All students who have been admitted to the Teacher Education Program and who wish to complete student teaching must be formally admitted to student teaching in their major. This is accomplished by completing the following procedures:
1) The student determines with his/her advisor the projected year and semester of student teaching, based on successful completion of EDU3216 Instructional Foundations K-12 or EDU3246 Instructional Foundations (Grades PK-8) and all methods courses and reports this to the Director of Field Experiences and Student Teaching. EDU3216 or EDU3246 must be taken before methods courses.
2) The student attends a Student Teaching Application meeting with the Director of Field Experiences and Student Teaching during the fall semester of the school year preceding student teaching.
3) The student completes the application material for student teaching and submits it online through Tk20 by the deadline set at the application meeting. Late applications may result in an appeal and a delay in the student teaching semester. Incomplete applications will not be accepted. The student must notify the Director of Field Experiences and Student Teaching of any changes in the information.
The following items comprise the application to student teaching:
~Student Information
~Significant Employment and Volunteer Experiences
~Program Completion Plan/Clearance for Student Teaching
~Employment and Activities
~Student Teaching Placement Guidelines
4) The student must meet with the Admission and Retention Committee during the semester preceding student teaching. This meeting is called and led by the Program Coordinator in which the student is obtaining licensure. During this meeting, the committee will review the student's application to student teaching and provide a recommendation regarding admission to student teaching.
In order to receive final clearance by the Admission and Retention Committee to student teach, the student must complete the following requirements:
~Have a cumulative GPA of at least 2.75 in all Northwestern course work at the end of the semester preceding student teaching.
~Have a cumulative GPA of at least 2.75 within the major and have passed all major and minor field courses with a grade of “C” or above.
~Remove all course incompletes and any grades below a “C” in the education core or grades below departmental standards within the major or minor. Courses requiring minimum grades before student teaching are listed in the Undergraduate and Undergraduate Pathways Catalog.
~Successfully complete all course work in the education major or minor including field placements.
~Successfully complete Professional Behavior Plans, if directed to do so by the ARC Committee. (Appendix G)
~Successfully complete Academic Progress Plans, if directed to do so by the ARC Committee. (Appendix I)
Students currently enrolled in their last methods courses may meet with the Admission and Retention Committee. However, final approval for student teaching is contingent upon satisfactory completion of all education core and methods courses and field placements. (See the Undergraduate and Undergraduate Pathways Catalog for a list of minimum grade requirements).
~Obtain “Program Portfolio Review” Clearance from the appropriate Program Coordinator. This is verification that the student’s program portfolio is at an appropriate pre-student teaching level and that the program portfolio has been successfully presented at the Portfolio Showcase.
5) Placement confirmation information will be sent from the Director of Field Experiences and Student Teaching to the student. Although this information may be received prior to meeting with the Admission and Retention Committee, final approval for student teaching will be granted only after meeting with the committee and demonstrating to them the completion of all the requirements.
6) Once admitted to Student Teaching, it is the student teacher's responsibility to inform the Director of Field Experiences and Student Teaching of any changes or requests for change in status of the student teacher's health, employment and activities involvement. Requests for change of status will be reviewed by the Admission and Retention Committee.
The student teacher is required to register for EDU4835 Seminar in Professional Issues, the same semester as student teaching. Orientation sessions precede the placement start date. Due to liability issues, absences from any orientation session will result in the student being ineligible to student teach. In such cases, the student teaching experience will be rescheduled, usually the next semester.