Many WTEP Graduates Working in Wyoming Schools

April 24, 2008 -- Recent graduates of the University of Wyoming Teacher Education Program (WTEP) not only found jobs in their field, but many end up in Wyoming classrooms, according to a summer 2007 survey.

Among respondents, who represented the classes of 2005 and 2006, 82.3 percent reported employment as teachers -- up from 72.7 percent reported in a 2005 version of the survey.

The College of Education reports an upward trend in the number of graduates finding jobs in Wyoming. During the 2001-2005 time frame the percentage increased more than 11 percent, with 45.5 percent of the 2005 graduates taking a position in Wyoming.

The Wyoming Survey and Analysis Center conducts the biennial survey. The next survey of graduates and their current principals is scheduled for summer 2009.

UW WTEP graduates' overall satisfaction with their preparation remains high: 81.9 percent report feeling adequately, well or very well prepared for their first teaching jobs.

"We certainly expect that the large majority of our graduates will be adequately or better prepared, across the board," says Kay Persichitte, director of teacher education at UW.

"We are meeting that expectation in every one of the items that we are addressing in this survey and identifying some areas where we can still improve."

Most of the graduates' current employers report that WTEP students are at least as competent in the classroom as peers who completed other teacher preparation programs, with 85.7 percent of their principals reporting that UW graduates' performance were "as able," "more able" or "significantly more able" than others with similar lengths of experience.

Graduates continue to note two perennial concerns about their perceived preparation for a teaching job -- classroom management and special education. All WTEP preparation programs address these professional areas, Persichitte says, but first classroom experiences usually raise anxiety as new teachers face a wide range of student needs.

"There is a novice perception that every classroom has average students and that extremes on either end do not exist," she says. "Extremes on either end do exist. Your ability to deal with those special needs and circumstances is critical."

Recent program revisions made to strengthen teacher preparation included the addition of a required special education course to supplement an integrated approach that addresses special needs issues across multiple courses.

An emerging concern identified by principals, one that Persichitte says is growing nationally, relates to a new teacher's ability to use student data to drive instructional decisions. Anticipating an increased need to enhance graduates' skills in this area, WTEP in 2005 replaced a course on quantitative reasoning with a new required course -- "Educational Assessment." This course emphasizes the analytical and decision-making skills needed by today's teachers.

Two common themes emerged in an open-ended question about strengths of the WTEP, she adds.

"There is a continued reporting from our graduates about the strength of the field experiences throughout the program and about the quality of the UW faculty," she says.

For more information, contact Persichitte at (307) 766-3463 or e-mail kpersi@uwyo.edu.

Posted on Wednesday, April 23, 2008