Exhibit 7: Employer feedback on graduates
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The data from 96 employers of first year teachers who graduated from the University of West Georgia Teacher Education Program closely parallels the results from the survey of the candidates. Use of the criterion of greater than 5% Disagree and/or Strongly Disagree identifies areas of concern and these are comparable to those of concern for the new teachers. The areas of concern are: meeting the needs of diverse learners, management of time, space, and resources, planning for instruction, and professionalism. Comparison with the responses of approximately 770 employers across the state also indicates some strong concerns in the areas of diverse learners and leadership roles.
| II. Knowledge of Students, Teaching, and Learning | |||||
| 8. Use the best professional practices to meet the needs of diverse learners. | 95 | 1.1 | 7.4 | 34.7 | 56.8 |
| III. Learning Environment | |||||
| 12. Manage time, space, activities, technology, and other resources to provide active and equitable engagement of diverse learners in productive tasks. | 96 | 3.1 | 6.3 | 30.2 | 60.4 |
| V. Planning and Instruction | |||||
| 19. Use a variety of research-based strategies to support learners. | 96 | 1.0 | 4.2 | 39.6 | 55.2 |
| 20. Monitor and adjust strategies in response to learner feedback. | 95 | 1.1 | 6.3 | 42.1 | 50.5 |
| 21. Integrate technology and other multimedia resources appropriately to maximize learning opportunities for all students. | 95 | 2.1 | 4.2 | 40 | 52.6 |
| VI. Professionalism | |||||
| 25. Follow established codes of professional conduct, including school and district policies. | 94 | 2.1 | 4.3 | 31.9 | 61.7 |
| 26. Play a leadership role in the school community. | 95 | 1.1 | 10.5 | 45.3 | 38.9 |
| 27. Actively participate in and contributes to school wide improvement efforts. | 94 | 1.1 | 8.5 | 41.5 | 48.9 |
The data revealed in these surveys of employers of first year teachers from UWG do not indicate large concerns about the abilities of these teachers. There are areas, however, that are indicated to be in need of attention and these are being discussed in planned revisions for the future of all of the UWG programs that prepare educators. A decision was recently made to move the classroom management course from the first semester of the Early Childhood Program to the third semester. Field experience observations and the midpoint assessment provided indications that some students were still experiencing difficult in this area in the later semesters. Classroom management is addressed to some extent in many of the education courses, including the methods courses in the second semester. The data collected indicate that candidates may not have enough classroom experience at the entry to the program to fully benefit from the instruction during the classroom management course, so the decision has been to continue the attention in the various other courses, but to provide more direct attention, with options for a classroom focus couple with greater attention to observation and feedback during the third semester.