Please help us welcome Jody Barker to the School of Education & Human Development! Jody joins the SEHD as the Coordinator of Clinical Teacher Education, a new position within the Office of Partnerships to support the broader efforts of Initial Teacher Preparation as our pathways continue to expand. She will bring leadership to deepening our district-level collaborative structures across the continuum of educator development as well as professional learning and supports for clinical teachers. She will also serve as the site professor at Munroe Elementary in DPS this year—a great way to learn about both our strengths and opportunities for continued development in the work of teacher education within the SEHD!
Jody comes to us with tremendous leadership and practitioner experience across the new teacher continuum. She has served as a classroom teacher, mentor teacher, teacher leader and instructional coach– all in Title 1 schools. Most recently, she served as the district-wide Induction Coordinator in Jeffco Public Schools for the past four years where she also collaborated closely with the SEHD as the district liaison for our Jeffco PDS Partnership, helping us to build structures and systems for teacher preparation and continuous renewal. She is well regarded across the metro region and state having co-founded a statewide induction coordinator network and was recently selected to serve on the new mentor teacher endorsement standards statewide workgroup. Besides her deep knowledge and experience, Jody also brings a beautiful sense of joy, commitment, and passion to her work. As she shared with the hiring committee, “I believe so deeply in new educators’ potential and the idea that everyone can grow, develop and mature into masters of their craft. We must pour everything we have into them, for it has a direct impact on kids when we don’t. We must have high expectations for new teachers, but be intentional about putting scaffolds and supports in place that will allow them to attain greater heights than they would alone. This is my heart for new educators and what I want my work and my life to be about.” And to no surprise, she is also a 2nd year Ed.D. student in the SEHD!
Once the dust settles on all the new construction and office moves, Jody will be on the 7th floor, Office 719. Please stop by and say hello!