The School of Education (SOE) at California State University, Chico serves a large geographic region extending across rural Northern California to the Oregon and Nevada borders. As part of its efforts to address rural teacher shortages and expand Grow Your Own pathways, the SOE has developed more accessible options for credential completion, including online coursework, paraprofessional pathways, and district-based residency programs. As these pathways expand access to teacher preparation, the SOE is also exploring effective approaches for supervising and supporting teacher candidates across geographically dispersed rural communities. This project will strengthen the Rural Teacher Corps by examining how university supervisors, cooperating teachers, and local support teachers provide meaningful mentoring and supervision to rural student teachers, particularly in high-need fields such as Physical Education, STEM, and Special Education.
The project will engage collaborative teams of student teachers, university supervisors, and cooperating or local support teachers to explore their experiences with rural supervision and identify practices that support teacher growth, confidence, and persistence. Through interviews and thematic analysis, the project will examine the unique challenges of rural placements, including geographic isolation, limited professional networks, and complex professional roles, while identifying strategies that participants view as particularly effective. Findings will be used to develop a practical Rural Teacher Supervision Toolbox featuring strategies, tools, and resources for those supporting teacher candidates in rural settings. Short video narratives will also highlight effective practices and participant experiences for use in professional learning, recruitment, and broader dissemination. Ultimately, the project seeks to strengthen rural teacher preparation by building shared knowledge of effective supervision, deepening school-university partnerships, and improving systems of support for teacher candidates across rural communities.
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