The Role of the Cooperating Teacher

1. The cooperating teacher is a skilled teacher with the approval of the designated school personnel and a willingness to help the teacher candidate to develop into an assured and competent teacher.
2. The South Carolina State Department of Education requires that cooperating teachers do the following:
   1. Hold a valid professional teaching certificate in the area of supervision,
   2. Have successfully taught for at least three years at the grade level and/or subject area of supervision,
   3. Complete the orientation program for assessing student teachers,
   4. Have the recommendation for service as a cooperating teacher by the superintendent or district designee.
3. The cooperating teacher completes a required orientation program hosted by Converse College.
4. The cooperating teacher understands that student teachers must be available for the entire teaching day. The student teacher adheres to the daily schedule of the cooperating teacher (e.g. duty, faculty meetings, parent conferences, in-service activities, and rehearsals) but not to the schedule of activities or duties for which the cooperating teacher receives an additional stipend.
5. The cooperating teacher arranges for the student teacher to observe other teachers in the school and to appropriately incorporate technology into instruction.
6. The cooperating teacher has frequent conferences with the student teacher; these conferences begin early in the semester.
7. The cooperating teacher provides written lesson plans for the student teacher to study and helps the student teacher in learning the techniques and importance of making and using written plans with clearly defined objectives.  The cooperating teacher also shares the long-range plan with the student teacher.
8. The cooperating teacher explains to the student teacher the type of lesson plans the school requires.
9. The college supervisor and the cooperating teacher review the student teacher’s lesson plans using the Converse College Lesson Plan Template and determine at which point the student teacher can transfer to writing lesson plans in the format used by the cooperating teacher.
10. The cooperating teacher plans regular, informal conferences with the college supervisor. These conferences may or may not include the student teacher.
11. The cooperating teacher notifies the college supervisor of problems with the student teaching as soon as possible.
12. The cooperating teacher assists the college supervisor in completing the midterm and final consensus ADEPT Formal Evaluations in addition to individual midterm and final ADEPT Formal Evaluations. If the student teacher is having difficulty with teaching, the three individuals develop a written Intervention Plan and submit it to the Director of Clinical Experiences.
13. The cooperating teacher conducts varied observations of and makes candid evaluations of the student teacher.  The cooperating teacher completes a minimum of two formal observations using the ADEPT Formal Evaluation Observation Form.
14. The cooperating teacher evaluates the student teacher and the student teaching experience using the Converse College Ideal Educator Rating Scale.
15. Converse College provides a regular three-semester-hour, tuition-waived course to cooperating teachers and their principals at each student teaching site upon completion of the semester. Cooperating teachers and principals have one year to enroll in the Converse College tuition-waived course. Course schedules are available at www.converse.edu.
16. In the case of a problem of a serious nature during student teaching, the cooperating teacher notifies the college supervisor. The college supervisor notifies the Director of Clinical Experiences, who notifies the advisor. The Director of Clinical Experiences arranges a conference to include the cooperating teacher, the college supervisor, the student teacher, and the advisor. At this conference the participants may develop an Intervention Plan.  In rare cases where a district and the college change a placement or where a student teacher withdraws, consultation includes appropriate school district administrators and the Director of Teacher Education.
17. The cooperating teacher understands that the state of South Carolina requires that a substitute teacher be employed in the classroom when the cooperating teacher is absent from school.
18. The cooperating teacher and student teacher complete the Verification Form for Student Teaching and return the form with the signature of the cooperating teacher to the Director of Clinical Experiences after the completion of the sixtieth day of student teaching. The department uses this form in the process of completing the application for certification.
19. The cooperating teacher assists the student teacher in personal and professional areas, which can improve his or her teaching effectiveness.  Correcting speech idiosyncrasies, mannerisms, appearance, and methods for managing students are examples of areas in which the student teacher benefits from such feedback.

Ideal Educator Rating Scales
Student teachers create a visitor’s pass for cooperating teachers to use in completing the Ideal Educator Rating Scales.  The student teacher then gives the cooperating teacher the Visitor’s Pass code.  Cooperating teachers may contact the NCATE/Education Department Assistant at judy.wiliford@converse.edu or (864) 596-9398 for further assistance, if needed. 

1. The Student Teacher Creates a Visitor’s Pass.
   1. Go to www.college.livetext.com. Log on to LiveText.
   2. On the left side of the screen in the “Collaboration” section select “Visitors.”
   3. Select “Create.”
   4. Title this pass “Cooperating Teacher Pass.”
   5. Write a description (optional).
   6. Select “Save.”
   7. The pass will assign a number.  This is the Visitor Pass code the student teacher gives to the cooperating teacher.
   8. Once you have created a Visitor’s Pass, you can assign documents to that pass and share the pass with anyone you choose.
2. The Student Teacher Creates and Shares the Student Teacher Evaluation.
   1. Log on to Livetext
   2. Go to “My Desk.”
   3. Select “Create.”
   4. In the document dropdown box Select “Document.”
   5. Select “Project.”
   6. In the “Template” drop-down box select “Evaluation of the Student Teacher.”
   7. Title the document “Evaluation of the Student Teacher.”
   8. Select “Create Document.”
   9. At the top of the screen select “Share.”
   10. Select the “Choose Visitor” drop-down box beside the “Visitor” section.
   11. Select the “Cooperating Teacher Pass.”
   12. Select “add” beside the selected “Cooperating Teacher Pass.”
   13. Select “Finish.” Once you’ve assigned a document with a Visitor’s Pass, provide the cooperating teacher with the Visitor’s Pass code, and he or she will be able to access your document from the LiveText home page. Task is complete.
3. The Cooperating Teacher Evaluates the Student Teacher.
   1. Go to www.college.livetext.com.
   2. Scroll down the left side of the LiveText home page to “Visitors Area.”
   3. Enter the Visitor’s Pass code supplied by the student teacher.
   4. Select “Enter.”
   5. Select “Evaluation of the Student Teacher.”
   6. Click on the link to the evaluation.
   7. Complete the evaluation.
   8. Select “Submit Form.”
   9. Task complete, Log off.