The Cotsen Foundation for the ART of TEACHING has awarded over $211,000 in grants to alumni schools and teachers in order to support teacher collaboration, professional learning and parent involvement for the 2017 – 2018 school year. Each year the foundation offers several categories of grants to support its participants’ continued professional growth. The categories include Parent […]
In the fall of 2006 the Cotsen Foundation held its first Annual ART of TEACHING Conference with just over 200 in attendance. The conference’s intent was to jump start mentors’ and fellows’ ideas and motivation for enhancing their teaching practice in both content and pedagogy. To achieve this, the Cotsen Foundation brought in speakers with […]
More than sixty Cotsen alumni and current principals, teachers and district office administrators from across Southern California gathered at The Centre at Sycamore Plaza for a working breakfast meeting. The instructional leaders came to explore the wide range of supports available to them as administrators of Cotsen schools. The four-hour breakfast meeting was the first […]
It’s that time of year again… time for sharpened new pencils, fresh unused crayons, and shiny clean mobile devices neatly placed on desks for eager students; time for anxious parents who just want to make sure their child was assigned to the classroom with the best teacher in that grade level, (of course that generally […]
At the end of every summer a new school year begins and with it a new cohort of Cotsen mentors and fellows. To prepare our mentors for a successful year of coaching and mentoring, the Foundation offers an initial two-day training session, as well as three days of follow up training aimed toward preparing these teachers […]
It gives the Cotsen Foundation great joy to see so many alumni, mentors and fellows alike, taking on new challenges and roles as leaders in their schools/districts. The following is a list of Cotsen alumni who have taken on new leadership roles as of the 2017 – 2018 academic year and/or have received advanced degrees […]
A collaboration between the Riordan and Cotsen Foundations has opened up new grant opportunities for Cotsen schools. Melrose and Beethoven Street Elementary Schools were selected this year as recipients of the Riordan Foundation’s Instructional Innovation Grants. Last year, another Cotsen school, Mill School and Technology Academy, also received an Instructional Innovation grant from the Foundation. […]
Over the course of three consecutive years of Cotsen Strategic Opportunity Grants, Fountain Valley School District has utilized collaboration as a tool for professional development to transform teaching and learning in the area of mathematics. The catalyst behind this transformation was a Cotsen alumna fellow, who had a big goal – to bring together teachers […]
Kim Bass’s presentation at Cotsen’s first-ever Playground Challenge was literally garbage. But as regularly happens in innovative classrooms, a pile of trash can yield pedagogical treasures to facilitate collaborative STEM/STEAM teaching and learning. Bass, a third grade teacher at Robert C. Fisler School in Fullerton, stood in front of a table covered with a maze […]
Reflection, Gratitude, and Humor The ART of TEACHING celebrated its annual culmination once again at the Skirball Art and Cultural Center on May 6th where 69 mentors and fellows were honored for their successful completion of the two-year fellowship. Following remarks by Executive Director Jerry Harris, Dr. Uri D.Herscher, president of the Skirball, gave […]