Common Entrance Survey Results:

IB/M Teacher Education Students Entering in 2012-2013

October 2012

The Common Entrance Survey was administered to all incoming students enrolled in teacher education programs at the University of Connecticut’s Neag School of Education in the fall of the 2012-13 school year. This report contains survey results based on responses of 63 students in the Integrated Bachelor’s/Master’s (IB/M) program, 46 of whom (76.7%) are female.

ü  While only 3.3% of respondents grew up in a home where a language other than English was the primary language, 28.3% of respondents indicate they can speak a language other than English.

ü Respondents are studying in the fields of Agriculture, Biology, Chemistry, Earth Science, Elementary Education, English Language Arts, General Science, Mathematics, Music, Social Studies, Special Education, and World Language.

ü The highest education level attained by 63.3% of students’ mothers was at least a four-year college degree; similarly, 62% of students report their fathers’ highest education level as four-year college degree or beyond.

ü Most respondents (96.7%) attended a public high school.

ü The majority of respondents report the school they attended was in a suburban location (80%) with a student body comprised of primarily white students (68.3%).

This report also includes information regarding respondents’ experiences working with English Language Learners (ELLs) and students with disabilities. Respondents reflect on their experiences with assessment, and their knowledge of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), as well. In addition, qualitative data are presented in this report. Thematic analysis of the following open-ended, qualitative question was conducted: “Aside from getting a teaching job, what do you feel will be your most important achievements and/or accomplishments in the Teacher Education Program at the Neag School?” A total of 21 common themes emerged from all of the student responses. Students enrolled in the IB/M program had four major overarching themes. Primarily, they wished to become successful teachers, intended to assess the needs of students and differentiate instruction, hoped to have a positive impact on students’ lives, and wanted to create identities as teachers.

Aside from getting a teaching job ...what do you feel will be your most importantachievements and/oraccomplishments in the Teacher Education Program at the Neag School?

Theme / Definition / # / % / Example
Successful teacher / Participant hopes to become a successful teacher. / 18/66 / 27.27% / “Being able to learn how to be a teacher from the best will allow me to feel that I can become a better teacher and achieve my goal of doing just that- being a great teacher”.
Assessment & differentiation / Participant hopes to assess the needs of students and differentiate instruction. / 14/ 66 / 21.21% / “My most important achievement will be developing my knowledge of effective teaching in order to best serve my students through the Neag School”.
Positive impact / Participant hopes to have a positive impact on his/her students' lives. / 10/66 / 15.15% / “Once out of the Neag School, I plan to teach in an at risk school, and I am confident that the Neag School will teach me strategies through instruction and experience of how best to educate those students”.
Teacher identity / Participant hopes to create identity as a teacher. / 8/66 / 12.12% / “ Graduating from the program will be fulfilling and provide me with a lot of confidence in knowing that I was prepared in every way possible for anything that I may experience in the teaching world”.
Content area knowledge / Participant hopes to have a strong understanding of his/her content area (e.g., math, science, Spanish). / 6/66 / 9.09% / “I feel that I will learn a great deal of knowledge pertaining to a certain topic since I will be writing an honors thesis within Neag”
Helping students overcome struggles / Participant hopes to help future students overcome personal and academic struggles. / 4/66 / 6.06% / “Impacting the future of struggling students and leading them down the right paths”.
Completing program / Participant hopes to complete the teacher education program including student teaching and inquiry project. / 3/66 / 4.55% / “I feel that my most important achievement in the Neag School of Education will be succeeding in my student teacher position”.
Positive relationships with students / Participant hopes to create positive relationships with future students. / 3/66 / 4.55% / “Developing meaningful relationships with other students, faculty and the students with whom I work in the classroom”.
Community of educators / Participant hopes to join a community of educators and maintain relationships. / 3/66 / 4.55% / “Forming strong bonds between other teachers as well as students is an achievement I hope to accomplish”.
Theory to classroom / Participant hopes to apply educational theory within his/her classroom. / 2/66 / 3.03% / “I hope to effectively implement the skills and tools that I learn from my professors in my everyday teaching experience”.
Connections / Participant hopes to form valuable connections that may help him or her in the future. / 2/66 / 3.03% / “Developing experience working in various school systems and in different communities beyond the rural town I grew up in”.
Educational politics / Participant hopes to gather understanding of politics surround education. / 2/66 / 3.03% / “I also want to learn information about what it takes to start one's own school, and how the administrative system works within school districts”.
Meaningful member of society / Participant hopes to become an overall meaningful member of society. / 2/66 / 3.03% / “I will learn skills that will not only better me as a teacher but as an individual in society“.
Effective lesson planning / Participant hopes to learn how to effectively lesson plan. / 1/66 / 1.52% / “I will be able to successfully complete the duties of teachers such as curriculum planning, lesson plans, etc.”
Self-improvement / Participant hopes to improve his or her teaching skills. / 1/66 / 1.52% / “I do not only want to become a teacher, but I want to become a teacher that is good at what I do”.
Challenging myself / Participant hopes to challenge his or herself and take risks with teaching. / 1/66 / 1.52% / “I think my most important achievement in the program will really be reaching outside of my comfort zone to really evolve into the best teacher I can be, and developing a high confidence in every necessary aspect of teaching”.
No response / 2/ 66 / 30.30% / No response.

