November 18, 2019
ECU has strong presence at co-teaching conference; Tschida president-elect of new co-teaching association
ECU’s College of Education had a strong showing at this year’s National Conference on Co-Teaching. From left, Drs. Maureen Grady, Charity Cayton, and Christina Tschida pose for a photo from the conference banner.
East Carolina University was well represented at the fourth annual National Conference on Co-Teaching (NCCT), held in Bloomington, Minnesota on October 24-25, 2019.
Drs. Charity Cayton and Maureen Grady from the College of Education (COE)’s Department of Mathematics Education, Science Education, and Instructional Technology (MSITE) were invited speakers at the conference sharing their work on incorporating co-teaching in their secondary math program. Dr. Christina Tschida from COE’s Elementary Education and Middle Grades Education Department (ELMID) also presented at the conference. She, along with Pitt County Schools’ Seth Brown, Jeff Bell, and Ashley Smith, shared data from collaborative work they have been doing for two years as part of the R3 Initiative in Pitt County Schools.
Pitt County Schools received a grant that helped fund multi-classroom teachers (MCTs). These teachers co-teach across multiple classrooms and provide support for their fellow teachers. Pitt County Schools partnered with ECU’s College of Education to train MCTs and develop their co-teaching model, which is based on the COE student-teaching model. For more information on the Pitt County grant, visit their website. For more information on the multi-classroom teacher model, click here.
Dr. Tschida also presented with Matthew Jennette, an ECU English education major and Honors College student. As part of his Signature Honors Project, Matthew worked with Dr. Tschida to analyze six years of focus group data from the co-teaching project in ECU’s College of Education. He presented virtually to a large group of teacher educators from around the country.
During the NCCT, the new National Association for Co-Teaching (NACT) had its official launch, and conference participants had the opportunity to join the newly-formed NACT. The leadership team for this new organization has worked for the past year to develop an inclusive association centered on co-teaching in PK-12 settings and teacher education. The organization already has over 40 members and a strong social media presence with over 400 Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram followers. If you are interested in learning more about NACT, visit their website at www.icoteach.com.
Dr. Tschida was part of the leadership team for the organization working closely with Teresa Washut Heck from St. Cloud State University to make the NACT a reality. Dr. Tschida will serve as the first President-Elect of the NACT. Dr. Maureen Grady will serve on the Council for Education Preparation, one of the three main councils within the organization.