Becoming an effective teacher happens in stages, and is incumbent on a developmental continuum of experiences that include modeling, guided practice, co-teaching, feedback and multiple iterations that swing between explicit and implicit guidance by a mentor. This developmental continuum ranges from the early field candidate who is focused on mastering discrete skills to the entry year teacher practicing a more holistic approach to teaching. Mentoring literature, as well as the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education NCATE’s (2010) Report of the Blue Ribbon Panel on Clinical Preparation and Partnerships for Improved Student Learning, support the notion that field experience is the most critical component of a teacher education program and advocate for an increase in field experiences and more direct interaction with P-12 students. 

Mentors are required to make a myriad of decisions in the mentoring process when addressing candidate differences, dealing with curriculum and assessment, P-12 student characteristics, and their own mentoring style to support their preservice and first year teachers.  The purpose of this presentation/paper is to share findings from research based on interviews with 18 mentor teachers that describe how curriculum, instruction, and strategies differ by context for each level of mentoring (i.e., preservice, student teaching, and induction/entry year) and to help participants/readers better understand how to provide differentiated strategies for mentoring at preservice, professional intern/student teaching, and induction/entry year levels. 

Modeling a co-teaching relationship in a teacher education master’s level STEM program, two faculty members co-taught two semester courses to a cohort of teacher candidates in a one-year, field-intensive teacher preparation program. The two university classes were co-taught by a general and special education faculty member.  Managing and Monitoring Student Learning: Designed to help general education teacher candidates (grades 7-12) become more proficient at managing classroom procedures and student behavior. In addition this class will give teacher candidates the skills needed to use classroom assessment data more efficiently and effectively through analysis and application, promoting data-driven decision making and problem solving.  Differentiated Instructional Adaptations: Designed to develop skills needed by licensed general education teachers to work with learners with exceptionalities and diverse needs in inclusive classrooms. Content includes collaboration strategies, curriculum modifications, instruction and management adaptations, principles and skills for differentiating instruction in an inclusive classroom.  Pre-, post-, and delayed-post surveys tracked the development of candidates’ understandings of co-teaching and the developmental relationships central to co-teaching. Candidates were required to co-teach two lessons with their cooperating teachers using a co-teaching model (one teach, one assist was not an option) and reflect on the experience. Finally, candidates completed weekly online reflections based on observations of co-teaching in the university classroom and co-teaching experiences in their grade 7-12 classrooms. Data from reflections and surveys reveal challenges and progress made in navigating and establishing developmental relationships with their cooperating teachers in the areas of co-planning, co-assessing, classroom management, contrasting teaching styles, and expectations.