Join our Teacher Pathway Team – Become a Cooperating Professional!

The University of Oregon is seeking welcoming, skilled, and experienced educators to serve as Cooperating Professionals (CPs) for our licensure candidates. This includes roles such as cooperating teachers, site mentors, field supervisors, and clinical supervisors.

Our nationally accredited programs are committed to preparing future educators to thrive in Oregon’s PreK–12 schools. In alignment with TSPC standards, programs focus on developing candidates who are authentic, self-aware, caring, collaborative, and equity-minded members of your learning community.

Each spring, we partner with districts to recruit outstanding teachers who are willing to open their classrooms to a educator candidate in the coming school year. As a Cooperating Professional, you will mentor, model, guide, and evaluate a future educator—helping shape the next generation of learners.

Our candidates are eager to support you. They contribute to planning, preparation, technology integration, assessment, and instructional delivery—bringing fresh energy and perspective to your teaching environment.

You won’t be alone in this work. Each candidate and mentor team receives personalized support from an experienced university supervisor who provides regular coaching, planning assistance, and guidance through licensure observations and evaluations.

Your mentorship and professional modeling are essential to a candidate’s growth. As part of our recognition for your time and dedication, the University of Oregon provides a competitive stipend in terms requiring licensure observation and evaluations.  This is typically administered through your district payroll office.

26-27 UO Cooperating Professional Recruitment Flier -15-2026-15

 

Minimum Approval Criteria and Qualifications

1. License: Hold a qualified TSPC license (SLP requires ASHA and state licensed).
2. Experience/approval: Have three or more years of fulltime experience and site approval.
3. Credentials: Be certified in the same (or closely related) endorsement area.
4. Trainings: Participate in 1-hour program trainings

As a Cooperating Professional You will:

• Help student teacher candidates get a positive start on their career.
• Foster a collaborative mentoring relationship with an eager partner willing to assist you.
• Learn from your candidate as they work to apply their ideas, new learning tools, and current educational research to their practice.

District Cooperating Professionals earn a stipend and professional development units, in terms where licensure evaluation and assessment tasks are required. Respective districts also receive correlate reduced tuition vouchers.
Check with your HR Office to determine how these benefits are dispersed.

TSPC Standards for Supporting Teacher Candidates:

• Mentors are to supervise candidates in the classroom, providing in-person support and should not be out of the classroom for extended periods of time.
• Candidates are university students, protected under FERPA regulations.
• Programs will assign a University Supervisor to assist mentors and the teacher candidate throughout student teaching practicum terms.

Cooperating Professional Training & Resources

1. Oregon Pre-service Education Network (OPEN) new & returning CP Training

If you are new or looking for some Cooperating Professional (CP) training, we encourage you to sign up for one of the upcoming Oregon Preservice Education Network (OPEN) online orientation trainings (9:30-12:00pm: Aug 7 & 19. 4:30-7:00pm: Sept 17, Oct 1, Jan 28, Mar 5). OPEN CPs trainings are facilitated jointly by higher education and K-12 school district representatives. Trainings provide helpful ideas for working with and supporting educator candidates in becoming the best educators as possible for our K-12 students. Orientation outcomes:

• • Deepen skills in building relationships between cooperating educators and educator candidates
  • Enhance strategies to engage in and share the thinking process regarding teaching and learning
  • Build repertoire of coaching/mentoring skills to work with an educator candidate
  • Reflect on being a culturally responsive mentor as well as the dynamics identity and power may hold within the mentor/mentee relationship

RSVP for OPEN Session 25-26 

UO provides trainings, supports, and resources to UO Cooperating Professional / Mentor via an Instructional Canvas (link). Each year, Cooperating Professionals will be added to this site. The site includes UO and Program orientation information, explanation of assessment tools (and link to Watermark/TK20), and other resources that you and your candidate’s university supervisor can access throughout your placement. Cooperating Professionals are added to the Site as “students”. If you don’t already have a https://canvas.instructure.com account, you will need to create an account. You will receive an invite to a training to this site and find video introductions in the site. If you have issues accessing this site, please contact coeplacement@uoregon.edu | 541-346-1397

updated: 1/15/25