Investigating Student Teacher Outcomes of a Clinical Faculty Program

Twenty-five years ago, the Commonwealth of Virginia established the designation of clinical faculty to describe experienced in-service teachers who hold adjunct faculty status by virtue of their selection, training, and expertise in contributing to the preparation of new teachers in university-based education programs. This study investigated whether clinical faculty training is correlated with differences in the mid-term and final performance evaluations of student teachers in two groups: those mentored by trained clinical faculty and those mentored by untrained cooperating teachers. Findings suggest that clinical faculty training is associated with more effective assessment and feedback practices by clinical faculty, as well as with stronger overall performances of student teachers. Implications for building the capacity of untrained cooperating teachers through the culture created within partnership schools are also explored.