Clinical Practice for Cooperating Teachers

Prior to meeting with your teacher candidate, please be sure to:

• Please read all sections of the WSC Clinical Practice Handbook
• Review your teacher candidate’s profile information (dealing with his/her background and college preparation), so that you can be better acquainted with your teacher candidate.
• Post the teacher candidate’s name along with your name in the classroom.
• Provide a desk or designated work area for the teacher candidate with supplies and copies of necessary materials and textbooks.
• Communicate to all families to let them know you will have a teacher candidate
• Arrange to meet with your teacher candidate before the official start of the experience. During this meeting you will be discussing many items on this list.

• Review all essential safety and emergency procedures.
• Make available a daily schedule which includes, for example, Title I, speech and resource room schedules, specials, etc.
• Provide the teacher candidate with curriculum guides, school calendar, handbooks, policies, necessary teaching manuals, and any available professional materials from your school. Discuss what has already been taught and what needs to be taught for students to be successful.
• Communicate to the teacher candidate the school policy on student discipline; also include your guidelines/management plan for your classroom.
• Explain record keeping, grading, attendance, and classroom management procedures (seating chart, discipline.)
• Introduce the teacher candidate to other staff members and students.
• Assist the teacher candidate with locating the media center and operating audio-visual equipment (including email and Internet if available to teacher candidates.)
• Inform the teacher candidate of professional organizations/meetings that they may want to join.
• Acquaint the teacher candidate with budget and ordering procedures.
• Inform the teacher candidate of individual needs of students, and discuss ways the teacher candidate can establish rapport with students.

Discuss your vision for the teacher candidate’s role in the classroom and various duties, responsibilities, and classes that will be taught. Begin to work on the timeline activity.

• All lesson plans during the initial weeks should be carefully written out and detailed using the template used by the school district or one of the candidate’s choosing (with cooperating teacher approval). A teacher candidate simply must plan in more detail than a veteran teacher.
• If the teacher candidate is using the cooperating teacher’s plans or is required to use a scripted curriculum lesson, then it is not necessary to write a plan for those lessons; that work has already been done.
• The cooperating teacher will review all written plans and he/she will assess the teacher candidate’s overall level of competency in planning for instruction. The cooperating teacher will then use his/her professional judgment to determine when the teacher candidate is ready for more autonomy in planning for any given subject. Autonomy means the teacher candidate can choose his/her own format/template for lesson planning. However, it is the expectation of faculty at Wayne State that evidence of adequate planning remains a priority throughout the clinical practice semester.
• At no point in the semester should the teacher candidate be allowed to stop writing plans altogether, but he/she may be allowed to shift to a less detailed and less time-consuming format. Note: Throughout the semester, planning must always meet whatever requirements have been established by the building administrator for all teachers in the building
• When the college supervisor comes to observe, there should always be a detailed plan prepared for the college supervisor when he/she comes to observe – even after the teacher candidate shifts to a less-detailed format most of the time.

1. The Academic Coordinator is to be notified immediately when a teacher candidate does not appear to be progressing at a rate to allow for successful completion of the clinical practice experience.
2. The Academic Coordinator will notify the teacher candidate, cooperating teacher, building administrator, college supervisors, and Dean of Education regarding the unsatisfactory quality of the teacher candidate’s performance.
3. Information relevant for remediation of the teacher candidate will be sought from college records and college personnel, including (but not limited to) his/her academic advisor and former instructors.
4. Unless the situation demands that the teacher candidate be removed immediately, an improvement plan will be developed that identifies areas of needed improvement and strategies for implementation.
5. The improvement plan will be developed by the cooperating teacher, in consultation with the college supervisors, Academic Coordinator, and Director of Education Services, and presented to the teacher candidate. A copy of the plan will be given to the cooperating teacher, college supervisor(s), and the WSC personnel. The plan will include:
   • identification of areas where improvement is needed
   • specific strategies to implement improvement plan
   • specific outcomes desired and person responsible for validation of outcomes
   • a timeline for completion of outcomes
   • consequences of not completing the plan on time or adequately
   • date and signature of the teacher candidate and cooperating teacher
6. During the period specified for demonstrating professional or classroom improvement by the teacher candidate, the college supervisor will evaluate the performance of the teacher candidate at least one full period each week. Written and oral feedback will be provided to the teacher candidate regarding his/her progress toward reaching the goals of the remediation plan. ALL interactions will be carefully documented, including major points of discussion, conclusions reached, and dates.
7. Possible outcomes from the steps outlined above are:
   • The teacher candidate may adequately meet the requirements of the improvement plan and be allowed to continue the clinical practice experience.
   • The teacher candidate may make significant progress toward meeting requirements, but may not complete all aspects of the plan. The Academic Coordinator may choose to either extend the experience at the same location or assign the student to a different location during the same or a subsequent semester. Should the experience extend beyond the end of the semester, an incomplete grade will be assigned until the experience is completed. Additional coursework may be required.
   • The teacher candidate may decide to voluntarily withdraw from clinical practice.
   • The teacher candidate’s rate of progress may remain unsatisfactory requiring the experience to be terminated. The decision to terminate will be made based on input from the cooperating teacher, college supervisors, building administrator, and Academic Coordinator. When a termination decision is made, a conference will be held with the teacher candidate. Personal or career counseling may be suggested.
   • Should the teacher candidate withdraw or be terminated from his or her clinical practice experience, he or she may be allowed a second chance in a subsequent semester. Pursuant to any new assignment, the teacher candidate must verify having had additional coursework and/or practical experiences in a learning environment that would increase his or her potential for success. The teacher candidate has two years from the semester of termination to attempt completion of his/her program, with the understanding that a second attempt at clinical practice is subject to the approval of the Dean of Education.

For our Removal of a Teacher Candidate Policy, see the Policies and Procedures page.

Weekly conferences

Weekly Conference Forms should be filled out as a hard copy or digitally. They should include all pertinent observations, concerns, suggestions, and strengths observed from the week, including comments regarding lessons. These forms should be submitted to the Academic Coordinator and the Director of Education Services only if you have concerns; otherwise the evaluation should be given to the teacher candidate for use (the teacher candidate should also have them available to be viewed by their college supervisor/s).

Download Weekly Conference Form

Formative evaluations

Formative evaluations are completed by the college supervisor, who may collaborate with the cooperating teacher. These evaluations are completed for each observation visit made via Anthology Portfolio

Summative evaluations

Summative evaluations are individually conducted by the cooperating teacher and college supervisor. These evaluations are completed at mid-term and end of term via Anthology Portfolio.

The same rating scale is used for our Formative and Summative Evaluation. The evaluations are based on InTASC standards and are used across the state of Nebraska to evaluate teacher candidates and document the candidate’s ability to effectively demonstrate the standards. The rating scale includes levels for Advanced, Proficient, Developing, and Below Standard. Please see the full rubric for descriptions of each level. At midterm, the goal would be for teacher candidates to be performing at Developing or Proficient. Note: Whenever performance is scored “Below Standard,” please be in communication with the Academic Coordinator.

In an effort to create consistency in the interpretation of the scale and therefore consistency in the evaluation data, please consult the Evidence Charts on NDE's website. All college supervisors and cooperating teachers will take part in a Reliability Check to further enhance consistency. Please refer to appendix for more details.