How to Choose a Teaching Program

What is hands-on, pre-service experience? 

Pre-service experience refers to any teaching practice you get before you lead your own classroom. This experience can come in a variety of forms, such as student teaching.

What is student teaching?

In traditional undergraduate, master's or licensure-only programs, your pre-service program typically includes one or two semesters of working in an experienced teacher’s classroom. This is usually called "student teaching" and often occurs during your final year in the program. 

Why is hands-on experience important? 

Teachers are more likely to feel prepared for their first year in the classroom if they get plenty of classroom experience as a part of their prep program. Opportunities to observe other teachers and to practice teaching can make all the difference for early-career educators. 

As a rule, more pre-service experience is better, but quality definitely matters. 

Make sure to ask any prospective programs about what their pre-service experience entails, including:

• How long it lasts.
• How the program selects mentor teachers.
• How you will receive feedback on your practice.

What does “teaching diverse populations” mean? 

Your teaching program should prepare you to teach students with diverse learning styles, racial and ethnic backgrounds, and social and emotional needs.

Preparation to teach diverse populations can include: 

• Coursework that specifically addresses the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse students.
• Training on Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) or trauma.
• Coaching and feedback on culturally relevant pedagogy. 
• Learning how unconscious biases can lead to disproportionately disciplining some students, especially students of color.
• How to check for biases when teaching.

Why is preparation to teach diverse populations important? 

Missouri schools have a diverse student population, with schools in many different settings—from rural to urban and everything in between. 

There’s a growing body of research helping educators understand how to effectively support students from a wide variety of backgrounds, so that they are able to thrive in school.

Missouri needs more teachers who are certified in special education and bilingual education. These teachers sometimes receive signing or yearly bonuses from their districts.  

Ask teaching programs about how they prepare teachers to work with diverse students, including:

• What, if any, required courses focus on diverse populations.
• What hands-on practice you’ll get working with diverse students.
• What skills you’ll build to work with diverse students.

What does “mentoring and coaching” mean? 

Your teaching program should provide an experienced and highly effective mentor and coach to give meaningful feedback during your training process. 

Mentorship in the classroom

Most programs will put you in a classroom under the supervision of a mentor, master or host teacher (different names for essentially the same thing) during your pre-service experience.

You might start off only observing and then start teaching more and more. Mentor teachers give you constructive feedback to help you grow in ability and confidence.

Program coaches

Programs also send coaches to visit and observe you in your classroom at regular intervals. Coaches can give you additional feedback and help you talk through challenges you're experiencing.

Sometimes, coaches will visit you even after your pre-service experience is over, when you’re the primary teacher in a classroom. 

Preventing burnout 

Some teaching programs also dive into how stress might impact your well-being, and how to develop tools to keep you healthy and thriving in the classroom. After all, teaching—like all impactful professions—is challenging. Having strategies for self-care will help you avoid burnout. 

Why is mentoring and coaching important?

When you’re starting out as a teacher, you want to learn from someone whose work you want to emulate. Many teachers will tell you that having a mentor teacher, especially a mentor who is in a similar subject area and grade level, is critical for success.

Your mentor teacher will have a big impact on the kind of teacher you’ll become, your attitude toward teaching and your professional growth mindset. 

Ask prospective programs about their mentoring and coaching support, including:

• How they select mentor teachers and coaches.
• How they match you with a mentor teacher or coach.
• What they expect from mentor teachers and coaches.
• How they ensure that mentor teachers and coaches model effective practices and give helpful feedback. 
• How they help teacher candidates learn to manage stress and avoid burnout. 
• Whether they provide any continued support during your first few years as a teacher.

Be picky! You will be better prepared if your mentor is an engaged, highly effective teacher in your chosen field. The most highly rated teaching programs typically have strong mentor teachers.

What does “commitment to improvement” mean?

Your teaching program should show commitment to the continuous improvement of its teacher preparation practices. This might be the hardest criteria to spot as you shop for programs. 

Programs with a strong commitment to improvement might: 

• Ask for regular feedback from students, recent alumni, partner schools and districts. 
• Research data on child development, learning styles, and instructional practices. 
• Actively work to recruit and retain diverse teacher candidates, mentors, professors and instructors. 
• Partner with diverse schools, districts and professional enrichment programs.
• Set clear goals and standards for student achievement and skill-building. 
• Make changes in response to current events in education, policy and cultural shifts. 

Why is commitment to improvement important? 

Our world is changing rapidly, and so are the skills you’ll need to teach students. To be prepared for the classrooms of today and tomorrow, you’ll want your program to be up-to-date on research about childhood development, serving diverse populations and how humans learn and grow. This benefits you and your future students!

You can ask prospective programs about their improvement practices, including: 

• How they collect, share and use research and data with teaching faculty and students.
• How they gather feedback from students and alumni.
• How they assess partnerships with schools and districts.
• How they respond to school and district needs. 
• How they stay up-to-date on effective, relevant educational practices. 
• What their goals are for their teaching programs’ growth.