Teacher Education Follow-up Study, 1996. As Compiled by the Teacher Education Assessment Committee (TEAC)

This report represents the seventh Follow-up Study by the Teacher Education Assessment Committee (TEAC) at Central Missouri State University (Central). TEAC is a centralized system of data collection and assessment that conducts and publishes results of periodic assessments and evaluations of Central's teacher education programs by soliciting input from education faculty, preservice teachers, program graduates, and principals of educators prepared at Central. Results reveal that 61 percent of Central's previous year's graduating class secured full-time teaching positions within Missouri. Central teacher education graduates were employed in 192 of the state's 520 districts. Student teachers in the 1995-1996 school year were predominantly white females. The average salary for Central graduates was $22,167. Most of the participating teachers taught full-time in the classroom, and most planned on teaching 5 years or more from now. The top three areas of dissatisfaction in their current positions were level of support from parents and community, salary/fringe benefits of teaching, and opportunities for advancement. Student teachers considered their weakest academic area to be non-Western philosophies and cultures. Fifty-five percent of the principals hiring Central graduates felt that the teachers were strongly prepared for their current positions. Survey instruments are appended. (Author/SM)