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Information for Cooperating Teachers, University Supervisors, and Principals

Special Case Reports: When it becomes apparent that a clinical student’s performance may hinder their overall success in either clinical component, a Special Case Report may be necessary. A Special Case Report, which is used to document existing weaknesses or concerns, can be completed by a clinical supervisor or cooperating teacher. Reports must be completed and submitted to the CTPP as early in the experience as possible to achieve optimal results. The first time a concern about a candidate’s performance is documented, the CTPP director, department chairperson, and clinical supervisor will meet with the candidate to address the noted challenges and develop a remediation plan.

Supervisory Travel: Supervisors are reimbursed for travel to and from the site of supervision.

Supervisors are reimbursed for tolls and at .575 per mile for travel from either the university or their home, whichever is the shorter distance. Completed travel vouchers must be submitted to the CTPP (Education and Professional Studies Building, Room 203A) at the end of each semester. Travel reimbursements are processed pending receipt of the appropriate paperwork, such as printed directions to verify mileage and all related toll receipts.

Cooperating Teacher Payment: Payment vouchers for cooperating teachers are processed at the end of each semester after all requisite paperwork has been submitted. Payment cannot be issued unless all required evaluations and reports have been submitted.

Full-semester clinical practice: Cooperating teachers receive a stipend of $150.00 and a certificate for 15 professional development hours.

Half-semester clinical practice: Cooperating teachers receive a stipend of $75.00 and a certificate for eight professional development hours. Cooperating school nurses receive a stipend of $50.00, and a certificate for three professional development hours.

Clinical experience: Cooperating teachers receive a stipend of $100.00 for hosting a clinical experience candidate and a certificate for three professional development hours.

The Cooperating Teacher’s Role During Clinical Practice

The cooperating teacher serves as an exemplary teacher and mentor. The role of the cooperating teacher is to model, guide and discuss the challenges that teaching presents, the pleasure and satisfaction gained through successful teaching, the responsibilities of teaching, and the magnitude of the task. The success of the experience depends upon the development of a professional and collaborative relationship between the cooperating teacher and intern.

1. Orienting the Intern. From the beginning, the cooperating teacher should make the candidate feel comfortable. The intern should be informed of consultant services, guidance facilities, health services, technology and media equipment, the library, and procedures for requisitioning supplies. All extra classroom duties should be defined, such as lunch room supervision, study halls, homeroom, bus schedules, and field trips. The cooperating teacher should stress the importance of punctuality and the need to plan work and attend meetings and conferences. Cooperating teachers will keep an attendance record and alert the CTPP of excessive tardiness or absences as soon as possible.
2. Guiding the Intern in Classroom Management. The cooperating teacher’s enthusiasm will assist an intern in developing strategies for classroom management of groups with diverse learning abilities and behavioral levels. By guiding the intern toward understanding the various needs, interests and abilities of the pupils, the cooperating teacher helps him/her attain the discipline expected.
3. Guiding the Intern in Planning. The cooperating teacher will help the candidate plan individual lessons, and more importantly, to create long-range plans. It is critical that candidates learn to plan instruction based on their analysis of student learning. Candidates should begin planning individual lessons, moving gradually to planning entire weeks, and finally planning for at least a month.
4. Guiding the Intern in Understanding Children. The intern is encouraged to inquire about special services offered by the school. By meeting parents and other teachers, the intern will have available information that may help pupils progress socially and intellectually. The cooperating teacher will demonstrate the need for the candidate to take a long-range view of work during clinical experience. The cooperating teacher may assist the candidate in becoming acquainted with the particular cultures and backgrounds of the pupils.
5. Guiding the Intern in Acquiring Teaching Techniques. The cooperating teacher stresses the patience, skills and dispositions necessary to teach at all levels. He/she allows the intern to take on only such responsibility in teaching as he/she proves capable of doing. The cooperating teacher, from wide experience, informs the intern of the sources for supplemental work. The cooperating teacher suggests to the intern the curriculum guides, instructional materials, technology, records and books designed to make the beginner self-confident by encouraging the intern to try out his/her own plans and procedures. The cooperating teacher offers continuous and constructive feedback to the intern.
6. Acquainting the Intern with Classroom Routines. The cooperating teacher introduces the intern to classroom procedures: keeping attendance, housekeeping duties, emergency procedures (e.g. fire drills, rapid dismissal), school schedules, library passes, cafeteria behavior and the overall policies and administration of the school.
7. Observing and Evaluating the Intern. The cooperating teacher completes two evaluations during the course of the candidate’s placement: the mid-point evaluation and the final evaluation. At the conclusion of clinical practice, the cooperating teacher evaluates the professional growth and disposition of the candidate. It is expected that the candidate will have attained a level of maturity and competence as a teacher, including the ability to relate to all children and possess the teaching skills, knowledge, and dispositions to be a highly qualified and caring educator.

