Discovering Quality in Teacher Education: Perceptions Concerning What Makes and Effective Cooperating Teacher

With a continuous shortage of qualified agricultural science teachers (Foster, Lawver, Smith, 2014; Kantrovich, 2010), it is imperative teacher preparation programs identify and utilize effective cooperating teachers, as well as develop training for in-service teachers that will assist in preparing more effective cooperating teachers. The purpose of this study was to identify which characteristics define an effective cooperating teacher in agricultural education. We utilized Roberts’ (2006) Model of Effective Cooperating Teachers and the Delphi methodology to identify characteristics of effective cooperating teachers from expert panels of agricultural educators in Missouri, North Carolina, Oregon, and Texas. The findings of this study revealed nine themes, which define effective cooperating teachers. We propose a new model defining the characteristics of effective cooperating teachers and recommend teacher educators work to create an assessment using these characteristics.