The standards presented below developed by the Curriculum and Instruction Department are a modified version of national standards (INTASC) for beginning teachers that have been integrated with the College of Education knowledge Base.  By the end of student teaching, the teacher intern's portfolio should have sufficient evidence to document growth toward these performance standards.

• The teacher intern understands how social context (e.g., family circumstances, economic conditions) may influence student motivation and learning.

• The teacher intern understands how learning occurs: how students construct knowledge, acquire skills, and develop habits of mind; how their conceptual frameworks influence learning; and how physical, social, emotional, moral and cognitive development influence learning.

• The teacher intern stimulates student reflection on prior knowledge and links new ideas to already familiar ideas, making connections to student's experiences, providing opportunities for active engagement, manipulation, and testing of ideas and materials, and encouraging students to assume responsibility for shaping their learning tasks.

• The teacher intern assesses individual differences, and designs and delivers instruction appropriate to students' stages of development, cultural backgrounds, learning styles, strengths, and needs.

• The teacher intern understands assessment issues such as validity, reliability, bias, and scoring concerns, especially as they relate to state-mandated assessment systems.

• The teacher intern uses a variety of formal and informal assessment techniques (e.g., observation, portfolios of student work, teacher-made tests, performance tasks, projects, student self-assessments, peer assessment, and standardized tests) to enhance her or his knowledge of learners, evaluate students' progress and performances, and modify teaching and learning strategies.

• The teacher intern maintains useful records of student work and performance and can communicate student progress knowledgeably and responsibly, based on appropriate indicators, to students, parents, and other colleagues.

• The teacher intern understands the central concepts within the disciplines they teach and can relate disciplinary knowledge to other subject areas: a) Language Arts; b) Mathematics; c) Science; d) Social Studies; and e) Fine Arts.

• The teacher intern uses multiple representations and explanations of disciplinary concepts that capture key ideas and links them to students' prior understandings.

• The teacher intern evaluates teaching resources and curriculum materials for their comprehensiveness, accuracy, and usefulness for representing particular ideas and concepts.

• The teacher intern creates interdisciplinary learning experiences that allow students to integrate knowledge, skills, and methods of inquiry from several subject areas.

• The teacher intern understands the organization and purpose of various curriculum materials, and the importance of developing curriculum which takes contextual consideration into account (student needs, interests and aptitudes; community goals and resources; instructional materials), and which emphasizes multicultural perspectives.

• The teacher intern selects and creates learning experiences that are appropriate for curriculum goals, relevant to learners, and based upon principles  of effective instruction (e.g., that activate students' prior knowledge, anticipates preconceptions, encourage exploration and problem-solving, and builds new skills on those previously acquired).

• The teacher intern creates short-range and long-term plans around key concepts that are linked to student needs and performance, and adapts the plans to ensure and capitalize on student progress and motivation.

• The teacher intern incorporates a multicultural perspective which integrates culturally diverse resources, including those from the learner's family and community.

• The teacher intern understands a variety of instructional models (both general and discipline-specific); their underlying learning and design principles; related strategies, technologies, and curriculum resources; and the advantages and limitations of each.

• The teacher intern understands human motivation and behavior, how social groups function, the principles of effective classroom management, and factors/situations likely to promote or diminish intrinsic motivation.

• The teacher intern uses multiple teaching and learning strategies to engage students in active learning opportunities that promote the development of critical thinking, problem solving, and performance capabilities and that help students assume responsibility for identifying and using learning resources.

• The teacher intern constantly monitors and adjusts strategies and instructional roles in response to the changing conditions of the learning situation.

• The teacher intern organizes, allocates, and manages the resources of time, space, activities, and attention to provide active and equitable engagement of students in productive tasks.

• The teacher intern models effective communication strategies in conveying ideas and information and in asking questions (e.g., monitoring the effect of messages, restating ideas and drawing connections, using visual, aural, and kinesthetic cues, being sensitive to nonverbal cues given and received).

• The teacher intern knows how to use a variety of media communication tools, including audiovisual aids and computers, to enrich learning opportunities.

• The teacher intern understands methods of inquiry that provide self-assessment and problem solving strategies for reflecting on practice, the major areas of theory and research which provide a sound basis for reflection, and the sources available for continuous professional development.

• The teacher intern seeks out professional literature, colleagues, and other resources to support his/her own development as a learner and a teacher, and engages in disciplined inquiry that provides assessment for professional growth and program development.

• The teacher intern understands schools as organizations within the larger community context, laws related to students' rights and teacher responsibilities (e.g., inclusion, confidentiality, privacy, discipline, health concerns), and how the social context (e.g., family circumstances, discriminatory practices, the community, health and economic conditions) may influence student motivation and learning .

• The teacher intern establishes respectful and productive relationships with parents and guardians from diverse home and community situations, and seeks to develop cooperative partnerships in support of student motivation, learning and well being.

• The teacher intern participates in collegial activities designed to make the entire school a productive learning environment.

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Last updated on November 19, 2002