A Time Analysis of Cooper-ating Teachef Activity

Abstract

Twelve cooperating teachers documented the time they spent with preservice teachers during 11 weeks of student teaching in special education classrooms. The cooperating teachers recorded their time in a daily log that included five major categories (i.e., preparing for, orienting, planning, supervising, and professional development) and sixteen activities derived from the cooperating teacher literature. At the conclusion of student teaching, the cooperating teachers completed a survey in which they rated (a) the importance of each category in relation to training student teachers and (b) their own skill in conducting nine planning and supervision activities. Cooperating teachers spent the largest amount of time observing and providing feedback to the student teachers. They also spent a significant amount of time planning with the student teachers. Cooperating teachers rated planning as the most important category for training and supporting student teachers. Additional trends in the recorded time, results of the cooperating teacher survey, and suggestions for using this methodology in future research on cooperating teachers are addressed in the discussion.