York College gets $94,000 in grant money for student teaching programs

The Pennsylvania Department of Education awarded $94,530 in grant money to York College for teacher and principal preparation.

The Innovative Teacher Prep2Practice Program grant funds the development of innovative and cohesive field experiences for teachers, York College said.

“The Teacher Prep2Practice program is focused on making sure that all the stages of clinical field experience — from early field through student teaching and teacher induction — include instruction that better addresses culturally relevant competencies,” said Stacey Dammann, dean of the School of Behavioral Sciences and Education. 

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Student teachers at York College go through three stages of their programs: first-year candidates, capstone clinicals (classroom experience) and induction, according to college spokesperson Mary Dolheimer, who said the grant money will be used to enhance parts of these steps.

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The college will improve and offer more learning opportunities for student teachers at the beginning of their program, Dammann said, adding there also are plans to develop an Aspiring Teachers program to promote diversity and enhancement for new teachers entering the professional work field.

The college also intends to integrate simulations through student teacher programs and improve engagement with local schools.

The simulations, also called SchoolSIMS, are used to meet state cultural competencies. They provide students with a scenario where they enter as a digital avatar and can choose how to respond to different things in the simulation, according to Dammann.

How the student responds will drive what happens next, and they can repeat the scenario and try different approaches. “It’s much more engaging and it gets to those cultural competencies,” Dammann said.

— Reach Noel Miller at NMiller3@yorkdispatch.com or via Twitter at @TheNoelM.