MidValley Consortium for Teacher Education

Eastern Mennonite University collaborates with Bridgewater College, Mary Baldwin University, James Madison University, and seven area school divisions to form the MidValley Consortium for Teacher Education. The purpose of the partnership is to capitalize on institutional strengths to promote the best possible student teaching experiences. The MidValley Consortium identifies and prepares a cadre of public school teachers who serve as clinical faculty members to student teachers from the participating teacher education programs. Approximately 50-60% of EMU student teaching placements are with clinical faculty members. MidValley Consortium evaluation forms are used for all student teaching placements.

The clinical faculty role, in large part, combines the roles of the cooperating teacher and the university consultant. For example, the clinical faculty member provides a continuous evaluation of all phases of the student teacher's work, including final evaluations. A minimum of 5 formal lesson evaluations are to be completed throughout a 7-week placement. The university consultant facilitates and affords a supportive role to the clinical faculty member.

The MidValley Consortium for Teacher Education enriches EMU's teacher education program, not only because it shares complementary goals, but because it promotes an active working partnership with area educators who seek excellence in teacher preparation.

The MidValley Consortium for Teacher Education website: https://www.jmu.edu/coe/esc/consortium.shtml