Department Highlights

PLACEMENTS AND PARTNERSHIPS

We know that placements are one of the most important elements in learning to teach. For this reason, the education department has intentionally designed experiences where our teacher candidates can practice teaching in quality placements that model effective teaching and provide support. 

PLACEMENTS

One element that sets apart the education program at Hope College is the fact that students are placed in classrooms during their first year, as they discern whether teaching is for them. Two of our three Level 1 courses include clinical experiences where students can interact with children and experience what it is like to teach.

Hope’s education faculty have created a series of placements that build upon one another as students progress through the program. You’ll begin by observing children as you see theory put into practice. As you move into content courses, you’ll be able to practice newly acquired skills and strategies under the guidance of both the professor and cooperating teacher. In capstone courses, right before student teaching, you take what you’ve learned about effective planning and teaching and implement it in the classroom. This includes practicing core teaching practices like: 

• Leading a group discussion
• Explaining and modeling content, practices and strategies
• Eliciting and interpreting individual students’ thinking
• Building respectful relationships with students

Education students graduate having been in a variety of placements. Possibilities include urban, rural, public, private, charter, nature-based, Montessori, project-based learning, etc. Every student in Hope’s education program is required to have at least one clinical experience in the following diverse settings: racial/ethnic, socioeconomic and students with exceptionalities. 

PARTNERSHIPS

West Michigan boasts some wonderful schools. The education department faculty spend considerable time cultivating relationships with area teachers and districts to ensure that Hope students are placed in schools where they can see and practice effective teaching. These are just a few of our established partnerships:

• Zeeland Quest is a magnet school in the Zeeland district that focuses on project-based learning. Both our elementary and secondary introduction courses visit ZQuest in order to expose students to ideas like integration and multi-age classrooms and to engage strategies like driving questions, entry events and authentic audiences. 
• Outdoor Discovery Center hosts all of our early children candidates as they learn about nature-based teaching and learning. 
• Georgetown Elementary is a school in the Hudsonville district that partners with the elementary capstone course to provide an experience in data-driven instruction where Hope students analyze math scores and then develop and teach interventions for first-graders.  

LEARNING TO TEACH: STAT/TCAT & PORTFOLIO 

Faculty in the education department believe that learning to teach is a life-long developmental process in which each student starts and progresses at their own pace. 

STAT/TCAT

To assist with this, the education department uses internally-created performance-based assessment tools to track the growth and development of our teacher candidates throughout their program. Students are assessed using the Teacher Candidate Assessment Tool (TCAT) in each clinical experience. This leads to the use of the Student Teaching Assessment Tool (STAT) at the midterm and final evaluation of the student teaching experience. 

PORTFOLIO

Another instrument that helps students track their own growth is the portfolio. Teacher candidates begin their portfolio once they are admitted to the education department. Throughout their program, they add artifacts and reflect on their development in the following areas:

• Lesson planning
• Diversity
• Technology 
• Core teaching practices