Whe the combined responses are examined (see graph 1) two facts are obvious. First, the percentages of responses indicating satisfaction were not high, averaging 46 percent with a range of 25 to 67; second, the average percent of satisfaction varied markedly from item to item. There was, however, a block of competencies, basically classroom skills, which received both the highest expressions of satisfaction and the greatest unanimity in the responses. These were: (1) Ability to plan with pupils so as to provide for group participation according to each child's abilities (q. 7); (2) ability to ascertain appropriate developmental levels (q. 14) and plan instruction accordingly; (3) adequate understanding of child development (q. 6); and (4) ability to plan a curriculum suited to individual and group needs (q. 8). On three aspects of teachers' proficiency, the supervisory personnel expressed great dissatisfaction. These were: (1) Identifying causes of social and emotional maladjustment (q. 4), (2) knowledge of agencies concerned with exceptional children (q. 9), and (3) knowledge of services provided for exceptional children by speech, psychological, and medical clinics (q. 10). Graph 1.-Percent of supervisory personnel satisfied with the preparation of recently graduated teachers of mentally retarded children development?. 7. Planning with groups of pupils so each child participates according to his ability?.. 8. Planning a curriculum suited to the individual needs and group needs of the pupils?. 9. Agencies concerned with mentally retarded children 10. Services provided for mentally retarded children by 12. Fitting into less-than-ideal special education 13. Fitting in with general educators, and avoiding a "separatistic" attitude about special education? 14. Ascertaining and teaching at the appropriate developmental levels of their pupils?. Institutions preparing teachers might well examine their curriculums in the light of these opinions, with a view to strengthening these three aspects of the preparatory program. It might also be noted that a rather large percentage of both State and local special educators were undecided about the proficiency of these teachers. On an average, 21 percent of the State personnel and 19 percent of the local personnel expressed indecision. DISCUSSION OF PROFICIENCY EVALUATIONS In this section, two different sets of data have been reported. The evaluations are by different groups, about different groups, on different but closely related sets of competencies. In general, on the basis of these opinions, the teachers believed that they were doing their best work in the most important aspects of their job. They seemed to believe that a good piece of work in the classroom was their main assignment. They appeared to feel the least secure in the "fringe" areas, in diagnosis, in working with other agencies, in administration and legal interpretation, and rather unexpectedly perhaps in group testing. There seemed, too, to be shift of emphasis, in their feelings about proficiency, away from the arts and crafts and home economics phases of the work, toward more academic activities. On the whole, the State and local supervisory personnel tended to rate. recently trained teachers somewhat lower than one might have expected. They too, however, rated these teachers highest in their preparation for classroom work, general understanding of child development, ability to organize satisfactory working groups, ability to provide for individual differences, and curriculum development. They rated them lowest in allied activities, working with other agencies, and in deep understandings of adjustment problems. VA Education and Experience ARIOUS aspects of professional preparation and experience are treated in this section: First, the teachers' evaluations of the importance of specific practical experiences, and second, two types of practical experience which were evaluated by the teachers and by State and local supervisors and college instructors. These were (1) the amount of supervised student teaching of mentally retarded children that is needed and (2) the amount of teaching experience with normal children. Finally, there is a report of opinions (State, local and college personnel), on the general pattern of preparation of the teacher most likely to succeed.1 TEACHERS' OPINIONS OF PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCES The teachers evaluated the importance of a group of specific professional experiences, mostly of a practical nature, in the program of preparation for teachers of the mentally retarded. The questions were concerned with the following general groupings: Supervised student teaching experience, planned observation, planned visits, and experiences in drawing educational interpretations from various types of data relating to the problems of mental retardation. Teachers rated these as "very important," "important," "less important" or "not important." The results are presented in table 5.2 All these experiences received an average rating of either "very important' or "important." The five highest ranking items, however, were spread over a rather wide range of experiences, including student observation and teaching and experience in interpretation of educational records and psychological reports. The upper ranking half of these experiences was dominated by two central themes: (1) Actual supervised experiences in teaching retarded children, and (2) guided observation and participation in child study on a broad multiprofessional basis. Student teaching of retarded children was stressed more at the elementary level [2] than the secondary [12] and nursery school [13] levels. This emphasis may be explained by the fact that the participating teachers were, in a large measure, working at the elementary level. Ranking only slightly 1 See appendix D for excerpts from inquiry forms EXC-1, EXC-2A, EXC-3 and EXC-4F. 2 See appendix C for a detailed description of the procedures used, (Pages 78 and 79). * In each case the numbers in brackets refer to the rank order of importance in Table 5. TABLE 5.-Relative Importance Which Teachers of Mentally Retarded Children Placed on Specific Experiences in Specialized Preparation 1 2 3 4 5 6 Items rated "VERY IMPORTANT” (1—5) Planned observation in day schools or classes for mentally retarded children Supervised student-teaching with mentally retarded children at the ele- Experiences in giving individual instruction to mentally retarded children psychological reports cumulative education records on mentally retarded pupils Items rated "IMPORTANT" (6-22) from Planned observation of conferences of teachers of the mentally retarded on pupil placement, curriculum adjustment, child study, and so on Instruction in how to administer an education program for mentally retarded children 7 educational medical reports (including psychiatric) interpretations Supervised student-teaching with normal children from Planned observation of multi-professional case conferences of representatives from such fields as social welfare, psychiatry, psychology, and medicine, to study and make recommendations on individual mentally retarded children Supervised student-teaching at the secondary level at the nursery school level with mentally retarded children Planned observation of children with multiple handicaps including mental retardation Planned observation of work done by- rehabilitation centers for mentally retarded youths and adults psychological clinics Planned visits to homes of mentally retarded children in the company of supervising teachers Planned observation of work done by speech clinics Planned observation in residential schools for mentally retarded children Planned visits to organizations interested in the welfare of the mentally retarded, such as State rehabilitation agencies Planned visits to non-school community organizations offering services to the mentally retarded, such as recreation groups, clubs, and community houses Planned observation in schools or classes dealing with other types of handicapped children 1 The rank order of importance was derived from the average rating of importance for each item. See appendix C, page 78, for a detailed description of the statistical procedures used. lower were planned observation of conferences of teachers of the retarded on pupil placement, curriculum adjustment and child study [6] and instruction in administering an educational program for retarded children [7]. Another group of experiences of high rank order brought in the individual child study element-experiences in giving individual instruction to retarded children [3] and interpreting psychological reports [4] and case study records [5]. Reinforcing these evaluations even further is the fact that three other child-study types of experience ranked only slightly lower. These were experience in drawing educational interpretations from medical reports [8] and reports of social workers [9], and planned observation of multi-professional case conferences [11]. STUDENT TEACHING OF MENTALLY RETARDED PUPILS A basic question in programs of teacher preparation is the amount of supervised student teaching that should be required. Opinions were collected through the inquiry forms from all groups participating in the study, on the amount of student teaching of retarded children necessary for two types of a Form EXC-1, EXC-2A (5.4), EXC-3 (5.2, 5.3), EXC-4F (12). |