Our Goals

Mission Statement

The mission of Rockbridge Teacher Education Consortium capitalizes on the strengths of its member institutions: To prepare students for careers in teaching or education-related fields through a comprehensive teacher preparation program that provides a depth and breadth of knowledge, skills, and practice, through coursework and study and fieldwork experiences. Woven throughout our mission are the principles of Leadership, Rigor, Service, Diversity.

Goals

  1. Students will be prepared to begin teaching positions or to pursue related graduate work. Candidates will pass the prescribed Virginia Department of Education assessments.
  2. Students will demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and practices of an effective teacher as they formulate a comprehensive approach to teaching through practical and intellectual experiences, including planning, implementing, and reflecting on lessons that are academically, rigorous, differentiated according to pupil needs, and tied to Virginia state standards.
  3. RTEC will continue to recruit, admit, and retain high-quality teacher preparation candidates, through excellent coursework and instruction, individualized advising, and support in fieldwork.

RTEC History

In developing its teacher education program, RTEC was guided by research on exemplary licensure programs, and RTEC faculty experience with education programs at Mary Baldwin and the University of Virginia. Among the researchers whose work helped shape its program are Linda Darling-Hammond and John Bransford (2005), J. H. Stronge (2007), and Arthur Levine (2006). In particular, RTEC has focused on qualities identified by Arthur Levine in his 2006 report, Educating School Teachers. Levine states that strong teacher education programs:

  • develop excellent teachers based on a clearly defined, shared, and authentic mission that leads to action
  • work at building the conditions that make it possible to implement a shared mission
  • provide a coherent and innovative up-to-date curriculum
  • offer courses that meet high academic standards
  • provide structured field experiences from the beginning of the student’s entrance into teacher education to the point that they enter the profession; and,
  • build a close partnership with the local community of schools represented by a spirit of service and hands-on, collaborative co-learning.

In addition, the 10 Model Core Teaching Standards established by the Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (INTASC) and the work of Charlotte Danielson in the Framework for Teaching (2022) directly influence the objectives and content of all RTEC education courses. Ultimately, RTEC aligned its mission, fieldwork, and student teaching with the INTASC principles, the requirements of the Virginia Department of Education and the principles set by Charlotte Danielson.

RTEC was granted initial accreditation by the Teacher Education Accreditation Council (TEAC) for a period of five years, 2012-2017. In the fall of 2017, RTEC was granted full national accreditation by the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) for a period of seven years, 2017-2024 and again in Spring 2024 for another period of seven years. Achieving national accreditation by CAEP is a rigorous process that demonstrates RTEC’s adherence to the best principles and practices in educator preparation.

The Four Components

Leadership

Upon graduation, RTEC’s teacher candidates are expected to become effective leaders who are capable of helping others strive to high levels of achievement. This involves teachers who are able to:

  • Collaborate with others effectively to plan appropriate curriculum and programs
  • Motivate students and fellow teachers to use their strengths to achieve at high levels and persevere when needed
  • Make decisions, organize activities, and manage their classroom
  • Serve as agents for change and excellence in their schools and communities

RTEC’s teacher candidates will be prepared for leadership roles through professional courses that require student initiative, as well as opportunities for learning and practicing effective leadership roles in the campus community and structured fieldwork. As a requirement for licensure, teacher candidates must document they have met a standard for leadership set by RTEC.

Rigor

Academic excellence is central to this effort.  RTEC’s faculty will reflect this strength through a strong commitment to in-depth preparation, intense academic expectations, and extensive personal attention and support for all students. RTEC will expect its graduates to become teachers who are able to:

  • Engage in critical thinking, analysis and communication
  • Integrate theory and practice in their teaching
  • Teach content knowledge with appropriate mastery and expertise
  • Use a variety of instructional methods, while knowing their own strengths as teachers
  • Use technology for instructional purposes and for analyzing data
  • Draw on research and practice to design effective instructional resources and evaluate external resources
  • Engage in self-reflection and self-assessment of their teaching

All RTEC candidates will complete the requirements for an academic major as required by Virginia Department of Education regulations. In addition, RTEC will develop both academic and pedagogical competencies in its candidates through its professional courses.

The following academic skills will be reinforced in RTEC coursework through assignments and classroom activities that require students in each course to:

  • Develop at least one major paper or curriculum project
  • Make at least one formal or informal presentation
  • Use technology as part of the course
  • Engage in assignments that provide an opportunity for self-reflection and metacognition
  • Use data or other information to support self-assessment
  • Engage in research through a number of methods of inquiry

Pedagogical competencies will be reinforced in RTEC coursework through class activities, assignments, and modeling by the instructors. Students will be required to:

  • Integrate theory and practice in their teaching
  • Use a variety of instructional methods
  • Use technology for instructional purposes
  • Draw on research and practice to design instructional units
  • Evaluate external resources to determine their value for different instructional purposes
  • Engage in self-refection and self-assessment of their teaching
  • Determine the values and philosophies embedded in instructional methods

RTEC’s teacher education program will emphasize fieldwork as a major part of student learning. Every education course will have a co-requisite practicum course or have fieldwork embedded in the course itself. This fieldwork component will involve frequent exchanges among education faculty, clinical faculty and students.

Service

Upon graduation, RTEC expects its teacher candidates to have a strong commitment to service. Service is integral to leadership, but in principle and action, service has its own unique qualities. RTEC believes that a commitment to service is evident in teachers who are capable of:

  • Effective involvement in community-based activities and a wide range of volunteer activities
  • Teaching in a student-centered manner attuned to the needs of all students.

These qualities will be developed in RTEC through a variety of channels. Each institution has a special focus on service as part of its overall mission and traditional values. As students participate in the life of their campus, they will be able to participate in service activities.

RTEC also believes that service can be manifested in the way teachers teach. A service-oriented teaching style is student-centered and attuned to the needs of all children. It seeks to address the learning challenges that many students experience. It is this level of commitment and persistence to the needs of children that best exemplifies teaching as a caring profession. These qualities will be promoted and valued in each of our education courses, and will be especially relevant to the mentoring and learning that occurs through fieldwork.

Diversity

RTEC expects each of its graduates to enter the profession as teachers who are prepared to work in school environments characterized by diversity. RTEC defines diversity using the seven categories present in multicultural literature (Heaggans and Polka, 2010; Banke 1994): gender, language, social class, race, religion, disability, and ethnicity. Therefore, RTEC will prepare teachers who, through skilled instructional knowledge, are capable of:

  • Using their interpersonal skills to collaborate with others as trusted and sharing team members
  • Understanding how difference can affect perception of and reaction to events
  • Using innovative instructional methods, including differentiated instruction, designed to engage all students in learning
  • Evaluating curriculum for bias or misrepresentation
  • Implementing new curricula and resources designed to facilitate learning among all students
  • Identifying and assessing student learning through the use of multiple techniques

Some of these attributes and skills will be addressed as students from each college work together in education classes. Because the colleges within the consortium draw from fairly different student populations, teacher candidates will be exposed to a range of opinions and interests by interacting with their RTEC peers.