Appropriate information and personnel are clearly identified and accessible to guide each candidate’s attainment of program requirements.
Evidence regarding progress in meeting competency and performance expectations is consistently used to guide advisement and candidate support efforts. A clearly defined process is in place to identify and support candidates who need additional assistance to meet competencies.
Description of Candidate Advisement & Assistance: The SOE Main Office is the hub of guidance and support for prospects, applicants, candidates, and alumni within the Cal Poly School of Education. In the main office, students are greeted by our Administrative Support staff, who is warm, friendly, and highly knowledgeable of all SOE programs (because he has been enthusiastically serving students and programs in the SOE for over 15 years!) Our Administrative Support staff is always available to help prospects, applicants, candidates, and alumni with questions, forms, and setting up appointments with Coordinators or Analysts as needed.
SOE candidates may email, walk-in, or request advising appointments with one of two Credential Analysts in the Main Office, who support a student’s entire progress within the SOE. The Credential Analysts lead and support prospect recruitment, admissions counseling, candidate progress monitoring, and recommendation of credentials and graduate degrees. The Credential Analysts regularly monitor and update Credential Office Evaluations for each SOE candidate (MSTEP, SSTEP, SPED, ELAP, SABE, AgEd) on a quarterly basis. When the credential analysts identify candidates who are missing requirements or are in need of additional support, they may communicate with candidates through email or advising appointments, or they may reach out to program coordinators and faculty.
Candidates with questions or concerns about their Clinical Practice experience can also email, walk-in, or request a conference with the Clinical Practice Coordinator in the Main Office. The Clinical Practice Coordinator helps to align clinical practice experiences across SOE programs. The Coordinator records and monitors the recurrence of concerns, communicates with Program Coordinators and Clinical Practice personnel, and facilitates in determining if urgent issues require immediate resolution or changes to the Clinical Practice experience. The Clinical Practice Coordinator also serves as the primary point of contact with our district partners for communicating Clinical Practice policies and recruiting Cooperating Teachers and school site placements.
Each program within the School of Education further supports candidates through faculty advising and cohort support models. All SOE programs operate on a Cohort Model, with students enrolling in small classes together in their credential area. For the Single Subject cohorts, methods and seminar classes are further subdivided based on subject matter with a faculty advisor assigned to each area of emphasis. Small cohort classes and a low Candidate:Faculty ratio allow the coordinators and instructors to closely monitor the competency and readiness of each candidate. During bi-weekly program meetings, the faculty in each program gather to discuss program operations and to plan support or remediation for candidates who need additional assistance to meet competencies.
In addition to small class sizes, candidates receive 1:1 support from a Clinical Practice University Supervisor in the field. SOE Clinical Practice Supervisors typically support only 1-5 candidates per quarter, allowing them to develop a deep coaching relationship. Clinical Practice Supervisors regularly monitor candidate competency and performance expectations by completing four formal Clinical Practice Observation Reports each quarter. Additionally, Clinical Practice Supervisors regularly evaluate candidate’s dispositional readiness for the teaching profession and may file a ‘Disposition Check’, or memo of concern, for candidates who do not demonstrate appropriate disposition for the classroom. Dispositional concerns or inadequate progress on Clinical Practice Observations are shared with the Program Coordinator to determine appropriate next steps, support, or remediation for candidates. The Clinical Practice Coordinator and the Assessment & Accreditation Analyst also collaborate on a quarterly basis to analyze all Clinical Practice data and develop recommendations for individual coaching and support, as well as program and unitwide improvement needs.
SOE contact information, coaching roles and responsibilities, progress monitoring policies, and student grievance processes are readily available for all candidates in the SOE Handbook (Sample) for each program. All candidates are provided with a copy of their program’s Handbook (typically in electronic form) during the orientation meetings for their respective programs. Handbooks may also be found on the SOE Website under Candidate Resources.
