Stritch receives national recognition for "model" student teacher program
posted Aug. 1, 2011
The Cardinal Stritch University College of Education and Leadership was recently named one of only 10 colleges/universities nationwide as a “model” institution for its student teacher program, as determined by the National Council on Teacher Quality.
Stritch is the only institution in the state of Wisconsin to be recognized.
NCTQ began a comprehensive review of the student teaching experience nation-wide about three years ago. Their review examined 134 higher education institutions offering an undergraduate student teaching program to elementary teacher candidates and approved by their states to prepare public school teachers. In all, these 134 institutions comprise nearly 10 percent of the nation’s institutions offering traditional teacher preparation.
NCTQ selected the institutions using a stratified random sampling designed to include approximately three teacher preparation programs in every state and the District of Columbia. As part of its study, NCTQ collected and evaluated a large number of documents related to each institution’s student teaching program. This included not only the higher education institutions themselves, but also the school districts in which they partnered.
As one of the 10 institutions categorized as having “model design,” Stritch was commended for “playing a strong role in selection and requiring that cooperating teachers (from partnering school districts) have strong instructional and mentorship skills.” Stritch is among a small number of institutions that require cooperating teachers to be fully qualified and actively participates in the selection of those teachers.
“The College of Education and Leadership is both thrilled and honored to receive this recognition,” said Dr. Freda Russell, dean of the College of Education and Leadership. “Stritch has a reputation for designing effective models that respond to the dynamics facing urban, suburban, and rural schools, and I am pleased that the excellent work of our faculty, staff and students has been highlighted.”
Recent surveys of new teachers suggest that student teaching is the most important part of their teaching training experience, and a strong student teaching experience can dramatically improve later teaching performance. Accordingly, Stritch’s program rigorously challenges its student teachers to excel.
“Stritch’s teacher education programs require extensive practicum, field work, and student teaching experiences in the K-12 environment, where candidates are immersed in diverse school cultures in order to connect theory to practice,” Russell said. “Our teacher candidates are also mentored and coached by trained clinical and school faculty so they may observe and develop innovative classroom practices that promote student learning.”
All 134 institutions were initially evaluated on the following standards:
- The student teaching experience, which should last no less than 10 weeks, should require no less than five weeks at a single local school site and represent a full-time commitment.
- The teacher preparation program must select the cooperating teacher for each student teacher placement.
- The cooperating teacher candidate must have at least three years of teaching experience.
- The cooperating teacher candidate must have the capacity to have a positive impact on student learning.
- The cooperating teacher candidate must have the capacity to mentor an adult, with skills in observation, providing feedback, holding professional conversations and working collaboratively.
After evaluating all 134 institutions against these five standards, NCTQ selected a subsample of 32 institutions to evaluate them on an additional 14 standards.
“This is outstanding recognition for our College of Education and Leadership,” said Stritch President Dr. James Loftus. “Stritch’s commitment to exemplary teacher training dates back to the very founding of this university in 1937, and the NCTQ report provides another example of how, 75 years later, our commitment to outstanding academic programs continues.”
The nine other model institutions include Bridgewater College (Virginia), Colorado Christian University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Furman University (South Carolina), Lake Superior State University, Oklahoma State University, the University of Hawaii at Manoa, University of Minnesota at Morris, and Wheelock College (Massachusetts).