Teacher Education Center

Clinical Experiences and Certification Processes (CECP)

Cooperating Teachers

Cooperating Student Teachers, use the following links for information on Student Teaching:

Letter to the Cooperating Teachers:


Dear Cooperating Teacher,

Your willingness to serve as a cooperating teacher in the student teaching program is appreciated. Illinois State University recognizes that the teacher education program could not have been developed nor continued without the cooperation of dedicated professionals. The experiences you provide enable your teacher candidate to demonstrate skills for planning, organizing, and evaluating, as well as relating to parents.

Student teachers will officially begin their work in the school to which they have been assigned on the date listed on your copy of the student teaching confirmation letter. If your student teacher does NOT report at the time scheduled, please call the appropriate coordinator at CECP. Student absences should be reported to the university supervisor, who will work with you on appropriate supplementary experiences to fulfill the student teaching assignments.

The university supervisors may hold a seminar for the students during their student teaching program. They will provide you with information pertaining to that at a later time.

 Although the time period is very short, please make arrangements for the student teacher to observe and possibly work with special needs students who are included on either fulltime or part-time basis into regular classrooms. It will be helpful for the student teacher to confer with appropriate school personnel concerning:
♦ educational evaluation of a special needs child,
♦ multidisciplinary staffing,
♦ individualized educational planning and program implementation.

A copy of our Cooperating Teacher Handbook is included in this packet. The Handbook contains statements of our policies and other pertinent information. It is important that the cooperating teacher and student teacher review the Student Teacher Handbook and the weekly worksheets that the student teacher must submit to the cooperating teacher and the university supervisor at the end of each week. The Weekly Reflection Worksheet requires the signature of the cooperating teacher.

We recognize that the induction of the student teacher into teaching is a gradual process. We feel that adequate time should be provided for the preparation of lessons for which the student teacher will be responsible. Time should be set aside each day for preparation, planning, and conferences to discuss performance and progress. Specific and continual feedback is vitally important to the student teacher. Thorough planning will contribute to the potential success of the student’s work and enable your teacher candidate to obtain greater poise and self-confidence.

At least once every two weeks a supervisor from our University will visit you and the student teacher. The university supervisor will notify you of the visit in advance. During a typical student teaching program, the university supervisor will visit and observe the student teacher and will confer with both of you following an observation of the student teacher presenting the lesson. The purpose of these observations and conferences is to help make the student teaching experience as profitable as possible. If you have not heard from an Illinois State University supervisor within the first student teaching week, please call 309/438-5416. Do not hesitate to call any time for assistance.

We appreciate your interest in our student teaching program and your willingness to cooperate with us in this professional responsibility. We hope the experience will be mutually profitable and enjoyable.

Please call the Office of Clinical Experiences if you have questions regarding student teaching experiences. The program coordinators are listed below:

Molly Munson-Dryer, Assoc. Director of Clinical Experiences

Danielle Devine, Cooordinator of Secondary Programs. Biology, Chemistry, English, Mathematics, History, Geography, Physics

Colleen Herald, Coordinator of Secondary Programs: Agriculture, Health, Music, Family & Consumer Science, Physical Education, Technology, Art, Theatre, Speech Communications, Foreign Language, Business

Karen Mills , Coordinator of Special Education

Office of Clinical Experiences and Certification Processes
Illinois State University