Field Experience

What is Co-Teaching?

One of the key tenets of a clinically rich residency model for teacher preparation is the opportunity it affords residents and cooperating teachers (mentors) to collaborate in planning, teaching, assessing, and reflecting to support student learning.

All residents participate in the co-teaching model for teacher preparation. Each year, approximately 150 CSUMB Co-Teaching Teacher Candidates are placed in classrooms throughout our partner district schools. These candidates are supported by a dedicated cadre of Cooperating Teachers and an experienced team of Clinical Coaching Faculty.

The Field Placement and Database Coordinator coordinates field placement for co-teaching teacher candidates and ensures that all candidates - residents or interns - have an assigned Clinical Coach for supervision.

We encourage you to learn more about the size and scope of our field placement partnerships and the professional dispositions we emphasize for candidates in our programs.

Visit the CSUMB CO-TEACHING site for more information.

Mentor Teachers (or Cooperating Teachers) are one of the most important components of the residency model and play a critical role in preparing future educators.

Mentor Teachers:

• help their Resident feel comfortable and welcome, communicate​ expectations, share​​ materials and ideas, review​ school policies and procedures, model​​ effective teaching strategies, and mentor​ and provide positive as well as constructive feedback.

• participate in initial co-teaching training provided by the university and/or residency partners

• collaborate with their Resident, working together to share the planning, organization, delivery, and assessment of instruction, as well as the physical space

• provide "coaching-up" feedback to help residents draw meaningful connections between daily classroom practice and the latest in education theory and research, and to move residents progressively from a co-teaching role in the classroom to an increasingly demanding lead-teaching role

• reserve at least 1 hr/week to co-plan with their resident

• adhere to the university’s suggested gradual release timeline and communicate openly with university Clinical Coach about their resident’s development

• complete periodic evaluations for their Resident