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Effective Field Experiences Impacting Education The Office of Field & International Experience (OFIE) acquired new leadership this year in Kristin Dauk, an experienced Professional Development School (PDS) teacher and mentor in Mankato. Her familiarity with structures in our school-university partnerships gave her a leg up in directing the Office’s variety of initiatives. For instance, the Office shares a lead role in Integrated Field Services, helps support the administration of the Teacher Performance Assessment, develops international studyaway opportunities, and facilitates the broad success of co-teaching in its full implementation with all teacher candidates. Co-Teaching Carrie Chapman, in K12 and Secondary Programs, oversees co-teaching across the university and has been sharing the emerging research around the country. All departments helped their teacher candidates co-teach last fall except for Special Education’s newest program, which begins co-teaching this January. The quantity and quality of co-teaching practices across the Minnesota State University, Mankato, College of Education and partner schools since it began has created many opportunities for improving teacher practice. Since last year, Chapman and colleague, Marti Sievek, have worked together to create videos out of the effective practices Minnesota State Mankato candidates use in PDS schools, to use as a demonstration tool in training and development. Co-teaching principles have since matriculated into other clinical experiences as well as in the collaborative work done between faculty in the College. Chapman joined Teri Wallace, Special Education professor and Grantwriting Area Lead for the NExT project, in piloting research on the effects of co-teaching on student and teacher engagement, as the immediate effects have indicated a powerful impact on improving teacher practice. “I couldn’t imagine doing it any other way,” Andrew Kuklinski, co-teacher at St. Peter High School, explains about his student-teaching experience last spring. Since first encountering co-teaching in a field experience prior to student-teaching and subsequently being hired in the same school where he now co-teaches with another teacher, Kuklinski sees its benefits. “What I learned since my first experience is that I just have to give it my all. There’s no standard for how to co-teach, some are harder, some are easier. You have to adapt, and confront issues as soon as possible in a respectful and productive way.” Kuklinski noticed achievement and confidence go up in his students, and learned that the strength of the practice lies in the strong relationship between the co-teachers and their ability to effectively plan and communicate together. His original co-teaching partner, Peggy Dimock, added, “We did everything together: chaperoned dances, went to sports games, we evaluated student work together. I wasn’t evaluating him, we were working together as a team. The kids had a substantially better time with the both of us in there. It energized them, and our discussions helped them discuss more easily. It would be hard to host a candidate without co-teaching.” Other educators who have seen it in practice agree. For instance, Chapman visited a school district in Ypsilanti, Michigan, by invitation to lead two days of training. Her new book drew an enthusiastic education crowd at a publishing event with her co-author, Cate Hart Hyatt, and she presented the impact of co-teaching at the Minnesota Association of Colleges of Teacher Education (MACTE) conference with Teri Wallace last semester. OFIE Director Kristin Dauk and TOSA Bridget Weigt presented the co-teaching program at the National Convening on Clinical Practice in Washington, D.C. PDS Reputation Growing In the previous issue of Partnership magazine (Spring 2011), you may recall a story featuring "Perspectives" from the 2011 National Association of Professional Development School (NAPDS) Annual Conference. One perspective highlighted the interest of Northern Illinois University (NIU) in our multi-district PDS partnership following a number of presentations they attended at the March 2011 NAPDS Conference. NIU's interest prompted an invitation for a site visit and day-long retreat, facilitated by Minnesota State Mankato PDS, to NIU education faculty. Not long after this invitation, a second one was received by the University of Wisconsin- River Falls. UW-RF's Assistant Dean of the College of Education, Dr. Mary Wright, left CSUP Director, Dr. Ginger Zierdt, a very compelling request: "After attending numerous Minnesota State Mankato sessions at the 2011 NAPDS Conference, we really want to learn more about Mankato's PDS model and your Co-teaching model. Might we come visit for the day or will you come to River Falls?" On Monday, November 14th, a delegation of eight University faculty members and P-12 partners (teachers and administrators), visited Co-teaching classrooms, Teachers-on-Special- Assignment (TOSAs), and teachers/administrators at Le Sueur-Henderson High School and Mankato East Senior High School, and visited with University faculty and TOSAs at Minnesota State Mankato about the PDS model, the TOSA/Fellow Program, and more Co-teaching. As a result of this day, Dr. Carrie Chapman, Minnesota State Mankato faculty member and Coteaching Coordinator, was invited to facilitate kickoff training in Co-teaching for the first University of Wisconsin-River Falls Co-teaching pairs cohort in early January 2012. Congratulations to all the presenters at the 2011 NAPDS Conference who prompted such a swell of interest in our PDS partnership as well as expanded the boundaries of what we know as a learning community to share our practice and knowledge to impact even more learners. 16 http://ed.mnsu.edu/csup/
