The new Multiple Subject Teacher Preparation Program (MSTEP) allows teacher candidates to spend more time doing field-based learning in elementary classrooms. The four-term program is a response to the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education's (NCATE) recent finding that teacher preparation is more effective when candidates receive more hands-on experience.
Overview
First, candidates learn fundamental concepts of language and literacy development and work in after school tutoring programs at Title I schools. In their next term, teacher candidates learn approaches to teaching specific subjects and spend two full days doing clinical practice in a classroom with a mentor teacher, trying out strategies they learned.
Clinical practice continues the following term in the same classroom with candidates spending four days a week in the classroom, focusing on how to teach students with special needs. In the final term of clinical practice, candidates work full-time with a mentor teacher in a new setting.
These partnerships with school sites allow beginning teachers to hit the ground running. Teacher candidates and cooperating teachers form co-teaching relationships in which they work closely together to plan, instruct and assess children’s learning.
Case Study: Tutoring
Almost 30 Cal Poly students offered one-on-one tutoring to students in first through sixth grades at C.L. Smith and Hawthorne elementary schools. The elementary students are selected by their teachers either because they could benefit from extra assistance with literacy skills or because they need practice with English as a second language.
Literacy tutors helped with studying for spelling assessments, understanding texts that are aligned with the new California Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts, mapping story plots, and learning reading strategies. Elementary students working on their English skills participated in a number of hands-on activities, including student-made vocabulary cards, sentence strips cut up to become puzzles, or exploring realia that increases their understanding of nonfiction texts. Many English learners were encouraged to expand their language skills by writing their own books, keeping journals or researching various aspects of science or history.
During these weekly sessions, Cal Poly teaching candidates learned firsthand how children process information, relate to books, and write about their reactions to both fiction and nonfiction texts. They also learned how to match books with students’ reading levels or engage new English learners in conversation.
The participating elementary schools have reported anecdotally that many tutees are showing improvement in both reading and writing skills. The elementary students receive the additional benefit of being exposed to the idea of one day attending Cal Poly.
< RETURN TO NEWSLETTER
