You will take core education courses and early-level field experience courses.

You will continue to take education courses that do not require official admission to the teaching program. You will also take courses for your bachelor’s degree and certification content area.

Once all items on the teaching program checklist have been completed, you can be officially admitted to the program, and go on to take upper-level education courses and mid-level field experience courses.

You will continue with courses required for your degree and teaching certification and start with student teaching. At this point, you will prepare for the Missouri Content Assessments (MoCA) since passing it is a requirement to get approved for student teaching.

You will complete any outstanding coursework as well as 16 weeks of student teaching.

As a student at CC, you will get to be in the classroom as soon as your courses begin. At the beginning of your program, you are exposed to a wide variety of classrooms to help determine a good fit for your certification. As you progress in the program, your field courses are focused on your specific certification area. During your final semester, you experience student teaching for 16 weeks in a classroom with a master teacher.

During field experience, as a student, you will be placed in a wide variety of partner schools. You’ll be required to take courses in all areas of teaching to prepare you for the classroom. In your student teaching semester, you will take monthly seminars on a variety of topics, including culturally responsive pedagogy, trauma informed teaching, equity training and much more.

At CC, you are evaluated by a college supervisor during your mid-level field courses. The supervisor provides meaningful feedback to encourage and help support your growth as a teacher. These evaluations are mostly based on teaching performance but also professionalism. Your relationship with your supervisor is developed and carried through to the end. This allows for feedback and coaching to be much more effective and useful. 

CC subscribes to a community of practice model of preparation. They utilize local schools for more immersive learning. With a Professional Development Schools model, classes are held on-site at a school, not in a college classroom. This allows for college students to immediately put into practice with P-12 learners.  This hands-on approach creates a win-win-win situation. You will be better prepared, well-trained, and the P-12 students get more individualized help with two people in the classroom.