Cooperating Teacher’s Role in Clinical Experience

1. Have the candidates introduce him/herself to the children.
2. Encourage the candidate to learn the children’s names, circulate through the room when the children are working independently, and to provide help when and where appropriate.
3. Give the candidate opportunities to check children’s work and provide feedback.
4. By mutual consent of the candidate and cooperating teacher, gradually transition the candidate into teaching the class, beginning with individual children or a small group, and progressing to larger groups, and eventually the whole class.
5. Have the candidate assume some responsibility for helping the children with routine activities.
6. Have the candidate learn the importance of careful planning before working with the children. It is best that the candidate have a week notification of what will be expected. It is requested that the cooperating teacher work with the candidate in the development and implementation of lesson plans, and then reflect on the experience.

Cooperating Teacher Checklist

• Use this handbook as a resource and feel free to forward suggestions or comments on the handbook to the CTPP.
• Assess the work of the teacher candidate using the online form and submit the mid-semester assessment to CTPP. At the conclusion, complete and return the online final evaluation form.
• When submitting the final evaluation report, also submit the payment voucher to the CTPP.
• The minimum payment processing time is one month. Upon receipt of the payment voucher, the CTPP will forward the professional development certificates. Payment cannot be issued unless all required evaluations and reports have been submitted.
• First-time cooperating teachers must complete and mail a W-9 form to the CTPP. Returning cooperating teachers with name changes should also complete a W-9 form to reflect the name change. A self-addressed stamped envelope is enclosed in the cooperating teacher folder that each student gives to his/her cooperating teacher the day they arrive at the school.
• Cooperating teachers are requested to complete the online cooperating teacher survey and submit it to the CTPP at the end of clinical practice. The College of Education aggregates and disseminates this data to improve its teacher preparation programs.
• Cooperating teachers may call upon the clinical supervisor for help at any time and should confer with the clinical supervisor regularly regarding the candidate’s performance. The cooperating teacher is strongly encouraged to provide the clinical supervisor with ongoing feedback about the clinical intern.
• Should a candidate experience difficulty or need additional support, cooperating teachers are asked to complete and submit a Special Case Report to the director of the CTPP and to contact the clinical supervisor. Cooperating teachers may also call or e-mail the director. Contact information is listed at the beginning of the handbook.
• Monthly attendance forms are included in the cooperating teacher folder. These forms are to be used throughout the semester to annotate candidate absences, if any. The final attendance form can be returned when the final evaluation is submitted.

The Role of the Clinical Supervisor

The clinical component provides the College of Education with an opportunity to assess the knowledge, skills, and dispositions of its candidates. The guidance they receive through observations and feedback from clinical supervisors is critical to their professional development and success. To ensure that all candidates have the appropriate level of support during the clinical component, and in accordance with the New Jersey Department of Education Administrative Code, a minimum number of documented visits are required for Clinical Experience, as well as for both phases of clinical practice.

Clinical Experience: For all University supervisors compensated at the rate of a quarter credit load for each candidate supervised in clinical experience, a minimum of two documented visits are required. An initial informal visit must also be conducted to verify that the placement is suitable. The CTPP should be informed of inappropriate placements as early as possible. The supervisors observe candidates on-site and complete an online mid and final evaluation form. The data gathered from instruments will be aggregated as a critical component of the unit assessment system. Analysis of this data is used to justify ongoing program modification for the purpose of program improvement.

