Education 467

I. Course Title: Student Teaching in Mathematics Grades 6-12

II. Course Number: EDUC 467

III. Credit Hours: 12 credits

IV. Prerequisites: Successful completion of Early Field Experiences in Teaching Mathematics Grades 6-12 (EDUC 447) as demonstrated on the final early field experience evaluation; recommendation of the candidate’s university field supervisor.

V. Course Description: 

This semester long full-time field experience provides teacher candidates extensive clinical experience in a grade level appropriate for licensure in mathematics teaching at the middle level (grades 6-8) or secondary level (grades 6-12).  Candidates design and deliver a wide variety of learning experiences in their placement with the advantage of mentorship and coaching provided by schools, licensed teachers, and university faculty.  Candidates begin by observing and co-teaching with their cooperating teachers and then transition to assume full responsibility for appropriate mathematics classes. Regularly scheduled seminars enhance professional development of the candidate and are included as a weighted percentage of the student teaching grade. 

VI. Detailed Description of Content of the Course:

During this clinical experience, candidates are placed in a middle/secondary (grades 6-12) mathematics classroom with a certified cooperating teacher. The semester begins with the candidate completing observations of the teacher and the students and learning classroom routines and expectations; candidates assume co-teaching responsibilities within the first few weeks and subsequently transition into full-time teaching, first using the cooperating teacher’s lesson plans and then their own. Candidates will develop their own lessons, provide instruction, and assess student learning in all appropriate classes for a minimum of two consecutive weeks. Candidates’ practices will utilize the Virginia Department of Education standards and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Council for the Accreditation of Educational Programs standards for planning and instruction.

Weekly seminars are scheduled to enhance the professional development of candidates enrolled in this field experience. Seminar participation is a weighted part of the student teaching grade. Topics include, but are not limited to the following: 

1. Classroom management and student motivation
2. Teaching diverse learners in the mathematics classroom
3. Professional growth, reflection, and evaluation 
4. Communicating with families
5. Tools and resources for exploration-based mathematics classrooms
6. Applications of instructional planning, pedagogy, and assessment

VI. Detailed Description of Conduct of Course:

Candidate placements are made in appropriate mathematics classrooms in grades 6-12. Candidates practice teaching diverse learners under the supervision of approved cooperating teachers and university supervisors.  Candidates are embedded in schools full-time throughout the semester; effective lesson planning, assessment, instructional delivery, and classroom management are key focus areas. The experience begins with observation and culminates in assumption of full teaching responsibility. The student teaching experience provides for a minimum of 300 clock hours with at least 150 hours spent supervised in direct teaching activities.

VII. Goals and Objectives of the Course:

Goals, objectives, and assignments address the Virginia Department of Education regulations for preparing middle/secondary (grades 6-12) mathematics educators and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics CAEP Standards for Secondary Initial Teacher Preparation. Candidates successfully completing this course will be able to demonstrate developing knowledge, skills, and dispositions of the following:

Area 1:  Understand how to effectively design and implement mathematics instruction 

• Candidates will develop their abilities to plan lessons and units that incorporate a variety of strategies, differentiated instruction for diverse populations, and mathematics-specific and instructional technologies in building all students’ conceptual understanding and procedural proficiency. 
• Candidates will develop their abilities to plan and create developmentally appropriate, sequential, and challenging learning opportunities grounded in mathematics education research in which students are actively engaged in building new knowledge from prior knowledge and experiences.
• Candidates will develop their abilities to provide students with opportunities to communicate about mathematics and make connections among mathematics, other content areas, everyday life, and the workplace.
• Candidates will develop their abilities to apply mathematical content and pedagogical knowledge to select, adapt, evaluate, and use instructional tools such as manipulatives and physical models, drawings, virtual manipulatives and environments, spreadsheets, presentation tools, and mathematics-specific technologies (e.g., calculators, graphing utilities, dynamic geometry software, computer algebra systems, and statistical packages); and make sound decisions about when such tools enhance teaching and learning, recognizing both the insights to be gained and possible limitations of such tools.

Area 2:  Assess student learning and understanding

• Candidates will develop their abilities to use various strategies and means for managing, assessing, and monitoring student learning, including diagnosing student errors.
• Candidates will develop their abilities to assess secondary students demonstration of their conceptual understanding; procedural fluency; the ability to formulate, represent, and solve problems; logical reasoning and continuous reflection on that reasoning; productive disposition toward mathematics; and the application of mathematics in a variety of contexts.
• Candidates will develop their abilities to collect, organize, analyze, and reflect on diagnostic, formative, and summative assessment evidence and determine the extent to which students’ mathematical proficiencies have increased as a result of their instruction and use the evidence to inform ongoing planning and instruction, as well as to understand and help students understand their own progress and growth.
• Candidates will develop their abilities to plan, select, implement, interpret, and use formative and summative assessments to inform instruction by reflecting on mathematical proficiencies essential for all students.
• Candidates will develop their abilities to monitor students’ progress, make instructional decisions, and measure students’ mathematical understanding and ability using formative and summative assessments.

Area 3: Meet the diverse needs of learners to engage them in mathematical thinking and activities.

• Candidates will develop their abilities to research-based use strategies to teach mathematics to diverse adolescent learners and use instructional practices that are sensitive to culturally and linguistically diverse learning, including English learners, gifted and talented students, and students with disabilities.
• Candidates will develop their abilities to incorporate knowledge of individual differences and the cultural and language diversity that exists within classrooms and include culturally relevant perspectives as a means to motivate and engage students. 
• Candidates will demonstrate equitable and ethical treatment of and high expectations for all students

Area 4: Communication & Professional Development

• Candidates will take an active role in their professional growth by participating in professional development experiences that directly relate to the learning and teaching of mathematics.
• Candidates will develop their understanding of and abilities to select, adapt, evaluate and use instructional resources from professional mathematics education organizations such as print, digital, and virtual resources/collections.
• Candidates will develop their abilities to engage in various methods to communicate with families with the goals of improving communication between schools and families and ways of increasing family engagement in student learning at home and in school and the Virginia Standards of Learning.

VIII. Assessment Measures:

Assessment in student teaching is both formative and summative; it is performance-based in an authentic field setting, and completed collaboratively by the classroom teacher and university faculty. Evaluation is based upon the INTASC Standards for Beginning Teachers which are embedded in the Teacher Candidate Evaluation form.  Key assessments include:

1. CAEP Performance Assessments: Lesson Planning 
2. CAEP Performance Assessments: Observation
3. CAEP Performance Assessment: Impact on Student Learning Project
4. CAEP Performance Assessment Final Evaluation
5. CAEP Performance Assessment: Professional Characteristics and Dispositions form
6. 150 successful teaching hours 

In addition to the assessments above, Teacher Candidates will be assessed using other measures including, but not limited to:

1. Reflective Journals
2. Unit Plan
3. Focused Observation Assignments
4. Participation in seminar

Review and Approval

August 2020