ORGANIZATIONAL LIFE-STYLE AS A PREDICTOR OF STUDENT TEACHING PERFORMANCE

This study contrasted the life styles of student teachers who were high and lower performers on an exit evaluation of their teaching performance. The Life Style Approaches Inventory, a measure of organizational life style, was used to assess the student teachers' overall approach to life: a state teacher appraisal instrument that has been linked to achievement of public school students was used to assess the student teachers' performances. High and low performance groups were formed by moving one standard deviation above and one standard deviation below the mean score obtained on the appraisal instrument by the entire group of student teachers (N = 75). Discriminant analyses revealed that life style was a good predictor of high and lower teaching performances as measured by the appraisal instrument. Student teachers who reported an organized life style were far more likely to receive a high exit evaluation than their less organized peers.