Marti Sievek can speak to the positive effects of the strategy on his education students. Last fall, he officially began incorporating co-teaching into the field experiences of his Level 2 students (of 4 levels, the last being student teaching). In his courses, students spend 4 weeks co-teaching together in a school after 4 weeks of learning how to co-teach with and for their peers while justifying their instructional decision-making. Sievek noticed an increase in the amount of time students devoted to the planning process for their collaborative teaching, a mark of the strategy’s strength. Marti Sievek collaborated with Chapman and faculty across the College of Education to generate broader awareness. He produced two videos originally as a means for training new general education co-teachers, but has since begun spreading awareness through several College of Education partnerships. Development director, Jeff Halbur, uses the video with potential donors, Mymique Baxter showed the video and discussed the opportunities for the Teachers of Tomorrow to participate, and educators in Costa Rica expressed interest when Sievek visited to develop study-away options last November. Chapman grants the success of implementation to the strength of the PDS partnerships currently in place, which increases the agility of applications and timely feedback. Training will continue for education students and cooperating teachers this January for over 125 pairs and their University Supervisors. New research data will be collected this spring regarding student and teacher engagement, and data capturing program evaluation and implementation will continue this spring as well. Global Collaboration Study-away opportunities continue to expand the education learning community within a global context. As Minnesota State Mankato students benefit from cross-cultural exchange, educators from our PDS and in other countries gain the ability to improve teaching practice in a variety of settings. This fall, the Office of Field & International Experience continued a strong relationship with students from the Caboolture campus of Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Australia, sent students and a Teacher-On-Special- Assignment to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, in an evolving partnership initiated by Minnesota State Mankato President Emerita, Margaret Preska, and visited Costa Rica for possible student placement, resulting in great interest from the country’s Ministry of Education to build a partnership. This marked the second year that QUT teacher candidates visited Mankato schools to gain field experience. This time, however, the Australian faculty who came along led some of their own professional development concerning the partnership between our Center for Mentoring and Induction and Mentoring for Effective Teaching, a QUT initiative spreading support services for mentoring and induction in Australia. This training involved PDS TOSA’s, Integrated Field Services staff, and partner faculty involved in the PDS mentor network. With similar hopes for collaborative learning, educators at Al Sorouh American School in Abu Dhabi invited two Minnesota State Mankato teacher candidates and a PDS TOSA to develop strategies for improving teacher practice while increasing elementary students’ achievement. For example, Le Sueur-Henderson TOSA April Rosendale led staff development trainings and collaborated with the teachers in their classrooms based on successful techniques she employs in her home PDS district. Teacher candidates Laura Priebe and Maria Fowler spent six weeks teaching English lessons, co-teaching with Emerita teachers and each other, and leading staff development on the Danielson Framework as a way to support effectiveness. Rosendale commented in her blog about the experience, “It has shaped my thinking, clarified my values, and provided the best professional development experience I have ever had. “I knew that I would be stretched, and I was. Working in a new school, in a different culture, Winter 2012 Partnership COE faculty Marti Sievek and Kristin Dauk with Costa Rica Spanish Institute director, Marvin López. required me to abandon my need for structure and be receptive to new opportunities.” Meanwhile, a teacher in an experimental school in Costa Rica had a desire to expand the opportunities for students studying English in her school. Hannia Leon Fuentes, Academic Coordinator and teacher at the Liceo Experimental Bilingue (Experimental Bilingual School), Turrialba, was inspired by Minnesota State Mankato’s relationship with QUT and contacted the Office of Field & International Experience. After Dauk and Sievek visited with educators in San Jose, Manuel Antonio, and Turrialba last November, our teacher candidates will potentially help bring in new ideas for teaching English and inspire new partnerships in the school next fall 2012. As they gain language instruction from Costa Rica Spanish Institute teachers, they will live with a Tico family and participate in service learning projects. Costa Rica’s Ministry of Education expressed interest in developing the relationship further to include co-teaching training and facilitation. In addition to these unique experiences, the Office of Field & International Experience serves to enhance the quality of clinical field experiences before student teaching (for an example, see the Curriculum updates about new practices in the Elementary department). In tandem, the quality of professional development for the faculty who employ these comprehensive strategies increases each year as well. Dauk and assistant director, Laura Bemel, work closely with K-12 teachers and College of Education and content area faculty to continually improve the effectiveness of our teacher candidates. 17
Page 1 and 2: artnership PCENTER FOR SCHOOL-UNIVE
Page 3 and 4: TABLE OF CONTENTS Winter 2012 Partn
Page 5 and 6: Note From the Editor Ben Pendarvis
Page 7 and 8: Heather Verstraete, Bloomington TOS
Page 9 and 10: of the Leadership Institute, which
Page 11 and 12: How has AVID impacted your school,
Page 13 and 14: ng Deeper and Wider Pipeline #2 - P
Page 15 and 16: QUT students and exchange program f
Page 17: After the last full school year of
Page 21 and 22: 7th Annual Fall Play Therapy Confer
Page 23 and 24: Innovative Program Targets Coaching
Page 25 and 26: if a student can make one strong co
Page 27 and 28: Teaching Fellows ? ? Describe your
Page 29 and 30: Jenna Haala Graduate Program: Maste
Page 31 and 32: New Systems for Working Together Th

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