Building a better professional experience

In partnership with the Avondale Elementary School District and the Pendergast Elementary School District, MLFTC is piloting new ways to support ASU teacher candidates while they perform their professional internships and apprenticeships in schools.

Watch the short video and hear more about how the pilot program is changing the teaching model:

Instead of working in a one-teacher-one-classroom model, students in the pilot programs work in teams under the supervision of a lead certified teacher. MLFTC is exploring how, by providing four educators to groups of 50-60 students, this approach can deliver better-personalized attention to learners and better professional development for the ASU students who are future teachers. Additionally, the students are paid by the school district in which they work.

Historically, significant numbers of undergraduate and graduate students pursuing teaching degrees have given up paid jobs in order to complete their university coursework, meet family responsibilities and fulfill the rigorous clinical experience requirements of a teacher certification program.

At the same time, schools facing severe teacher shortages have been forced to hire more than 1,000 emergency-certified teachers with no formal education training. ASU student teachers have had a level of teacher training — in both pedagogy and content — that most of the teachers currently on emergency certification have not had. ASU students work under the supervision of lead teachers and enjoy the support of ASU clinical faculty

Through pilots in Avondale and Pendergast, MLFTC and partner school districts are working to address immediate staffing challenges, reduce the debt burden for ASU students and ultimately reduce the barriers to entry for people into the education profession.