REX MANGIARACINA & ERICA HOBBS TEACHERS-IN-RESIDENCE UNIVERSITY SUPERVISORS Cooperating Teachers: Training, Evaluation, Recruitment & Ultimate Success

THE MANY ROLES OF COOPERATING TEACHERS  'The Big Dog‘ 'The Big Dog‘ Gentle / Patient / Caring / Friendly

THE MANY ROLES OF COOPERATING TEACHERS  'The Coach‘ 'The Coach‘ Emphatic / Demanding / Challenging / Direct

THE MANY ROLES OF COOPERATING TEACHERS  'The Great Communicator‘ 'The Great Communicator‘ Charismatic / Inspirational / Hopeful / Communicative

THE MANY ROLES OF COOPERATING TEACHERS  'The Role Model‘ 'The Role Model‘ Real / Relevant / Present / Mentor

THE MANY ROLES OF COOPERATING TEACHERS  'The Cheerleader‘ 'The Cheerleader‘ Upbeat / Fun / Humorous / Smile

COOPERATING TEACHER ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS  Will always be… Clear / Consistent / Concise (3 C’s)  Will always be… Real / Reliable / Resourceful (3 R’s)  Will always be… Prompt / Professional / Prideful of Profession (3 P’s)

COOPERATING TEACHERS ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS  Will always consider the following… The ‘Not knowing vs. Neglect’ Phenomenon  Will realize & model THE biggest problem preventer / solver… COMMUNICATION

 Both Summative and Formative observer who offers feedback/suggestions  Does at least 4 Formal Observations  Conferences with ST and CT to discuss ongoing process  Communicates requirements of STs and makes sure the path is followed and journey is completed  Mostly Formative observer who sees the day to day development of the ST  Does at least 4 Formal Observations with feedback prior to US visit (2 days)  Alerts US to any and all issues that might impede the progress of the ST  Assists US in determining readiness of ST for the classroom and licensure UNIVERSITY SUPERVISORS & COOPERATING TEACHERS -HOW DO THEY COEXIST? University Supervisor Cooperating Teacher

THE OFFICE OF FIELD EXPERIENCES COLLABORATES WITH SCHOOL PRINCIPALS TO SELECT THE COOPERATING TEACHERS WHO WORK WITH UNDERGRADUATE YEARLONG INTERNS, STUDENT TEACHERS, AND GRADUATE INTERNS. COOPERATING TEACHERS MUST BE SELECTED USING THE FOLLOWING CRITERIA: -PROFESSIONAL LEVEL II OR CONTINUING LICENSURE IN THE APPROPRIATE SUBJECT AND GRADE LEVELS. -THREE OR MORE YEARS OF SUCCESSFUL TEACHING EXPERIENCE IN THE APPROPRIATE SUBJECT AND GRADE LEVELS. -PROFESSIONAL PREPARATION THAT INCLUDED A STUDENT TEACHING EXPERIENCE. -FULL-TIME TEACHING RESPONSIBILITIES IN THE AREA OF THE CANDIDATE'S LICENSURE. -EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTIONAL, MANAGEMENT, COMMUNICATION, AND INTERPERSONAL SKILLS. -EFFECTIVE MENTORING AND SUPERVISION SKILLS. -ADVANCED COURSEWORK OR A MASTER'S DEGREE IN THE APPROPRIATE FIELD IS PREFERRED. -DEMONSTRATED PROFESSIONALISM AND ON-GOING PROFESSIONAL GROWTH, SUCH AS INTENSIVE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, GRADUATE LEVEL COURSEWORK, OR NATIONAL BOARD CERTIFICATION. -ENDORSEMENT BY THE PRINCIPAL AS A GOOD ROLE MODEL FOR TEACHING. -WILLINGNESS TO SERVE AS A COOPERATING TEACHER. How are Cooperating Teachers Selected?

HOW ARE COOPERATING TEACHERS EVALUATED?  UNC Charlotte online surveys completed by: -Student Teacher -University Supervisor  Is this enough??? -NO!!! The reality is that strong candidates often go underutilized or not utilized at all while weak candidates serve as poor examples and contribute to the delivery of a poor internship experience.  WHY must we change the status quo???

The Cooperating Teacher plays a critical role in what is believed to be the most important component of a teacher training program: the internship (Ferber & Nillas, 2010; Turunen & Tuovila, 2012). Ferber and Nillas (2010) identified the Cooperating Teacher as one of the main factors that determine the effectiveness of the student teaching experience. Despite the influence of Cooperating Teachers, their selection and training has been criticized in the literature (Koster, Korthagen, & Wubbels, 1998; Metcalf, 1991). In their review of over 60 years of research, Clarke et al. (2014) emphasized that the practices employed by teacher training programs to choose Cooperating Teachers are inadequate. At a time when the selection and training of mentoring teachers may be lacking, the emergence of performance-based assessments, like edTPA, make the need for selecting high quality, prepared Cooperating Teachers even more critical. Research has shown that teacher candidates often emulate the instructional strategies modeled by their Cooperating Teacher (Kissau, 2014). With this in mind, it could be hypothesized that interns placed with Cooperating Teachers, who lack familiarity with edTPA and who model teacher- centered instruction, risk adopting and perpetuating these practices in their own classrooms and may, as a result, struggle to meet the requirements of edTPA, thereby jeopardizing their ability to get licensed to teach. In support of this claim, Cato (2014) cautioned that teacher candidate placements in inappropriate contexts have the potential to adversely affect the face validity of the edTPA assessment and may jeopardize candidate success.

 Comfortable/Experienced and or ‘willing to learn’ about UNC Charlotte Student Teaching Processes including edTPA and requirements therein  Willing to work with your respective school and UNC Charlotte to set up not just culminating student teaching internships, but meaningful clinical experiences as well  Earn creditable service that is noted on your NCDPI year-end evaluation  Additional means of support and virtual ‘pipeline’ of new, highly qualified teachers familiar with your respective school and students, policies, procedures therein  Communicate with your school’s administration to discuss long term goals and implementation  Reach out to UNC Charlotte Office of Field or find us online at RECRUITING P-12 PARTNERS… Who & Why? How?

THANKS TO ALL FOR ATTENDING AND SHOWING AN INTEREST IN THIS IMPORTANT METHOD OF GIVING BACK TO THE TEACHING PROFESSION! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!