Comparing first-year teaching of former undergraduate interns and former student teachers as determined by pupil reading achievement gains

The primary purpose of this study was to compare the gains in reading achievement made by pupils of former student teachers and former undergraduate interns in their first-year teaching assignment. Significant differences in pupil reading gains after seven months of instruction would be used as one index for evaluating and comparing the effectiveness of the field experience program completed by these two groups of teachers. Selected from three independent school districts, the twenty-two first-year teachers who participated in this study graduated from one teacher education institute in May 1972 and were shown to be equivalent in past academic performance, degree objective, student teaching or interning rating, age, and sex. The only major difference in the teacher training background of these two groups of teachers was in the mode of field experience as either an intern or a student teacher. Fourteen of the teachers, as former interns, had completed one full-year of teaching experience in classrooms of their own with the assistance and support of two full-time supervisors and continuous, systematic feedback procedures. Eight of the teachers participated for one semester as regular student teachers in the classrooms of cooperating public school teachers while being assisted by one half-time supervisor. Whereas interns assumed immediate and complete teaching responsibilities for the period of one academic year, student teachers assumed teaching duties gradually and maintained complete classroom control for only a few weeks. The pupil sample for this study consisted of the 494 students who were randomly assigned to classes of former interns and former student teachers and who were well matched in grade and ability levels. A pretest and a posttest reading assessment was made in October 1972 and April 1973 with alternate forms of the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests. Standard scores and residual gain scores were computed to test the following null hypothesis: H[0]: There will be no significant difference at the .05 level between reading achievement in classes of former undergraduate interns when compared with classes of former student teachers after a seven-month instructional period. [...]