activities.
Reflection assignments are rife in professional coursework, and all too seldom do they have the teacher candidate think and write about what should be the focus of their preparation: the learning and behavior of students.
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A mathematics methods course in an undergraduate elementary program at a "more selective" institution in which 60 percent of the grade is based on a project for which the instructor provided the work product of a teacher candidate he'd judged exemplary: a children's story that had lovely crayon drawings but was devoid of mathematics content. You can see this project for yourself in section 20 of this appendix.
This assignment exemplifies a broader problem we observe—that professors often expect no more from their teacher candidates than the candidates might expect of the children they will teach.
