Understanding pre-service teachers' improvement in professional practice: a quantitative perspective

This paper examines the extent to which pre-service teachers exhibit improvements in their professional practice while on placement in their final years of initial teacher education (ITE). This research involved an analysis of the placement grades of three cohorts of pre-service post-primary teachers (N = 198) as they completed the final two years of a four-year concurrent programme of teacher education in the Republic of Ireland. For those placements completed in Year 3 and Year 4 of this programme, the pre-service teachers received a mark for eight 'key' skills sets (for instance, Classroom Management, Assessment). Scores on these skill sets contributed to their total mark for that placement. The analysis conducted on these scores suggests that pre-service teachers' overall skills and competencies improve in the final years of their ITE programme. The findings also indicate that pre-service teachers' performance from Year 3 to Year 4 showed a statistically significant improvement in skills relating to Professionalism, Teacher Communication Skills, Classroom and Lesson Management, and Inclusive Practice. Such data can provide evidence to inform programme evaluation, planning, and delivery. The findings from this research may also contribute to the design of continuing professional development for newly qualified teachers.