Partnership Members' Roles and Responsibilities
All members of the school and university play a vital role in the success of the teacher candidate developing to professional teacher. The following outlines essential roles and responsibilities in STEP UP for teacher candidates, university supervisor, and cooperating teachers for the Fall and Spring semesters.
Roles and Responsibilities for Fall Semester
Teacher Candidates Roles and Responsibilities for Fall Semester
Fall Semester
- Commit to complete a 2-semester program.
- Adhere to all district and university policies.
- Demonstrate high level of professionalism.
- Attend one assigned full day every week of the semester at their respective school.
- Attend the entire first week of class at their respective school.
- Attend Professional Learning Community (PLC) meetings with other teacher candidates and their cooperating teachers.
- Participate in co-planning, co-teaching, and feedback conferences with cooperating teacher and university supervisor. Co-teaching roles will vary over the course of the semester, with the candidate taking on greater responsibility as the semester progresses.
- Participate in professional development, faculty meetings, and other district sponsored events.
- Actively participate in their own professional development in the authentic setting of a real classroom by setting goals and focusing on continuous improvement.
- Be receptive to engage in other activities contributing to professional development.
- Have the opportunity to substitute teach.
- Adhere to district and university policies.
- Continue to demonstrate high level of professionalism and participate in the school/district meetings and events teachers are expected to attend
- Attend the equivalent of 14 5-day weeks over the spring semester and fulfill responsibilities of student teacher.
- By starting on the district start day, students may periodically substitute teach throughout the semester one day a week—optional but recommended.
- Continue to attend PLC meetings and Group Seminar meetings.
- Participate in planning and post-teaching conferences with cooperating teacher.
- Take on more planning, teaching, and administrative responsibility in the classroom as the semester progresses.
- Participate in parent meetings.
- Participate in mock interview process with district personnel.
- Actively participate in a seamless transition from student to professional.
University Site Liaison Roles and Responsibilities
- Commit to a process of scaffolding instruction/learning and provide ongoing support for teacher candidates during both semesters.
- Serve as a liaison between the university and the school district.
- Facilitate seminar discussions with teacher candidates and engage in the discourse of excellent teaching with teacher candidates and cooperating teachers.
- Demonstrate effective teaching practices.
- Demonstrate differentiated instruction for students of various backgrounds and abilities.
- Observe instructional lessons and provide feedback to teacher candidates.
- Communicate with cooperating teachers and provide assistance and recommendations where appropriate.
- Participate in the process of documenting the implementation of STEP UP.
Cooperating teachers Roles and Responsibilities
- Commit to a 2-semester program of mentorship.
- Attend all Professional Development opportunities as provided by the district and university pertaining to the program.
- Commit to a process of scaffolding instruction/learning and provide ongoing support for teacher candidates during both semesters.
- Meet with teacher candidate for co-planning and post-teaching conferences to discuss effective practices and provide feedback for improvement.
- Engage in co-teaching lessons with the teacher candidate. Scaffold the experience so that the teacher candidate can take on different roles and greater responsibility as the semester progresses.
- Demonstrate/model characteristics of highly effective teaching throughout the semester, including responsive teaching practices for all students of various backgrounds and abilities (e.g., effective differentiated instruction).
- Engage the teacher candidate in the ongoing discourse of highly effective teaching, especially when providing feedback to the teacher candidate.
- Attend monthly meetings with faculty liaison.
- Communicate with the faculty liaison about teacher candidate progress and concerns, in addition to soliciting feedback and recommendations as needed.
- Engage in discussion with university faculty about action research projects; participate in projects if agreed upon.
- In the second semester, conduct a minimum of 3 formal observations for each student, with pre- and post-conferences to discuss the evaluation.
- In the second semester, collaborate with university supervisor to conduct two 3-way conferences for the teacher candidate.