Co-teaching pilot program helps prepare teachers of the future

Six students studying at CSU Channel Islands for their teaching credential are participating in a pilot program to change the way new educators are prepared for the classroom.

Unlike the traditional credentialing program in which students get classroom experience at a different school each semester, the new program puts students in the same classroom all year long.

"With co-teaching, students stay with the same teacher and work according to the school calendar, not the university one," said Manuel Correia, associate professor of education who is coordinating the pilot program. "They help the teacher prepare before the start of the school year and they stay until the end of the school year."

The co-teaching model was introduced by CSUCI's School of Education at the start of this school year and is based upon the recommendations of a national panel of education experts and critics who believe clinical practice should be at the heart of teacher education.

The finding was published in November 2010 by a panel convened by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education to improve student learning.

California is one of eight states to sign up for the initiative, and Correia said the School of Education received funding to pilot it from the California State University Office of the Chancellor.

The way co-teaching works is that both the student and the teacher are in the classroom together. Sometimes one will be teaching and the other observing, Correia said. At other times, one will be teaching with the other assisting, and sometimes each will be teaching different subjects in small groups.

"It allows students to see what it's like so when they go into their first year of teaching, they're not really first-year teachers in that they have more experience of working in the classroom, working with parents and working with the community," Correia said. "It also gives them a greater sense of accomplishment and of professionalism."

Three students are partnering with teachers at University Preparation School in Camarillo, the CSUCI School of Education's professional development partner. Two students are with teachers at Laguna Vista School in Oxnard and one is co-teaching special education at the Phoenix program at Los Nogales School in Camarillo.

At 36, mother-of-two Sonia King is making a career change — training to be an elementary school teacher.

King, who lives in Camarillo, has a background in accounting and business administration but said that when the first of her two sons started kindergarten, she realized that working with children in the classroom was much more fulfilling.

She signed up for the co-teaching pilot program, and since last August has been teaching second grade at University Preparation School alongside teacher Leslee Cybulski.

"It sounded like a great opportunity to get fully immersed and really feel what it's like to be a teacher," King said. "You get to be with the kids for two semesters instead of one, so you really get to know the kids and you feel more involved and responsible for helping them grow."

Cybulski, 47, a former real estate agent who has been teaching for eight years, said she thinks co-teaching is a great way to train new teachers and said King has learned a lot from the experience.

"Hands-on learning make it so much easier," Cybulski said. "There's nothing she hasn't come across this year which would be new to her when she has her own classroom."

"We do a lot of our lesson planning together, and I can give her immediate feedback," she said.

Cybulski said co-teaching allows students to experience more fully what it's like to be a teacher, since they participate in staff meetings, parent conferences and all the things that go to make up a school year. She says while it does mean more work for the teacher initially, the pros far outweigh the cons.

"We're learning from each other," she said.

King said she thinks the program will give her an advantage once she graduates in May and starts looking for a job.

"I feel so much better prepared to go out to my first year of teaching," she said.

Correia said the pilot program is working so well that the university will offer it as an option for students enrolling in the credential program in the fall.

It will be available only to students seeking a multi-subject credential, he said, but the hope is eventually to be able to offer the program to those wanting to teach a single subject at high school level, as well.