Clinical Practice: For university supervisors who are compensated at the rate of a full credit load to supervise interns, a minimum of seven documented visits (approximately every other week) is required. These visits should occur over the span of clinical practice, and the documentation should provide a basis for formatively assessing candidates’ growth from the beginning to the end of this capstone experience.

The introductory visit should take place as early as the first week but no later than the second week. The summative assessment should take place no later than early in the final week of clinical experience or clinical practice. Confer with the candidate regarding your observation of their work with children and also discuss the candidate’s progress with the cooperating teacher.

Clinical supervisors must also meet with the principal during the semester to introduce themselves and to request a possible observation by the principal. Following each visit, supervisors are to complete and submit an online internship performance assessment form to the CTPP.

During clinical practice, the university supervisor serves as liaison between the CTPP director, the cooperating teacher, the school principal, and the department chairperson and encourages the cooperating teacher and candidate to read the student teaching handbook. As a liaison the supervisor has the following responsibilities:

1. To attend a supervisors meeting at the start of the semester.
2. To explain university policy regarding the clinical component. Assist the cooperating teacher in submitting any necessary evaluations online.
3. Assist the cooperating teacher in submitting any necessary evaluations online.
4. To brief the cooperating teacher on the intern as well as, university policies and commitments.
5. To inform the intern about his/her responsibilities in the community, the school, and the classroom.
6. To confer with the cooperating teacher at the beginning of the semester to develop a weekly schedule that allows the intern to gradually assume complete responsibility for teaching the class.
7. To meet with the cooperating teacher during each visit to discuss the intern’s progress and offer assistance to the cooperating teacher in helping the intern to grow.

During the observations, visits should be long enough to permit the supervisor to:

1. Observe at least one complete lesson.
2. Confer with the cooperating teacher and intern (and on some occasions with the principal or department supervisor).
3. Encourage the candidate to reflect on and evaluate his/her progress and proficiency in the classroom.
   1. Offer assistance and guidance, and provide resource materials.
   2. Listen to and address the concerns of the intern and/or the cooperating teacher.

Final Evaluation

The clinical supervisor bases the final evaluation report on the following criteria:

1. The cooperating teacher’s judgment of the candidate’s proficiency through:
   1. Regular joint conferences between the supervisor and the cooperating teacher
   2. The cooperating teacher’s written evaluations submitted to the University
2. The supervisor’s observations of the candidate’s performance throughout the semester
3. The quality of written material produced by the candidate, i.e., lesson plans or reports
4. Conferences with the principal or other school officials regarding the candidate’s contributions to the general school program
5. Evidence of the candidate’s personal or professional responsibility in such matters as keeping the supervisor notified of the changing weekly schedule and following suggestions for instructional improvement or other changes in techniques. If a candidate does not pass clinical experience or clinical practice, the supervisor must have a record of systematic remediation and assistance provided throughout the clinical component. A Special Case Report should be filed with the CTPP. A candidate should not be automatically passed if the record or performance does not warrant it. However, proper documentation of adequate supervision must accompany a recommendation of failure. These recommendations are often discussed during Special Case Report meetings.

Suggestions for School Administrators

Clinical interns benefit from meeting with administrators prior to the first day of a field placement. Discussion topics are likely to include:

1. Areas and limits of responsibility for various school personnel
2. Philosophy of education of the school
3. Specific rules and procedures of the school
4. School and community relationships
5. Available district services to support teaching and learning

Outstanding or unusual contributions made by a candidate or irregularities in candidate behavior must be reported to the CTPP.

The Principal’s Role.

The principal plays an integral part in the professional development and success of the intern. The clinical component will be enhanced for all if the principal:

1. Interviews the prospective intern.
2. Selects a cooperating teacher who:
   1. Has a minimum of three years successful classroom teaching
   2. Possesses the appropriate standard certification within the area of instruction for which the student is being prepared.
   3. Exhibits a willingness to share classroom responsibilities and professional expertise with a teacher candidate and serve as a guide and mentor.
   4. Exhibits a willingness to allow the intern to develop a “personal model of teaching”.
   5. Volunteers to be assigned an intern.