UTK Teacher Candidates are expected to follow all State, District, and School policies while serving in their clinical placement. These include:

Attendance: Sick days and personal days are allowed per district and school policy. Unexcused absences from the clinical placement are not allowed and should be reported to UTK immediately. 

Ethics: Teacher candidates must follow the Tennessee Code of Ethics for Educators as well as the Model Code of Ethics for Educators. Violations should be reported to UTK immediately.

Dress Code: Teacher candidates need to dress in a manner appropriate to the school and discipline, and in compliance with processional expectations and school dress code. Report concerns to UTK so we can assist.

Professional Development: Candidates are expected to participate in PD, parent-teacher conferences, IEP meetings, parent contact hours, faculty meetings, PLCs, Data retreats, etc. alongside the mentor teacher. 

Duty Posts: Teacher Candidates are expected to participate in various non-classroom duties expected of teachers in the building (lunch duty, bus duty, etc.) These posts should not exceed what is expected of teachers in the building. If concerns arise, please contact UTK so we can assist. 

Student Teaching Handbook 

JEP Handbook

Attitudes towards Teaching Methods: Content and assessment change alongside changes in the broader society, and a teacher must understand and address those changes through effective planning, instruction, and assessment. Lesson plans and methods should not be understood as guidelines written in stone but a reflection on possibilities that can be adapted to new and diverse situations.

Attitudes toward Students: Diversity exists across students and teachers and within students and teachers. Effective teaching values that diversity and includes it in all areas of planning, instruction, and assessment.

Attitudes toward Schools: While a teacher may be isolated to a single classroom, no classroom exists divorced from other classrooms or from its social context. A teacher must value the input and experience of others in the development of effective planning, instruction, and assessment.

Open-Mindedness Dispositions: The classroom is the first time many students are placed in close proximity to those from other backgrounds and cultures. In this space, a teacher must provide safety and challenge to all students, which requires a stance of open-mindedness to the ways and knowledges of diverse people.

Self-Reflection Dispositions: The most important posture in a teacher’s tool kit is self- reflection that drives changes and development in knowledge and action. Teaching is an art and a teacher must determine what their classroom needs, year after year, class after class. A teacher must use self-reflection as the foundation for effective planning, instruction, and assessment for all students.

Curiosity Dispositions: In common parlance, a good teacher is a lifelong learner. To this end, we look for a disposition toward curiosity, both toward understanding how things work but also toward imagining how things might be made better.

Educational Equity Dispositions: It is difficult to imagine that one teacher can change the world, but we look for teachers who are willing to try. While much can be accomplished within a single classroom, a strong educational equity and advocacy disposition also means forming alliances across classrooms and communities.

Professional Competencies: Teaching competencies include proficiency in planning, teaching, and assessing, but there are other duties and responsibilities that transcend a learning segment. Professional competencies include self-presentation, self- representation, professional collegiality and demeanor, and also taking responsibility for those tasks entrusted to you.

The Tennessee State Board of Education will officially remove edTPA as a requirement for educator licensure effective July 1, 2026. In preparation for this statewide change, UTK is taking a proactive approach by implementing the TIGER model (Tennessee Integrated Guidelines for Educator Readiness) during the 2025–2026 school year.

The TIGER model represents a more rigorous and supportive approach to clinical practice. It is designed to strengthen the professional growth of teacher interns through a collaborative, internship-based experience. This model reinforces the partnership between UTK supervisors and each intern’s mentor/supervisor, ensuring a comprehensive and standards-aligned clinical placement that reflects the realities of today’s classrooms.

Key components of the TIGER model include:

• Structured, frequent observation and feedback cycles

• Close collaboration between UTK and LEA personnel

• Emphasis on ongoing reflection and professional development

• Full alignment with Tennessee educator preparation standards

As a mentor, your role is essential in ensuring the success of our teacher interns. Your support, expertise, and feedback are vital to creating a high-quality internship experience that prepares interns for licensure and success in the classroom.

For additional guidance on the TIGER model and your role in the process, please refer to the Observation section of the handbook. 

Under Construction

Under Construction

Mentoring includes sharing, modeling, coaching, and encouraging the intern’s professional growth and development in the context of daily classroom life. The Mentor is an important part of the partnership between UTK and the LEA in ensuring a successful JEP teacher candidate experience. The Mentor often helps the JEP candidate make connections  between educational and learning theory learned in UTK coursework and the challenges and realities of the 21st century classroom. 

The roles of Mentors include:

1. The Mentor will evaluate the Job-embedded practitioner’s Professional Competencies, Attitudes, and Dispositions (ProCADS) at the end of the first and second semesters, for each year the candidate is enrolled in the Job-embedded program. At the end of each semester, the UTK program coordinator will send a link to complete this brief evaluation via email. 

2. The Mentor should help the JEP candidate select classrooms to observe for their Diverse Field Experiences. JEP candidates must observe learning settings with students from varied backgrounds and with diverse learning needs. The Mentor should help select teachers/classrooms for the JEP to observe in order to meet this requirement. 

3. The Mentor should provide general JEP candidate support. The Mentor should make a point to contact the candidate frequently and inquire about the candidate’s professional growth and development in the context of daily teaching activities. Should concerns arise, the Mentor should be willing to contact UTK in order to best plan supports for the JEP candidate. 

4. If deemed appropriate by the LEA and UTK, the Mentor may engage in conducting TEAM evaluations of the JEP. 

5. The Mentor will receive feedback on mentoring skills and practices. 

6. The Mentor will have the opportunity to evaluate the performance of the JEP’s UTK Supervisor.

Teacher candidates should gradually take on more teaching responsibility in the classroom or virtual setting including planning lessons, delivering, lessons, and assessing student learning.  As the teacher candidate shifts to being the lead teacher, it is best for them to be consistently co-planning, co-instructing, and co-assessing with their mentor to better support the teacher candidates' understanding of effective classroom practices.   

Strategies: 

1. One teach/one observe

One person takes has primary responsibility for teaching while the other observes particular behaviors.  It is best to discuss what was observed afterwards.

2. One teach/one assist

One person has primary responsibility for teaching while the other assists such as circulating the room helping students as needed.

3. Station teaching

Each teacher works with a small group of students on different instructional tasks.  Students rotate among the stations and teachers subsequently repeat the instructional tasks with each group.

4. Parallel teaching

Teachers divide the students in two groups and each teaches the same information to half the students simultaneously

5. Supplemental teaching

One person works with students at their expected grade level while the other works with a student or small groups of students who need information retaught, extended, or remediated.

6. Alternative teaching

Each teacher uses a different approach to teach the same information.

7. Team Teaching

Both are actively involved in the lesson and teaching at the same time. There is not clear leader with this approach as both are sharing responsibilities of teaching including delivering instruction and assisting students.

Co-Teaching Model Resources