Professional Competencies, Attitudes, and Dispositions Expected of UTK Teacher Candidates

Professional Competencies, Attitudes, and Dispositions (ProCADS) Expected of UTK Teacher Candidates

For citation purposes, the authors of this website are Judson Laughter and Amelia Brown.

Key Definitions

All teacher candidates at UTK are expected to demonstrate a commitment to the Professional Competencies, Attitudes, and Dispositions (ProCADs) in coursework and practicum settings related to their teacher preparation program. Instructors for core educational courses are asked to document that students show behavior indicating appropriate ProCADs at the conclusion of the course. Instructors, supervisors, and mentors (both school and University-based) can report ProCAD areas for reinforcement and areas for refinement in accordance with the information provided in this website. Teacher candidates are encouraged to carefully read this information about ProCADS and the expectations and procedures pertaining to them.

While we spend considerable time developing pedagogical content knowledge in our teacher candidates (e.g., effective planning, instruction, and assessment); there are key professional competencies, attitudes, and dispositions that surround and affect the act of teaching. It is these extracurricular factors we seek to assess here. We begin with the following definitions:

Competencies: Competencies represent the content knowledge and pedagogical skill of a teacher, but also include several actions that facilitate and make possible effective planning, instruction, and assessment.

Several key professional competencies are identified and assessed. Please see the professional competencies tab for more information, related InTASC standards, and rubric for the assessed professional competencies.

We assess one rubric for professional competencies, but provide multiple sub-components to support teacher candidate development and promote the professional competencies expected of the profession.

Attitudes: “An attitude is a relatively enduring organization of beliefs around an object or situation predisposing one to respond in some preferential manner” (Rokeach, 1968, p. 112). A preservice teacher embodies attitudes toward a variety of topics and people: attitudes toward teaching methods, attitudes toward students, attitudes toward schools. These attitudes form the internal paradigm through which a preservice teacher interprets the world and the classroom.

Professional attitudes assessed include attitudes toward teaching methods, attitudes toward students, and attitudes toward schools. Please see the professional attitudes tab for more information, related InTASC standards, and rubrics for the domains of professional attitudes.

Dispositions: A disposition is “an attributed characteristic of a teacher, one that summarizes the trend of a teacher’s actions in particular contexts” (Katz & Raths, 1985, p. 301). Dispositions congregate along four primary domains: open-mindedness, self-reflection, curiosity, and educational equity (Alawiye & Williams, 2010).

Please see the professional dispositions tab above for more information, related InTASC standards, and rubrics for the domains of professional dispositions.

Framework for Assessing ProCADS at UTK

Students not formally admitted to teacher education but who participate in field experiences in schools should display behavior demonstrating appropriate professional competencies, attitudes, and dispositions (ProCADs).

UTK teacher candidates learn of the ProCADs expected of them during application to the teacher education program. In order to qualify for an admissions board review, candidates must complete a form stating they are aware that they will be evaluated using ProCADs. Additionally, as a part of the application to teacher education, teacher candidates complete their first ProCADs self-assessment and brief written justification of each self-score.

UTK teacher candidates have opportunities in their college courses to demonstrate their ProCADs through the nature and quality of their assignments they complete, and their interactions with instructors and peers. Teacher candidates also work with teachers and students in PreK-12 schools and community settings, which provide unique opportunities to demonstrate the ProCADs needed for success as teachers. In addition to practicum experiences, the culminating clinical practice (internship, student teaching, job-embedded practitioner experience) offers extended time in the classroom with ample opportunities for teacher candidates to demonstrate and refine desirable ProCADs.

In the UTK teacher preparation program, teacher candidates must demonstrate acceptable ProCADs throughout their program. We expect that teacher candidates maintain performance above unsatisfactory on all indicators throughout the program, as assessed by faculty, instructors/supervisors, and/or mentor teachers. Any rating of unsatisfactory requires a ProCADS Refinement Plan and implementation of a support plan. Should indicator ratings remain unsatisfactory, a failure to improve over time may lead to dismissal from the program regardless of academic performance. Please see the UTK ProCADS Policy tab for more information.

In addition to evaluation by faculty, supervisors and/or mentor teachers, UTK encourages teacher candidates to self-evaluate on the ProCADS every time they are evaluated. This self-evaluation process not only allows the teacher candidate an opportunity to reflect on their development into a professional educator, but also provides UTK with valuable insights into the role of the teacher preparation program in developing ProCADs in teacher candidates.

Faculty/staff, mentor teachers, and teacher candidates continue to evaluate (or self-evaluate) UTK teacher candidates using the ProCADs system during the internship/student teaching/apprentice teaching experience.

Should a stakeholder rank a teacher candidate as unsatisfactory on the rubric, a ProCADs Support Plan is created. Any faculty/instructor/supervisor or school-based mentor teacher working with the candidate can create a ProCADs Support Plan at any time for any of the ProCAD domains. The ProCADs Support Plan is designed to make the candidate aware of the concern and provides the candidate with support in correcting or responding to the concern. Following the submission of a ProCADs Support Plan, the submitter and/or the candidate's program area coordinator must schedule a meeting with the candidate to discuss the ProCADs Support Plan. The candidate signs the report, and the report remains on file with the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences Office of Professional Licensure. Teacher candidates are informed that the accrual of four ProCADS Refinement Plans may be deemed grounds for removal from the teacher education program.

By regularly assessing professional attitudes, dispositions, and competencies, UTK seeks to better our preparation of effective teachers. Such assessment may also help us understand if effective teachers have a particular balance of all three. That is, high competency without sufficiently high disposition might lead to similar levels of teacher (in)effectiveness as high disposition without sufficiently high competency. Likewise, we might develop a list of the attitudes and dispositions most necessary for effective teaching and come to understand how these attitudes and dispositions may be mediated or moderated during effective teacher preparation.

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