beyond partnerships: building great teaching...

Beyond Partnerships:

Building Great Teaching Together

Rod Lucero Associate Professor, CSU, Fort Collins Jennifer Roth Fort Collins High School Nick Baltzel Social Studies Teacher, Fort Collins High School Mark LaCelle-Peterson Vice President for Policy and Programs, AACTE

November 4, 2014 Chicago, IL

American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education

A most momentous anniversary

175 years ago this fall…

• 1st US teacher preparation program established,

• fulfilling a dream of our 1st chief state school officer, Horace Mann:

• the Normal School in Lexington, Mass., (1st of 3),

• our first explicit, effective policy effort to ensure effective teachers for democratic public schools


Why create a new institution to do it?

…because

the then-new common schools,

the already-established secondary schools (academies, seminaries, grammar schools)

and the (some of them) long-established colleges

were altogether disconnected from each other.

Teacher Education filled a void and

created connections.

175th Anniversary Congratulations to

State education departments

The profession of teaching

….and to all of us!

We’ve been at this for a long time!

….and we’re not finished yet.


What is our challenge today?

Ensuring coherent entry into a great profession.

…we haven’t fully solved the ‘connection’ problem

Can we grow beyond ‘partnerships’ that are locally negotiated & personality dependent to

a policy-supported integrated ‘pipeline’ that creates a coherent transition from preparation, through articulated clinical experiences, to induction/residencies, to practice and persistence?


Every system is perfectly designed to achieve the outcomes it produces.

—Tony Bryk

Overall, our career entry system gives us…

• Insufficient high-quality sites for candidates

• High rates of turnover in clinical personnel

• Challenges coordinating across systems — Adversely impacting consistency and data

• Brilliant problem-solvers and negotiators


Despite our challenges, however,

we have numerous local examples of excellent partnerships for clinical preparation that are:

—personally negotiated

—require extraordinary effort

—provide tremendous benefit

—are often short-lived….but not always!


The “rule” has been to bank on the exceptions—exceptional efforts by exceptional individuals with exceptional support for limited duration.

But a few ‘lighthouse’ relationships have been enduring and effective


…a tip from a valued mentor

The key to success is simple….

never do anything for the first time.

—Bob Menges


Some relationships are built to last

Colorado State University in partnership with

Poudre School District and

Thompson School District

Partners for +22 years

6 high school sites

12 junior high sites


Fort Collins High School

Leroy Clyde


Mutuality

How are matches made?

Who feels responsible?

Why has it lasted?


Persistence

Tough job, tough market, why do some thrive?

What aspects of preparation matter? What supports persistence?


Impact

What difference do the candidates make?

How do practicing educators benefit?

Does the model matter?


The last words go to Horace Mann…

Where anything is growing, a single former is worth a thousand reformers.

Let us not be content to wait and see what happens,

give us the determination to make the right things happen.

Horace Mann (1796-1859)

Thank You!

www.aacte.org

beyond partnerships: building great teaching...

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