First Year Teachers' Reported Levels of Functioning on Selected Professional Dispositions

In response to an NCATE requirement that teacher preparation programs include dispositions in their assessment systems, along with knowledge and ability, the College of Education at the University of Montevallo has for several years attempted to review and assess the professional dispositions of students, both undergraduate and graduate, preservice and inservice. Certainly, it does seem that dispositions have at least as much power as knowledge and ability for predicting success in the classroom, especially for judging "fitness" for teaching. The ability to present information is an important skill for teachers and has been a major emphasis for teacher preparation programs. But as many principals will attest, a successful teacher must exhibit skills beyond scholarly application. Attributes some would consider obvious, such as arriving on time for work and dressing professionally, are becoming less standard with the casual approach of today's society. Beyond this, exhibiting the desire to continually grow in professional knowledge, having a respect for all cultures, and willingness to work with parents and other teachers are concepts all pre-service teachers should understand and model. Assessing teachers in these areas, along with their content delivery, is the next logical step in measuring and documenting teacher effectiveness. On May 11, 2000, the NCATE Unit Accreditation Board adopted a set of standards to provide direction for programs, courses, teaching, candidate performance, scholarship, service, and unit accountability. Among these standards was the assessment of candidate dispositions, but the definition of what that included was left to broad interpretation. Colleges and universities have since developed a wide range of methodologies for defining, measuring, and determining the level of development of teachers in regard to professional dispositions. Assessment of these dispositions, in particular, has been of great interest with the NCATE requirement that teacher preparation institutions begin to examine the dispositions of prospective and practicing teachers enrolled in their programs. Although not plentiful, recent studies have attempted and are attempting to study the dispositions of educators and to develop appropriate strategies for their assessment. While there has been considerable research on the beliefs and characteristics of teachers, recently there has been a more focused emphasis on the need for teachers to be equipped with the right dispositions for effective teaching. The study of dispositions had its roots in the 1960's when Arthur W. Combs began a series of studies on the personal perceptions of effective helpers, which he called perceptual characteristics. According to Wasicsko (2002), the results of Combs' 30 year span of research yielded "five categories of perceptions that can serve to differentiate effective from ineffective educators. They are 1) perceptions about subject matter, 2) perceptions about self, 3) perceptions about other people, 4) perceptions about the teaching task, and 5) general frame of reference. " Similarly, Giovannelli (2003) stated that dispositions serve as an accurate measure of teacher effectiveness. On the other hand, Beyer (2002) stated that accreditation mandates, such as dispositions, emphasize a "technical-rational" approach to teaching and ignore "social, philosophical, and political understandings" needed by educators. With such a wide range of opinions toward dispositions, colleges are left to make their own decisions. Purpose and Design of Study. In the third year of assessing and having our students assess their own professional dispositions, it has become clear to us that practicing teachers are the most knowledgeable about what attitudes are the most conducive to good practice and to good professional relationships in the schools. Accordingly, we are seeking their input more frequently and formally. …