NIU teacher-training programs earn
high marks in survey of first-year teachers

by Mark McGowan

Most first-year teachers with NIU degrees believe they were prepared well to teach their primary subject areas and to implement developmentally appropriate instruction.

Nearly 98 percent say they feel they meet the Illinois Professional Learning Standards regarding education as a profession and its benchmarks of professional conduct. Ninety-two percent say they are achieving the role of the teacher as a reflective practitioner who continually evaluates and whose actions affect the learning community. Ninety percent say they use effective communication to foster active engagement in learning and self-motivation.

They also give good grades to their classroom instruction at NIU and their pre-service clinical experiences.

“Our students do tell us that they feel really well-prepared for entry into the profession, and that's good feedback. We're obviously on the right track,” said NIU Vice Provost Earl “Gip” Seaver. “We do need to look further at the results and dig deeper into the numbers. There's always room for improvement, and things change over time. This hopefully allows us to be pro-active as well.”

Released Thursday at a press conference in Springfield, the first Teacher Graduate Assessment Project was directed by the Illinois Association of Deans of Public Colleges of Education (IADPCE) in collaboration with the Illinois Teacher Data Warehouse. It surveyed 2004 graduates of the state's 12 public universities who are teaching in Illinois public schools and their supervisors.

Fifty-two percent of teachers and 64 percent of supervisors responded.

“The results indicate we're doing a pretty good job,” said Chris Sorensen, dean of the NIU College of Education and chair of IADPCE. “The supervisors of our graduates are saying we're doing well. It's not just the teachers' self-perceptions.”

Across the state, the survey reveals that 99 percent of first-year teachers are satisfied with their career choice (that number is 100 percent among NIU graduates) and that more than 95 percent plan to stay in education, with more than 85 percent of those in teaching roles. Ninety-eight percent of NIU's graduates plan to stay in education, with nearly 91 percent of those in teaching roles.

“Students are getting the information they need as they make these career choices, and that's certainly validated by the fact they want to stay,” Seaver said. “Somewhere along the line, whether it's here as part of our advising system or as the students explore different careers before they get to us, they're basing their decisions on good data.”

The deans of the public colleges of education intend the make the project an ongoing endeavor.

“Partly what's important about the whole project is the collaboration between not just the 12 public universities but the Illinois State Board of Education, the Illinois Board of Higher Education and the Joyce Foundation, which all provided funding,” Sorensen said. “We have a commitment to continue the effort and expand it, and we're getting some national attention in terms of the unique partnership.”

At NIU, she said, deans of four colleges are sharing the survey results with faculty members and launching discussions about continuous program improvement. NIU's colleges of Education, Health and Human Sciences, Liberal Arts and Sciences and Visual and Performing Arts all prepare teachers.

“We're talking about where we have strengths, where we are doing an outstanding job, where we are doing an OK job and where we might want to improve,” Sorensen said. “We also want to look at it over time and look at trends. For now, I didn't see any specific areas of concern.”

Copies of the report are available online at www.iadpce.org.

11-7-05