Rehearsal in teacher preparation: Advancing candidates’ instructional practice through explicit coaching

The theory-practice gap is often identified as a primary reason many new teachers do not feel prepared. Use of a rehearsal strategy may be one way to improve preparation. Rehearsal is often used in the context of coursework, but some point to its utility in clinical settings. To date, little evidence exists that it improves instructional practice. This study explored the relation between the use of rehearsal in a clinical setting and the impact on candidate instructional competency. Results from this quasi-experimental study provide evidence that use of rehearsal had a significant and positive effect on instructional competency in the targeted refinement area. The extent to which learning difficulties were anticipated during the rehearsal was related to gains in competency.