Rehearsals and Language Arts Instruction: Teacher Candidate Learning in the Clinical Context

There is continued focus on improving the connection between instruction at the Educator Preparation Program (EPP) level and the clinical experience. The disconnect between what teacher candidates are learning in their preparation program with their student teaching experience is a divide worth trying to bridge. An additional challenge continues to be one of enactment – helping novice teachers enact high-leverage strategies. Carefully constructed approximations of instruction support increased implementation of strategies, a key element to novice teacher preparedness. While lesson rehearsals are regularly used in the preparation of elementary teachers, they are infrequently used in the preparation of secondary teacher candidates. In this study, teacher candidates (n = 13) used rehearsals in the university-based content-area methodology course and then, through a feedback cycle, enacted the lessons in local middle school classrooms. Results showed that candidates were able to revise lessons based on feedback; however, they struggled to reflect on the learning of students in the middle school classroom.