In addition to the mentoring that all M.A.T. students receive from the cooperating teachers with whom they work in the schools, each M.A.T. student works closely with a Tufts University supervisor.

Supervisors, experienced educators and teachers themselves, visit the student teachers at least five times over the course of the year to observe and provide support and feedback. Three of these visits include time for a three-way meeting among the student teacher, the cooperating teacher, and the supervisor. One key purpose of the meetings is to discuss the student's progress in meeting the state requirements as described in the Preservice Performance Assessment.

The goal of the supervision process is to train future educators to become leaders in their field who understand the important role that teachers play in the lives of students and their families.

"Yes, everything has been helpful. The post-class discussions, the write-ups, and email conversations. It was helpful to have a lot of the play-by-play descriptions, probably not unlike what it is like to have yourself videotaped and get that perspective. Was also useful to have the more specific praise and criticism that has allowed me to think more about the ways I can improve as a new teacher."

- 2011 M.A.T. graduate on the importance of supervision

Please contact Ryan Redmond (ryan.redmond@tufts.edu or 617-627-2391) for more information about the supervision process.