Mathematics Student Teachers' Self-Assessment of Teaching Competencies.

A self-assessment inventory of teaching competencies was devised for use by student teachers. The instrument was administered to 15 seniors prior to a methods course and student teaching and again after student teaching. Factor analysis of the pre- and posttest scores revealed five dimensions accounting for 77 and 68 percent of the variance, respectively. Differences in mean scores were found (p<.01) in favor of increased self-assessment. The instrument was then administered to 34 experienced high school mathematics teachers. It was found that the post-student teacher scores differed from the experienced teacher scores in only one perceived self-assessment. It is suggested that the change in scores from pre- to post-student teaching could be due to training, or more insightful assessment of abilities, or a combination of these and other factors. (JG)