Education at Central College
Elementary Education CTA
The Central Teacher Academy (CTA) program is a three-year collaborative model for preparing prospective teachers, which utilizes the resources of distinct educational entities:
- Central College
- Pella Community School District
- Pella Christian Schools
Exceptional students pursuing teaching careers must apply and be selected to participate in CTA. Those students selected are trained and paired with mentor teachers in the Pella CSD or Pella Christian schools for two years, prior to student teaching.
Central Teacher Academy Application
Sophomore Year – Kindergarten through fifth grade
- Observation in mentor classroom using observation tool; discuss observation with mentor teacher
- Individual and/or small group tutoring as assigned by mentor teacher
- Classroom or small group opportunities which include interactions with Pella students
- Instruction planning with mentor teacher
- Training in specific teaching practices from the CTA Coordinator, Central Education faculty, and Pella teachers including: Phonemic awareness, Reading fluency, vocabulary and comprehension techniques, Language Tool Kit, Math strategies: fluency and accuracy of basic facts, computation, problem-solving
- On-going consultation from mentor teacher and CTA coordinator
Junior Year – Kindergarten through fifth grade
- Peer coaching and mentor for a sophomore CTA student
- Attendance at staff development sessions
- Training in specific teaching practices including: Behavioral and motivational strategies, Classroom management, Reflective conferencing strategies, and Classroom Instruction That Works by Marzano, Pickering, & Pollock: Research-based teaching practices on nonlinguistic representation, similarities and differences, reinforcing effort and providing feedback, setting objectives, cooperative learning
- Instruction planning with mentor teacher
- Collaborative teaching in small and large groups, 6-8 hours per month with mentor teacher
- Reflection and analysis of lessons completed by CTA student and mentor
Senior Year – Kindergarten through fifth grade
- Student teaching with mentor teacher
- Mentor sophomore and junior CTA students
- Coordinate and implement additional training for junior CTA students
- Opportunities for continued involvement with mentor teacher before or after student teaching
Central Teacher Academy is endorsed by:
- Greg Ebeling, Superintendent of Pella Community Schools
- David Wood, School Consultant, Heartland Area Education Agency
- Mark Putnam, President of Central College
