Teacher candidates' experiences with clinical teaching in reading instruction: A comparison between the professional development school environment and the non-professional development school environment

Teacher candidates experience a variety of school settings when enrolled in teacher education methods courses. Candidates report varied experiences when in public school classrooms. This dissertation investigated clinical experiences of teacher candidates when placed in two different environments for clinical teaching. The two environments were a Professional Development School and a non-Professional Development School. The case study was conducted to compare the experiences in each setting. Six candidate experiences were examined and reported. The findings in this dissertation provided a clear divide between the two settings and provided evidence for teacher preparation programs to study clinical placement environments for their teacher candidates.