Program Enrolled In

Year of Entrance

What Field are You Pursuing?

Gender

Race/Ethnicity

Primary Language Spoken

Can You Speak a Language Other than English?

Highest Level of Education Attained by Mother

Highest Level of Education Attained by Father

What Type of High School Did You Attend?

How Would You Describe the Location of Your High School?

How Would You Describe the Racial/Ethnicity Composition of Your High School?

The nextseveral questionsrefer toyour preparation for working with English language learners (ELL) students. Please use the following scale to rate your level of agreement with each statement: 1 =Strongly Disagree; 2 = Disagree; 3 = Neutral; 4 = Agree; 5 = Strongly Agree
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / Average Rating
I am prepared to tailor instructional and other services to the needs to ELL students. / 0
(0.00%) / 14
(25.00%) / 17
(30.36%) / 14
(25.00%) / 11
(19.64%) / 3.4
I possess a clear understanding of the language demands of the content area that I will teach. / 1
(1.79%) / 10
(17.86%) / 12
(21.43%) / 25
(44.64%) / 8
(14.29%) / 3.5
I am knowledgeable of teaching strategies and instructional practices for ELL students that are developmentally appropriate. / 2
(3.57%) / 19
(33.93%) / 21
(37.50%) / 10
(17.86%) / 4
(7.14%) / 2.9
I am knowledgeable of alternate ways of giving feedback. / 0
(0.00%) / 5
(9.09%) / 17
(30.91%) / 22
(40.00%) / 11
(20.00%) / 3.7
I am knowledgeable of teaching practices that are attuned to students’ language proficiencies and cognitive levels. / 1
(1.82%) / 18
(32.73%) / 16
(29.09%) / 17
(30.91%) / 3
(5.45%) / 3.1
I am knowledgeable of teaching practices that are culturally supportive and relevant. / 0
(0.00%) / 8
(14.55%) / 18
(32.73%) / 22
(40.00%) / 7
(12.73%) / 3.5
If I try hard, I can get through to most of the ELL students. / 0
(0.00%) / 3
(5.45%) / 22
(40.00%) / 18
(32.73%) / 12
(21.82%) / 3.7
I am confident in my ability to handle most discipline problems with ELL students. / 2
(3.64%) / 10
(18.18%) / 24
(43.64%) / 10
(18.18%) / 9
(16.36%) / 3.3
I am confident in my ability to teach all ELL students to high levels. / 3
(5.56%) / 11
(20.37%) / 23
(42.59%) / 13
(24.07%) / 4
(7.41%) / 3.1
I am confident I am making a difference in the lives of my students. / 0
(0.00%) / 1
(1.85%) / 13
(24.07%) / 12
(22.22%) / 28
(51.85%) / 4.2
I am uncertain how to teach some of my ELL students. / 0
(0.00%) / 4
(7.55%) / 25
(47.17%) / 23
(43.40%) / 1
(1.89%) / 3.4
I feel confident I can provide a positive learning environment and create a climate characterized by high expectations. / 0
(0.00%) / 1
(1.85%) / 7
(12.96%) / 24
(44.44%) / 22
(40.74%) / 4.2
I am confident in my skills to effectively communicate with parents and guardians of ELL students. / 1
(1.85%) / 12
(22.22%) / 21
(38.89%) / 10
(18.52%) / 10
(18.52%) / 3.3
I am confident in my skills to provide alternative/performance assessments to ELL students. / 0
(0.00%) / 13
(24.07%) / 18
(33.33%) / 16
(29.63%) / 7
(12.96%) / 3.3
I feel confident in providing linguistically and culturally appropriate learning experiences for ELL students. / 0
(0.00%) / 8
(14.81%) / 19
(35.19%) / 18
(33.33%) / 9
(16.67%) / 3.5
ELL students in the general education classroom setting slows down the progress of the other students in the class. / 10
(18.52%) / 23
(42.59%) / 19
(35.19%) / 2
(3.70%) / 0
(0.00%) / 2.2
Inclusion of ELL students in general education classes is good in theory, but does not work in the real world. / 7
(13.21%) / 21
(39.62%) / 25
(47.17%) / 0
(0.00%) / 0
(0.00%) / 2.3
Immigrant parents do not try to learn English. / 26
(47.27%) / 21
(38.18%) / 7
(12.73%) / 1
(1.82%) / 0
(0.00%) / 1.7
In order for ELLs to learn English, their parents should attempt to speak English. / 3
(5.45%) / 9
(16.36%) / 28
(50.91%) / 12
(21.82%) / 3
(5.45%) / 3.1

