A maximum of 25 students enter each fall and progress as an interdisciplinary group through carefully sequenced courses. The program has been part of the North Carolina Model Clinical Teaching Network and was developed by the UNC-CH School of Education in cooperation with master teachers and administrators from area schools. The program team includes a clinical instructor, a middle grades teacher who joins the university faculty for one or two years. Each summer clinical teachers who work with student teachers participate with university faculty in an institute designed to strengthen these collaborative ties and to promote compatibility between student teaching and university courses. Students are assigned to teacher teams in schools.
Students teach and critique videotapes of their teaching.
Journal writing helps to connect theories and classroom experiences.