NSAII TEACHING AND LEARNING CONFERENCE NOVEMBER, 2012 ANN NUTTER COFFMAN, NEA RICHELLE PATTERSON, NEA JANE ROBB, CALIFORNIA TEACHERS ASSOCIATION Transforming Entry to the Profession: NEA’s Vision of Teacher Preparation Residencies

Preservice Candidate Context

Commission on Effective Teachers and Teaching A teaching profession that embraces collective accountability for student learning balanced with collaborative autonomy that allows educators to do what is best for students. A vision for the teaching profession based on three guiding principles: 1. Student learning is at the center of everything a teacher does. 2. Teachers take primary responsibility for student learning. 3. Effective teachers share in the responsibility for teacher selection, evaluation, and dismissal.

What are the obstacles? Teachers have little or no authority over any significant elements of our own profession; Too many of those with authority have no idea about the complexities, challenges and rewards of teaching; Teachers and the organizations that represent them have not demanded the leadership and responsibility for transforming the profession.

The NEA Three-Point Plan for Reform “I am setting as NEA’s guiding star the advancement of a profession of teaching that centers on the success of students.” Dennis VanRoekel 1. Raising the Bar for Entry 2. Teachers Ensuring Great Teaching 3. Providing Union Leadership to Transform our Profession

Point 1: Raising the Bar for Entry “ The first step in transforming our profession is to strengthen and maintain strong and uniform standards for preparation and admission.”  Every teacher candidate should have one full year of residency under the supervision of a master teacher before earning a full license.  Every teacher candidate should pass a rigorous classroom-based performance assessment at the end of his or her candidacy.

Point 1: NEA Action Agenda Work with institutions of higher education, districts, and interested foundations to establish residency programs. Support the training of high-quality teachers to serve as clinical faculty, cooperating teachers, and mentors. Support the establishment of at least 50 new high-quality residency programs and 10 statewide teacher performance assessment systems. Strongly advocate for new state regulations in the 26 TPAC pilot states and others to require a candidate to pass a performance assessment before becoming a teacher of record.

NEA Residency taskforce Cross-section of teachers, association leaders, and teacher educators To assist in the creation of NEA’s vision/definition of a residency To create a framework that guides NEA’s work with teacher residencies and teacher preparation

Taskforce Site Visits Denver Teacher Residency  District-based UTR Montclair State University  4-year bachelor’s, MAT, UTR St. Cloud University  Co-teaching Twin Cities Collaborative Residency (TC2)  Brand new UTR with 6 private IHEs collaborating Eastern Mennonite University  4-year bachelor’s; Mid-Valley Teacher Consortium West Virginia University  5-year bachelor’s & master’s degree; PDS model

NEA’s Vision of Clinical Partnerships Rather than focusing on a specific model/structure, we believe that every clinical partnership should have specific experiences/components regardless of path or structure BEFORE a teacher candidate becomes the sole individual responsible for kids (teacher-of-record). We believe that the clinical preparation partnership should be a mutually beneficial relationship between programs and schools whose goal is to not only prepare future teachers, but also serve as a mechanism for professional development and leadership opportunities and for school renewal/improvement.

Project Management Triangle

Applied to Clinical Partnerships… Candidate TimeResources Quality Clinical Experience

Program Context Targets district, regional, and state teacher hiring needs Reciprocal benefit for partners Common vision and candidate standard for all stakeholders Multiple stakeholders invest monetarily in the program

Time The amount of time candidates spend in clinical experiences. Time

Resources Resources could include: -Human capital -Cooperating teachers -IHE faculty -Others? -Fiscal resources -District and/or IHE dollars -Community resources

Quality Clinical Experiences -Selection, training, and feedback for practice faculty (i.e. supervisors, mentors, CTs) -Early and ongoing field experiences -Ongoing opportunities for teaching, analysis, and reflection for candidates -Spiraled and integrated curriculum (content/PCK) throughout experiences -Data collection, feedback, and reflection of practice

Candidates Education majors -Participate in residency partnership programs -Balance of content studies and clinical preparation Non-education majors -Participate in Residency (big “R” Residencies) Programs -Likely non-education majors or non-traditional students -Likely focus more on clinical experiences and PCK than content Candidate

Profession-Ready Educator = Selectivity Time Resources Candidate Quality Clinical Experiences Classroom-based Performance Assessment + +

Profession-Ready Educator Lots of factors to take into consideration - Local context - Teacher evaluation requirements - edTPA - State and local certification requirements - Student impact

NEA’s Role Provide model legislation and contract language for professional preparation issues  selection, teacher time, and compensation School-based faculty certification Promote conversations at the state and local level about why practicing teachers and their associations should be involved in this work Provide training, technical assistance, and resources to local and state associations

State Affiliate Role Work with local affiliates to increase member understandings about professional preparation and support Convene meetings between affiliates and P-12 stakeholders to discuss why practicing teachers and their associations should be involved in this work Work with locals and their IHE partners to develop selection criteria and school-based faculty training Work with policymakers to support and fund clinical preparation partnerships Provide technical assistance and resources to local associations

CTA Workgroup Charge CTA will research and develop effective educator and administrator evaluation models and teacher licensing models for consideration that improve student learning and advance the teaching profession.

What’s already happening? Seattle Teacher Residency Development of resources for locals and state affiliates as well as policy documents Identification of local and state affiliate interested in working on teacher preparation issues for small NEA grant dollars

Profession-Ready Educator = Selectivity Time Resources Candidate Quality Clinical Experiences Classroom-based Performance Assessment + +

Questions??