Please describe any previous personal experience or academic preparation you have had to equip you to teach ELL students.

In one of my teaching experiences, I had been placed with 4-5 ELL children and had worked with them individually on a given task. We would work at the back table and complete similar work to which the class was completing, but we would move at a slower pace and also go more in depth into the topic if it was not fully understood.
I don't have any
Brief interactions working with H* Sport in H* elementary school classrooms.
I spent a semester in S*in a classroom of students whose primary language was not English. And the majority of their parents didn't speak English nor did they have much education.
Since I have just been admitted to the Neag School of Education I have not been specifically taught how to teach ELL students. Yet, I have been in situations where I have been a leader of ELL students. It was difficult for me to communicate with these students but I worked through the situation by using pictures and making sure I was very patient when trying to communicate.
Before my entry into the program, I worked within a middle school social studies classroom at W* Middle School. Most of the children in this classroom knew both English and Spanish, but a couple students spoke and read English with great difficulty. I was able to watch the teacher and his interaction with his students. Also, these students had a paraprofessional working with them throughout the day.
Growing up, my family spoke C* at home and English was my second language. In school, I got a first hand experience of how ELL programs work and what different type of techniques that they use to help us adjust to the English language. Along with this, I have two cousins from T* that I taught English to. During their Summer stays, and even now (they recently moved to America within the past year), I help them with their reading, writing, and communications skills within the English language. By doing this for years, it has taught me to have patience with others and to understand how to teach English in ways that best suit students needs.
Summer school experience in W*,
4 years of Spanish in high school
Working with Spanish speaking customers at Q*, working with ELL students at W*
I have studied abroad for a semester and can speak Spanish pretty well.
I have worked as a volunteer for America Reads through UConn in the W* school districts and have had to work with ELL students teaching Math, as well as other subjects. I am fluent in Spanish and have tutored Spanish speaking kids in English.
I have had over 200 hours of experience as a volunteer aid in classrooms, including in N*, CT where there are a large number of children who either are bilingual/speak another language at home or are ELL. In each of the three classrooms I worked in, there were at least two children that were ELL students. This required me to learn how to deal with their needs and understand the academic level that they were on as compared to the rest of the class and find ways to help them learn when they needed help. I also learned a lot from seeing how the teachers conducted class.
I worked with HeadStart preschool program with ELL students.