Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1476161
interest and passion in serving a future teacher is someone we want to have mentor our student teachers," she says. While support previously ended after the placement, Pellet- tera wanted to create a "student teacher experience," complete with professional development with master teachers to share best practices and a network of support for mentor educators to help them best support their student teachers. e result is a district full of master teachers who feel ready to support a student teacher and a program that retains between 30 and 40 percent of its student teachers, according to Pellettera. "So many of our student teachers are saying this is an incred- ible experience. We've done a great job at creating this real community," says Pellettera, a National Board Certified Teacher. "e experts are already in the room — these are the people we need to train the next generation of teachers." Pellettera's work is also making the program more efficient, as she finds and matches mentors and students and recommends pairings to principals, cutting weeks out of the process. During the distance-learning year in 2020, she placed more than 400 stu- dent teachers, including Rosario Villalobos, who now teaches at Jones Elementary School in SBCUSD and is a member of SBTA. "Seeing another experienced teacher teach their students was a calming and enlightening experience," Villalobos says. "It pro- vided me insight without having to be thrown into a classroom." e approach has garnered attention from nearby districts — Pellettera says she shared her process with colleagues in Riverside and Fontana and they changed their own student teacher placement processes. She's excited to share SBCUSD's work they're doing to prepare the teachers of tomorrow, which is also the subject of her current doctoral dissertation. e only former teacher in her role that she knows of, Pellettera says she can't believe that she gets to be a part of setting student teachers up for success in San Bernardino. "We have incredible veteran teachers who are ready to share their knowledge and expertise with student-teachers. We must pay that forward," she says. "We're training the future of our pro- fession. If not us, then who?" By the Numbers L A S T S C H O O L Y E A R , Morgan Pellettera placed 235 student teachers with master edu- cators in San Bernardino City Unified School District classrooms. Working with more than 25 universities, including CSU San Bernardino and UC Riverside, she says she usually places 100 percent of student teachers the district sends her (student teachers provide their university programs with their top three school district choices to get a placement). The length of the placement and hours they will student teach depends on the uni- versity program — UC Riverside's program is all school year, while La Sierra University requires 420 hours. The average is 14 to 16 weeks, says Pellettera. Master teachers earn small stipends pro- vided by the university. Pellettera says these range from $100 for the length of the fieldwork to $600 for 18 weeks. Student teachers are not compensated, but they can apply to be substi- tutes for their master teachers. Master teacher Michael Doll and student teacher Randi Kinkade (right) support students during a math lesson. Student teacher Stacey Newcomer and master teacher Amber Carney, ready for another exciting day in second grade. 47 A U G U S T / S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 2