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Student Teaching Information

The Student Teaching Placement Office welcomes you to the most important learning experience in your teacher education program. We hope this experience will be exciting, fruitful, and meaningful. In order to make it a success, please adhere to the following policies carefully.

Cheryl Sparks, Field Experience Placement Officer

• To apply to Student Teach, you must successfully complete the EDFE 130/Application to Student Teaching checkpoint, the semester prior to student teaching.
• You must PASS the PLACE or PRAXIS exam in order to complete the EDFE 130/Application to Student Teaching checkpoint and Student Teach.
• You must have and maintain the required GPA for your program before you will be allowed to Student Teach.
• Placements in preferred geographic areas or partner schools or at specific grade levels cannot be guaranteed. 
• Teacher Candidates cannot be placed in a school where they have a close relative attending and/or working.
• Student Teaching in the high school you attended is at the discretion of your program coordinator.
• Do your homework; research districts. Make sure you know which districts require separate applications and/or background checks in addition to those Â鶹´«Ã½ requires.
• You will be notified through Bearmail when your assignment has been confirmed. Once you receive written confirmation, you should immediately contact the school and arrange to meet your mentor teacher and the building administrator.
• You must complete all required coursework before Student Teaching. You are not allowed to take additional courses while you student teach.
• Once a placement is confirmed, IT WILL NOT BE CHANGED. If you have a question about your placement, please contact Cheryl Sparks in the Student Teaching Office.
• It is your responsibility to keep the School of Teacher Education Office informed of any change of address. Changing your address on Ursa will not change your address in the Student Teaching Office because we use a different database.
• Out of State placements require a meeting with Cheryl Sparks, at least one week prior to completing the online Request for Placement. Call Cheryl at 970-351-4716 to set up an appointment.
• Out of State placements may require additional fees; Â鶹´«Ã½ will pay the first $400.00 of the supervision fee. The student is responsible for any fees that exceed $400.00. This may range from $0 to $2000 or more, depending on the placement. The fee must be paid to Cheryl Sparks in McKee 216 before a teacher candidate may begin the student teaching assignment. International placements may also require additional fees. See more information on student teaching abroad.

Missed field experience hours policy

1. Days missed in any field experience for any reason must be compensated by equal number of field hours. In-service days, parent conference days or similar professional activities that are a normal part of teachers’ work are considered to be field hours. Uncompensated absences will lead to withdrawal from the course or a failing grade.
2. The following exceptions to the rule #1 above are allowed only if (i) no more than the Excess Hours (Art K-12 – None; Secondary- 14 hours; All others - 24) are missed, (ii) the absences occur with consent and at the discretion of the program coordinator, and (iii) the absences occur at the end of field experience, and cannot be compensated in the same semester.
   • School closure (Snow days, medical quarantine, building emergencies, etc.)
   • Documented medical emergencies
   • Scheduled Â鶹´«Ã½ activities the teacher candidate is required or highly encouraged to attend (seminars, required training, teacher job fairs, etc.). Mentor teacher and Â鶹´«Ã½ supervisor must be notified and give their consent.
3. Students affected by one of the three cases in #2 beyond the Excess Hours may make up the missed hours either in their current site or at another site. Otherwise they will receive an incomplete, which will be changed to a passing grade once missing field hours are documented.

School District Information