WE are the Teacher Preparation Initiative

The work of the Teacher Preparation Initiative (TPI) started in earnest in January 2011 when our Working Groups first began meeting.  Since then, we have brought forth 16 proposals to improve how we recruit, prepare, employ and support our teacher candidates.  These recommendations are grounded in data, represent best practice, and reflect the best thinking of our colleagues.  We anticipate possibly 10 more proposals to come forth over the next year. 

These proposals have come from our Working Groups, Task Force, and Focused Teams and are brought to the TPI Coordinating Team.  So, who is engaged in these groups? 

·        *   Since January 2011, TPI has been led by the work of 177 participants in the development of TPI proposals. 

·       *   133 participants are currently actively involved

·        *  65 of those participants are from P-12

·       *   68% of faculty in Teacher Education have been or are currently involved

·      *    Participants include staff from the Admissions Office, Career Services, Information Technology,     

       Multicultural Student Services, Office of Clinical Experiences, and SOE Student Services

TPI has also been working diligently to provide mini-grants to districts and programs at SCSU to implement TPI recommendations.

·        *  All 6 districts have received funding to implement Future Educator’s Clubs

·       *   5 of the 6 districts have received funding to implement induction components and to support the   

       participation of their new teachers in workshops

·        * 12 licensure areas have been funded to implement new field experiences, admission requirements,         

        co-teaching, and radically reform their programs. 

In addition, we have engaged close to 150 new teachers in workshops that address first year teacher needs, 50 instructional coaches in cohorts that addressed content and skills, 30 co-teaching specialists in all 6 districts and at SCSU that were trained to lead at their institutions, and 20 administrators through high level meetings and trainings to support new teachers.

All of these participants ARE TPI.  The work moves forward because of you!

If you are not already engaged, how would you like to be involved in TPI?

Prepare Working Group - Proposing a Teachers on Special Assignment Approach to Field Placement and Candidate Supervision

Below is a summary from Jim Robinson (Prepare Working Group Facilitator) of an idea that was generated at the last Prepare Working Group Meeting.  This idea is in the brainstorming stages, and so any all feedback is encouraged.  

                

At the last TPI Prepare Working Group we revised the University Supervisor and Cooperating Teacher proposal with one major new piece:  how to use Teachers on Special Assignment for both Field Experience placements and University Supervision.  The Coordinating Team asked this TOSA inclusion as part of the revision.  Here is what we came up with:

As an alternative to the current field placement and supervision model, we could implement a collaborative model through Teachers on Special Assignment.  The TOSA would make placements in their home P-12 district and then act as university supervisors for the students teachers in their building or their district.  This could be a triad model that includes a content specialist, cooperating teacher and a Teacher on Special Assignment (TOSA).

Within the Triad Model each member of the triad would have the following profile:

1)       Content Specialist:

University faculty

They teach in their area of certification

Supervise, observe, and provide regular & timely feedback for teacher candidates in all content areas

Strong communication/collaboration between the triad partners (TOSA & CT).

2)       Cooperative Teacher

Tenured, highly effective P-12 classroom teacher

They teach in their area of certification

Supervise, observe, and provide regular & timely feedback for teacher candidates

Strong communication/collaboration between the triad partners (TOSA & Content Specialist).

3)       Teacher on Special Assignment (TOSA) or similar position depending on the district

Tenured, highly effective P-12 classroom teacher.

They have established relationships, trust and knowledge of the quality of teachers they serve.

Assist in teacher candidate placement within their district/buildings.

Supervise, observe, and provide regular & timely feedback for teacher candidates.

Strong communication/collaboration between the triad partners (Cooperating Teacher & Content Specialist).

The Strengths of this triad model would be:

●       PD opportunities for the TOSA, the CT, and the CS.

●       Selection and deselection process of the CT can be handled by the TOSA.

○       They’re in district and know the master teachers.

○       Relationships built between the TOSA and CT could translate into higher quality placements.

●       The triad could collaboratively support, problem solve, and make decisions surrounding the teacher candidate.

●       Long term partnerships are nurtured (i.e. high quality CTs can be retained)

●       The TOSA has more knowledge of CT strengths for proper placement.

●       The TOSA has district knowledge and resources that are not available a University Supervisor.

●       Supports the TPI/Member District commitment to hiring SCSU candidates.

●       Creates a more meaningful experience for the teacher candidate.

●       Strengthens the partnership between the University & P-12 schools.

It is implicit that student teaching credit allocation needs to be revised.

For sustainability, the TOSA model could provide more level of collaboration without spending more money.  Essentially, where implemented the funds that SCSU has paid for university supervisors could go to the district TOSA who both makes student teaching placements and also supervises the teacher candidate as a university supervisor.  For the same amount that the University pays a university supervisor, the following by products would result in more collaboration between SCSU and the school district:

1)      Helps district hire more SCSU graduates as the TOSA will know more about SCSU teacher candidates than any application can reveal;

2)      Helps the district hire better teachers as the TOSA would be able select the from the best teachers who are student teaching;

3)      Lowers OCE inputs as placement are no longer made by OCE;

4)      Moves quality control of Cooperating teachers from OCE to the school district;

5)      Embeds professional development  through collaboration between the TOSA, the cooperating teaching and content faculty supervisors;

6)      Improves school orientation for teacher candidates;

7)      Improves relationship between content faculty and school districts;

8)      Gains connectivity and coherence in the program with more collaboration..

At the same time, this TOSA model may lose some of the objectivity that University supervisors who are neither from the University nor from the school district provide as outside evaluators of teacher candidates.

Implementing this model may also not be suitable for every placement, every licensure, every school or every district.  And so, the implementation of such a program should be in stages.