Students begin in May and spend the summer in online courses and prerequisites.

Students spend fall and winter semesters with their cohort gaining field experience in regional schools during the educational partner's academic year. During this period, students continue to engage in coursework and seminars both online and face-to-face.  

This process results in licensure and a graduate teaching certificate but students may choose to pursue additional graduate courses to fully complete their Master of Arts in Education. 

Field experiences are a critical component of the Colorado Mesa University (CMU) Teacher Education Program. These experiences give teacher candidates the opportunity to relate principles and theories to actual classrooms and schools by creating meaningful learning experiences. The culmination of these experiences is the teaching internship where teacher candidates fully participate in a team-teaching approach in the classroom. As teacher candidates gain experience and knowledge, they transition into the lead instructor position (expected by mid-semester).

The Center for Teacher Education at Colorado Mesa University prepares future teachers to work with diverse populations with unique needs, including students in poverty and students with different racial, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds. All CTE students must take and pass courses which prepare them for this type of classroom experience. Required courses like Teaching to Diversity are comprehensive courses that prepare students to reflect on their own worldview, and to plan and differentiate their instruction to meet the diverse needs of students.

The Center for Teacher Education follows a team-teaching model. This model fosters collaborative efforts and draws on the strengths of each partner in the development of curriculum and the practice and implementation of effective teaching strategies. The key components of the team-teaching internship model include collaborative teaching approaches, reduced student-teacher ratios, peer support groups at host schools, and increased professional development opportunities.

The Center for Teacher Education adheres to the Colorado Teacher Quality Standards by focusing on overlapping performance goals for students. The CTE focuses its education areas on the student’s knowledge of the subject matter, their professional skills, and by fostering a passion for innovation in education. The planned sequence of courses and field experience ensures students are exposed to and are accountable to achieving these standards.