Entry to initial teacher education programmes

McKinney, Stephen and Philpott, Carey (2011) Entry to initial teacher education programmes. In: Scottish Educational Research Association 2011 Stirling UK, 2011-11-24 - 2011-11-25.

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Abstract

One of the recommendations of the Donaldson Report is that: Selection for entry to initial teacher education programmes should be made more rigorous, drawing on existing best practice and using a wider set of selection criteria. (Recommendation 4) While this recommendation may be welcomed by the Scottish educational community, it is not clear that there is sufficient evidence on best practice in selection procedure in Scotland to pursue this recommendation. This small-scale research project sought to explore what is considered to be existing best practice by examining the selection procedures and methods that are currently used by the initial teacher education programmes in Scotland. The research consisted of a questionnaire sent to the admissions officers for ITE throughout Scotland. The admissions officers were asked to explain their selection criteria and the current methods used. The results enabled a map of the full range and extent of current practice in Scotland to be constructed. Further, they were asked to explain their choice of methods and evaluate the effectiveness of these methods. This map and these insights of the effectiveness of the methods are important data that can be used to inform the policy debate that has arisen from the Donaldson Report.