The clinical teaching experience is one of the most important components of teacher preparation. Prior observational research has found that more effective mentors and schools with better professional climates are associated with better preparation for teacher candidates. We test these findings using an experimental assignment of teacher candidates to placement sites in two states. Candidates who were randomly assigned to higher quality placement sites experienced larger improvements in performance over the course of the clinical experience, as evaluated by field instructors (a.k.a university instructors). The findings suggest that improving clinical placement procedures can improve the teaching quality of candidates.

临床教学经验是教师准备的最重要组成部分之一。先前的观察性研究发现，更有效的导师和具有更好专业氛围的学校与更好地为教师候选人做好准备有关。我们通过将教师候选人分配到两个州的安置点来测试这些发现。被随机分配到更高质量安置点的候选人在临床经验过程中经历了更大的绩效改进，正如现场指导员（又名大学指导员）所评估的那样。研究结果表明，改进临床实习程序可以提高候选人的教学质量。