Cooperating Teacher Resources & District Partnerships

Cooperating Teachers

All Cooperating Teachers must complete the College of Education's Cooperating Teacher Training every semester that they are a Cooperating Teacher, per TEA regulations. Please review the content in the PowerPoint presentation below carefully and follow the directions on the last slide to record your training.

In addition, the Student Teacher handbook contains materials for Cooperating Teachers. Please check with your Student Teacher or their UTA Field Supervisor for additional information.

A teacher writes on a whiteboard

Cooperating Teacher: Principal Recommendation and TAC Requirements

Cooperating Teacher Recommendation TAC Cooperating Teacher Requirements
A teacher talks beside a chalkboard in a classroom

Teacher Observation Report

Teacher Observation Report

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the expectations for being a cooperating teacher?

  • Serves as a model for teacher preparation and assists the candidate in becoming an effective first year teacher.
  • Models best practices, provides clear and honest feedback, makes suggestions for improvement, and motivates and encourages the candidate.
  • Is committed to the role of mentoring, and has a positive effect on candidate learning.
  • Influences a candidate's ability to synthesize and apply teaching strategies, and emphasizes conceptual application of ideas.
  • Establishes a relationship of trust and communication with the candidate.
  • Guides students in understanding school procedures and policies.
  • Evaluates the student’s performance and helps determine goals for growth.

Definition: A cooperating teacher is a classroom teacher who volunteers to work with a university early field experience student or a clinical/student teacher.

Research demonstrates that the most important influence on a teacher candidate is the cooperating teacher.

Qualifications:

  • Must hold a current Texas Educator Certification

  • Has a minimum of three years of successful classroom experience, in the content area of the candidate’s certification program

  • Teacher must possess effective instructional skills, as demonstrated by the teacher’s positive impact on student learning.

Must also have:

  • Approval of the building principal

  • A high level of commitment to the candidate's professional development

  • An eagerness to continue professional growth

  • Effective communication skills

  • Outstanding collaboration skills

The period in which students will be in classrooms varies by program: 

  • ESL/EC6, BIL/EC6, and Mid-Level begin in the junior year and remain in the classrooms through graduation.
  • Secondary and All-level students will begin in senior year.
  • UTeach follows a specifically designed schedule.
  • Class embedded observations and assignments are completed at various times.

What are the students required to do?

All UTA students are required to complete early field experience observations and assignments. This may include creating and teaching a lesson, interviewing school personnel, reading a story, helping their cooperating teachers as needed, etc.

What are the UTA policies for the students?

Handbooks are available for each program.

What do we expect of our students? (UTA’s professional guidelines)

Our students are held to a standard of dispositions that have been identified as essential for a highly–qualified professional.

Dispositions statement with link: Policy and Guidelines for the Assessment of Professional Dispositions

All students are required to review the Texas Education Agency's Code of Ethics: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYCCyVaf2g1vuF3qIz1NjEWFeMtxaBMvC

 

District Partnerships

The Office of Educational Field Experiences partners with area school districts to provide the University of Texas at Arlington College of Education students with observations, early field experiences, and clinical/student teaching opportunities.

School districts with partnership agreements can request clinical/student teachers using the following form, which should be completed by the district or campus administrator in charge of clinical/student placement:

Download the Clinical Teaching Placement Form [PDF]

Clinical Teaching Handbook [PDF]

Email completed forms to coedfield@uta.edu.