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PRP 3050 - Field Experiences for Teacher Education
Issued by: Dr. Betty D. Allamong, Provost and VPAA
Effective Date: Sept. 1987
Notes: Approved by BUCC, 9/3/87
I. Number And Quality Of Field Experiences.
- A. A five- to ten-day noncredit field experience for all teacher education students shall occur in the freshman year or at the earliest possible time in case of transfer or non-traditional students. Departments shall review continually and update the nature of this field experience.
- B. One credit courses or equivalent experiences shall be required in the sophomore and junior year or at the earliest possible time in the case of transfer or non-traditional students. These courses or experiences shall be supervised by faculty members.
- C. A full semester of student teaching shall be required as the senior year field experience or at the earliest possible time in the case of transfer or non-traditional students.
- D. Departments shall review continually graduate level field experiences in regard to generic and specific competencies.
II. Supervision Of The Sophomore And Junior Field Experiences.
- A. The sophomore and junior level field experiences shall be supervised by a faculty member. The number of students per faculty member shall depend upon the design of the field experience.
- B. Departments shall develop formal devices such as logs, observation sheets, workbooks and evaluation forms, to provide documentation. The faculty supervisor and cooperating teacher shall be required to evaluate formally the student.
III. Supervision Of Student Teaching Or Clinical Experiences.
Recognizing that the distance to be traveled and needs of individual students will impact upon the specific requirements placed on supervisors, the following are established as minimum criteria:
- A. Supervisors of student teachers shall make a minimum of four visits per half semester, two of which should be formal observations.
- B. A visit is defined as a discussion with the cooperating teacher, student teacher, and supervisor concerning the progress of the student teacher. An observation consists of at least a review of the lesson plan, observation of the lesson, and post conference with appropriate feedback.
- C. Documentation is required of all observations made by the student teacher supervisors. Three copies of the observation form should be made. The student teacher and cooperating teacher shall be given a copy of the observation form, and the supervisor shall retain a copy for the his/her records.
- D. It is required that the cooperating teacher conduct at least two formal observations of the student teacher per week using appropriate observation instruments.
IV. The Relationship Of The Student Teaching/Clinical Evaluation Form To The Bloomsburg University Teacher Education - Generic And Specific Competencies In Teacher Education.
All teacher education departments shall develop evaluation instruments based on the Bloomsburg University Teacher Education Generic and Specific Competencies in each area of teacher certification.
V. Field Experience Centers.
It is strongly recommended that each teacher education department establish field experience centers which exemplify the teaching principles taught in teacher education programs at Bloomsburg University.
VI. The Nature Of Evaluating And Grading Field Experiences And Student Teaching/Clinical Experiences.
- 1. Evaluation of students participating in field experiences and student teaching/clinical experiences shall be completed using formal instruments. All instruments shall be based on the generic and specific competencies of Bloomsburg University Teacher Education programs.
- 2. Each cooperating teacher shall be trained thoroughly in the evaluation process.
- 3. Letter grades shall be used in all field experiences and student teaching/clinical experiences.
- 4. Based upon formal evaluation instruments, the supervisor and cooperating teacher shall discuss mutually a letter grade for Student Teaching/Clinical Experiences. The faculty supervisor, however, shall have the final responsibility for the assigning of letter grades.
VII. The Function, Role, And Form Of The Student Teaching Related Experiences.
Each teacher education program shall develop course(s) or equivalent experiences in conjunction with student teaching which will (a) complement the student teaching experience; (b) reinforce previously gained competencies; (c) bridge the gap between theory and practice; and (d) facilitate the acquisition of new competencies.
VIII. The Training Of Cooperating Teachers.
The teacher education faculty shall develop training program(s) for cooperating teachers. Such programs shall include sufficient content to meet the PDE Program Approval Standards of developing observation and evaluation skills as well as sharing and exchanging ideas. Appropriate procedures shall be utilized to insure local educational agency cooperation and collaboration. Incentives should be developed to encourage cooperating teachers to participate. Members of the teacher education faculty should instruct in such training programs and be granted appropriate compensation. A process for continual renewal and updating cooperating teachers in observation and evaluation methods shall be developed.