The Art of Teaching Program
Overview
Currently, the ART of TEACHING participants are located only in California.
The ART of TEACHING combines a number of components to produce powerful professional growth and development. Mentors act as change agents coaching individual Cotsen fellows in classrooms weekly. Fellows observe great teachers in other school systems to gain new vision and inspiration. They also set goals to grow in content knowledge and in pedagogy. They select one subject field and some aspect of the California Standards for the Teaching Profession. The Cotsen fellows set goals, videotape themselves, reflect on what they see, attend conferences to learn even more, and participate monthly in an inquiry group to study teaching more deeply with colleagues.
Selecting Schools
Currently, elementary schools from California may apply. All types of elementary schools are eligible, including public, private, religious and charter schools. A screening committee engages in a rigorous process to determine if teachers, leadership at the school, key district administrators and others have the capacity and commitment to successfully engage in the ART of TEACHING program.
Recruiting Mentors and Cotsen Fellows
The Cotsen Family Foundation invites all experienced teachers within a school to apply to become a Cotsen fellow. Strong support from the district and the principal 
are required for a school to be considered for participation.
Interested teachers complete applications and the foundation screens and selects both a highly accomplished teacher as the mentor and a cohort of five to six teachers for fellowships. During the screening process, each applicant is observed teaching a complete lesson by two to four educators from outside that school district. An interview with the applicant follows. The foundation seeks to reach the top 20 percent of the teaching faculty, so the screening is very selective and not all applicants are chosen.
Mentoring
Mentors are accomplished teachers from the schools who are released from teaching full time to support Cotsen 
fellows as they strive to reach their goals. They meet on average from three to five hours a week with each fellow in classrooms and in individual planning or feedback sessions. They frequently collect evidence of student responses to lessons as directed by the fellow. Mentors organize monthly inquiry group meetings at which fellows study teaching and learning together. They often attend observations of other great teachers and conferences with the fellows in order to support them in attempts to use ideas they have gained from these experiences.
Getting a Vision – Seeing Other Great Teachers in Action
Seeing effective teaching in action is a great stimulus for 
change and can provide an inspiring vision of what can be achieved by teachers with students. The Cotsen Family Foundation identifies these great teaching examples and organizes opportunities for fellows to see exceptional educators in their classrooms working with children. Fellows and mentors visit these sites frequently during the year.
Setting Goals (Content & Pedagogy)
Focus is essential for growth. Fellows set a professional goal or growth target by selecting an area of strength. 
We believe that you reach the heights of the mountain when starting close to the top rather than beginning your trek in the valleys below. Both subject matter content and pedagogy are included in the goal. Fellows target aspects of the California Standards for the Teaching Profession of interest to them. They work to focus their conference attendance and use of resources in ways that support growth in the goal area. When the goal has been reached, the fellow establishes a new goal.
Videotaping & Reflection
Cotsen fellows are videotaped while teaching at least twice each year in the fall and spring. The mentor and fellow review the tapes and analyze what they see to plan next steps and assess progress. The Cotsen Family Foundation uses these tapes to evaluate the effects of the 
program on teaching and to make public examples of great teaching.
Inquiry Group
Sharing among colleagues is a powerful learning tool for teachers. The mentor facilitates a monthly inquiry meeting where the Cotsen fellows examine teaching and student learning together in depth. The format for the inquiry meeting is established by the group and varies widely from school to school. Examples include reading and discussing professional texts, looking at student work to plan instruction, conducting action research, participating in common lesson planning, and critiquing teaching videos, among others.
Special Events
The Cotsen Family Foundation hosts an annual fall conference for all participants and alumni. In addition we 
sponsor school-based institutes where fellows can observe excellent teaching in a number of classrooms and debrief with that faculty. At evening meetings alumni and current participants gather together for dinner and conversation with leading educators and educational researchers to explore new ideas about teaching and learning.
Grants to Mentors and Fellows
The foundation provides each mentor and fellow a number of substitute days in order to plan, visit other schools and attend conferences. In addition, each person receives a grant of $1,000 to pay for conference expenses and to purchase professional books or classroom materials. Stipends of almost $600 per year are paid to participants for attending activities such as the annual conference and inquiry meetings conducted outside of work time. The foundation pays the school district for the cost of salaries and benefits for mentor teachers who are then released full-time from teaching for two years to work with the Cotsen fellows.
