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Field Experience: Riley College of Education and Human Sciences: Resources for School Partners and Clinical Faculty

Resources for Cooperating Teachers

Cooperating teachers are full-time, appropriately licensed teachers who are responsible for the direct, day-to-day supervision of candidates assigned to them during Demonstration Teaching. They provide appropriate professional experiences for candidates and help gather objective data on their teaching effectiveness. Cooperating teachers share their expertise in teaching as they guide the Demonstration Teaching experience.

The cooperating teacher and university supervisor are members of a team that facilitate the demonstration teaching experience for candidates. Together, they share responsibility for continuous improvement of candidate preparation. Along with their candidate's university supervisor, the cooperating teacher completes four observations of their candidate during Demonstration Teaching. Following each of the observations, the university supervisor and cooperating teacher meet with the candidate, and complete a Triad Form in order to provide written actionable feedback to the candidate.

The cooperating teacher must also complete a midterm and final evaluation on their experiences working with a teacher candidate. Once the university receives the completed evaluations from the cooperating teacher and the cooperating teacher is set up as a vendor with the university, the university pays the cooperating teacher a stipend. Questions regarding this process can be emailed to educationfield@mail.waldenu.edu.

Orientation materials for Cooperating Teachers:

Resources for Host Teachers

Host teachers are full-time, appropriately licensed teachers who are responsible for supervising the candidates assigned to them during classroom-based field experiences. The host teacher must be recommended by the principal or district according to local policy. They provide opportunities for candidates to observe their classroom, complete early teaching experiences, and fulfill their course-based application assignments. Host Teachers are provided with orientation materials consisting of summaries of the weekly assignments their candidates will complete during their field experience placement.

Host teachers will be asked to complete an evaluation on candidates’ knowledge, skills, and professional dispositions. They also verify the number of hours candidates spend in the field.

Orientation materials for Host Teachers:

Resources for Principal Mentors

Principal Mentors are licensed principal-practitioners who serve as a role model, counselor, and teacher, providing guidance and opportunities for professional development, growth, and support. Candidates in both the M.S. in Education program and the Ed. Specialist program will have three principal mentors—one in each field experience setting.

The academic coordinator for the program orients each principal mentor to his or her role as a principal mentor. Each principal mentor facilitates the professional field experiences for their candidate.

At the end of each field experience, the principal mentor completes an evaluation of the candidate. Once the university receives the completed evaluation and the principal mentor is set up as a vendor with the university, the university pays the principal mentor a stipend. Questions regarding this process can be emailed to educationfield@mail.waldenu.edu.

Orientation materials for Principal Mentors:

Resources for University Supervisors

University supervisors are part-time faculty members at Walden University who are responsible for supervising and evaluating teacher candidates during Demonstration Teaching. Along with their candidate's cooperating teacher, university supervisors complete four observations of their candidate during Demonstration Teaching. Following each of the observations, the university supervisor and cooperating teacher meet with the candidate, and complete a Triad Form in order to provide written actionable feedback to the candidate. The university supervisor enters the observation in the ePortfolio system, and uploads the completed Triad Form. The university supervisor also completes a final evaluation of the candidate at the end of the experience and verifies the teacher candidate's Demonstration Teaching time sheet.

Orientation materials for University Supervisors:

Professional Development Opportunities

The Riley College of Education and Human Sciences periodically offers professional development opportunities to clinical educators. Click on the below document to access various on-demand professional development webinars.