The following suggestions may be useful to the mentor teacher and University Supervisor as a guide in writing comments and/or letters of reference as required in completing the narrative section of the Final Assessment Summary.

• Describe briefly the setting of the placement assignment—grade, subject, or any other unusual facts which greatly affected the work of the student teacher
• Give both strengths and areas of need, being careful not to overdo either.
• Be careful to avoid blunt statements in presenting the areas of need of the student teacher.
• Make an honest judgment of student teacher presently and a reasonable prediction of his or her probable future development.
• Identify the type of situation in which the student teacher is most likely to succeed.
• Recall the student teacher’s most outstanding achievement and try to make brief reference to it.
• Align comments to the PSU performance framework.

The following open-ended statements (Sandefer & Hinely, Peabody Journal of Education, January, 1966) may prove helpful:

• The learning activities that ________ seem to direct most effectively were…
• The students’ response to _________ was…
• _________’s ability to maintain effective classroom behavior was…
• _________ was particularly strong in his/her ability to…
• _________ could improve by strengthening competence in…
• Some activities ________ participated in other that student teaching were…
• _________’s ability to work effectively with other professional staff was…

The following global scale from the same source may offer additional help:

• ________ is making progress and shows promise; for his/her own good, however, it would probably be best if in his/her first position he/she could continue to receive close supervision and support for a while longer.
• ________ has done a reasonably good job, and I feel he/she is now competent to handle a classroom of his/her own satisfactorily.
• ________ has done a very good job. I am convinced he/she will be an asset to whatever school system may hire him/her; he/she may even become outstanding in time.
• ________ has done an unusually good job; with a little more opportunity for professional growth which will come from having a classroom of his or her own, he/she is almost certain to become an outstanding teacher.
• ________ has done such an outstanding job that I believe right new he/she could step into any elementary/secondary school in this area and be considered an outstanding teacher.