Taking the Lead in Faculty Development - A Reflection on Lessons Learned from Implementation of a State-Mandated Co-Teaching Model for Student Teaching

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Stanley

The author reflects on challenges teacher educators faced after Kentucky’s Educational Professional Standards Board mandated a new co-teaching model for all student teachers in 2013. The analysis highlights overwhelmingly positive responses from cooperating teachers and the lived experiences of teacher candidates, focusing on co-planning and co-teaching. The article examines intra- and interuniversity collaboration required to implement an unfunded statewide clinical shift, improving consistency, achievement, and retention.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages20

Reading Time50 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Motivation for Mandated Model

Reflection on Mandated Co-Teaching

Taking the Lead in Faculty Development

Taking the Lead in Faculty Development A Reflection on Lessons Learned from Implementation of a State-Mandated Co-Teaching Model for Student Teaching Dottie Willis, Ed .D . Bellarmine University Abstract The author reflects on challenges faced by teacher educators when Kentucky’s Educational Professional Standards Board mandated a new Co-Teaching model for all ofthe state’s student teachers in 2013. This article analyzes the overwhelmingly positive responses of cooperating teachers and the experiences of teacher candidates (student teachers) with co-planning and co-teaching. The article also analyzes the intra-university as well as interuniversity collaboration that has resulted to implement Kentucky’sunfunded mandated which has shifted student teaching from a traditional apprenticeship model to a co-teaching partnership model in order to assure more consistent clinical experiences for student teachers, raise achievement levels, and improve retention and success of classroom teachers. Keywords: co-teaching, student teaching, special education, education reform, clinical practice, university supervisors, cooperating teachers AILACTE Journal 53 Willis Autonomy and academic freedom are rights cherished by university educators, particularly by professors at independent liberal arts institutions. Consensus building and collegial buy-in precede most dramatic changes in higher education, where faculty councils regard the phrase top-down in much the same way that Kentucky Senator Rand Paul utters the word liberal. Unlike university teacher educators, who are accustomed to deliberating and debating significant policy or program revisions, public school teachers have grown accustomed to top-down mandates for educational reform. The federally imposed No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 is just one prime example. Individual states may have adopted Common Core State Standards, but P-12 teachers as individuals often have little voice in making curricular decisions that impact not only their instruction but also their accountability. In 2013, Kentucky, the first state in the nation to adopt Common Core Standards in Mathematics, Language Arts, and Science, also became the first to mandate a dramatic reform of student teaching practices throughout the entire Commonwealth. The Kentucky Educational Professional Standards Board enacted a new regulation requiring all educational preparation programs throughout the entire state to adopt the same clinical model. This collaborative co-teaching model developed at St. Cloud State (Minnesota) University was named the only certifiable culminating experience for all Kentucky student teachers: “Beginning September 1, 2013, education preparation programs shall support the student teacher’s placement and classroom experiences by…providing opportunities for the student teacher to engage in extended co-teaching experiences with experienced teachers”(Kentucky Educational Professional Standards Board,16 KAR 5:040, § 6[5]) The new partnership model replaced a traditional apprenticeship model experienced by preservice teachers for decades. The ruling impacted not only P-12 public school teachers but also teacher educators at every college and university in the state and even neighboring states that seek to place student teachers in Kentucky schools. 54 AILACTE Volume XII Fall 2015 Reflection on Mandated Co-Teaching Kentucky’s Educational Professional Standards Board (EPSB) also decreed that all cooperating teachers and university supervisors (no matter how many years they had successfully served in their roles) would have to be retrained, pass an online test, and earn a state-issued certificate in order to be eligible to serve as mentors to student teachers. Furthermore, university teacher preparation programs, which relied on the services of these cooperating teachers, were largely responsible for communicating this news and providing the mandatory training for all stakeholders (Kentucky

FAQs

What change did Kentucky mandate for student teaching in 2013?

Kentucky required education preparation programs across the state to adopt a new clinical co-teaching model, replacing a traditional apprenticeship approach for student teachers.

How were cooperating teachers and university supervisors affected by the mandate?

They had to be retrained, pass an online test, and earn a state-issued certificate to remain eligible to mentor student teachers.

Why was collaboration important for implementing the model statewide?

The article describes both intra-university and interuniversity collaboration needed to implement an unfunded mandate, ensuring fidelity of the co-teaching model across educator preparation programs.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Stanley