Manual for Student Teaching

Introduction

The culminating experience of any teacher education program is student teaching: a rigorous internship in a school setting that allows prospective teachers, under the guidance of accomplished mentor, to transition into the teaching profession. At Gettysburg College, we typically refer to the internship semester not simply as “Student Teaching” but as the Education Semester because the actual student teaching internship is only one part of your whole experience that semester. While student teaching does take up much of your time during the Education Semester, we also ask all candidates for certification to return to campus for a seminar, Education 405, which is designed to help students bridge theory and practice in a relaxed, collegial, but still intense setting.

This portion of the Teacher Education Handbook is intended to provide students, cooperating school personnel, and college supervisors with an overview of the Education Semester and to answer any preliminary questions that may arise as a result of participation in the student teaching experience offered at Gettysburg College. Teacher education is a complex collaboration between the college and the school, and the student teaching internship itself represents an important step toward a successful career in education. We rely on local school personnel—especially cooperating teachers—to provide crucial learning experiences for our prospective teachers. In our view, cooperating teachers are members of the Education Department faculty throughout the course of the Education Semester. As a faculty, we very much value the time and effort put into the internship by coops and we always look forward to the feedback cooperating teachers provide.

A third crucial component of each student’s Education Semester experience is the supervision and evaluation of teaching provided by our College Supervisors. While department faculty are located on campus and provide additional support for teaching from here, cooperating teachers are situated within the school and offer expertise in addressing challenges with regard to students, curriculum, and the specific teaching context. Supervisors serve as a liaison between the school and the College, supporting student teachers as they develop their skills in the classrooms. This team of cooperating teachers, supervisors, and department faculty work to maintain ongoing communication throughout the Education Semester to share successes, identify needs, and support the student teacher in the best way possible.

Organization of the Education Semester & General Guidelines

The Education Semester can be completed during the senior year at Gettysburg College or during a ninth semester following graduation at a reduced cost. Student teaching is a full-time endeavor; as such, students may not enroll in academic courses other than Education 405 (one unit of academic credit) and Education 476 (three units of academic credit) during the Education Semester. As such, it is recommenced that students eliminate activities and/or work responsibilities during this time. Exceptions will be considered on a case by case basis. The two courses taken during the Education Semester are:

Education 476. Education 476 is evaluated on a Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory (S/U) basis; Education 405 is graded. Student teachers are assigned to a cooperating teacher the semester prior to student teaching by the Director of Field Experiences. Student teachers have one student teaching assignment; those seeking certification in music education have both elementary and secondary experiences. Student teachers are required to visit the classroom of their cooperating teachers before the student teaching semester begins.

Education 405. Education 405 has two primary purposes. First, it offers student teachers a space to share successes and pose problems that arise in the classroom. Second, it supports student teachers as they design and implement an action research project in their classroom focused on enhancing student learning. This course is intended to help students integrate theory with practice, work collaboratively with other professionals, and develop reflective skills which will serve them as they improve their practice over time.

Student teachers participate in a full school day in the classroom of the cooperating teacher as well as in-service days for their particular district based on the student teaching calendar. Student teachers will gradually assume responsibility in the classroom and complete a minimum of two weeks of full-time teaching. Throughout the semester, each student teacher will be visited by a college supervisor who will offer support and evaluate the student teacher’s practice.

Student teachers return to campus to attend Education 405, a seminar designed for sharing successes and challenges as well as inquiring into student learning in their classrooms. Each student is expected, in Education 405, to document his or her impact on student learning throughout the student teaching internship.

Assumption of Responsibilities

All student teachers will gradually assume responsibility for all the cooperating teacher’s classes and duties; a two-week full-time load is the required minimum. All teaching and planning for this two-week period must be done by the student teacher. Additional guidelines for transitioning to full assumption of teaching responsibilities is included in the next section, “Responsibilities of the Student Teacher.”

Attendance

In case of illness, the cooperating teacher and college supervisor must be notified before the beginning of the school day. In case of illness, the cooperative teacher must be notified as soon as it is clear that an absence is unavoidable. Absences in excess of two days must be made up at the end of the student teaching session. Students will adhere to the calendar of the school district in which they are student teaching, not the college calendar.

All student teachers are required to attend workshops scheduled by the school district unless attendance is deemed inappropriate by the school principal or cooperating teacher. Student teachers will attend all relevant department or grade-level meetings during student teaching. Student teachers should contact the Education Department if meetings conflict with Education 405.

Ninth Semester Option

Gettysburg College students who would like to obtain a Pennsylvania Teaching Certificate, but are unable to do so within four years because of a crowded course schedule of requirements, may be able to take advantage of the Education Department’s Ninth Semester option. This option, which is limited to the first semester following a student’s graduation from the College, includes the capstone courses necessary to complete certification requirements. Tuition charges for students taking advantage of the Ninth Semester option is about one-third of the annual tuition rate (not including technology fees, Praxis exam fees, State Certification fees, meals, and housing). To exercise the Ninth Semester option, students must meet the following conditions:

Poster containing instructions for Teacher Certification Program

For additional details, or if you have questions, contact your Education Advisor or drop by the Education Department office in Weidensall 106. You can also contact the office by dialing 337.6550.

Substitute teaching permits for prospective teachers

The legislature has passed a new law that creates substitute teaching permits for prospective educators. This new permit is for education students in approved Pennsylvania teacher preparation programs who meet the specific requirements in the law listed below.

Requirements:

  • Currently enrolled in a PA college or university teacher preparation program regionally accredited and approved by PDE;
  • Must have completed sixty semester hours or the equivalent;
  • Must be eligible under section 111 (criminal history) and section 1109(a) (good moral character, 18 years of age, US citizen, etc.).

Process:

  • The permit is issued by the chief school administrator of a school district, area vocational technical school or intermediate unit;
  • The student must present verification of enrollment status and completed semester hours;
  • The LEA must verify the requirements for a criminal history and Good Moral Character;
  • The governing body of the LEA will fix the salary paid to the student;
  • Substitute time is not eligible for PSERS or SERS retirement credit.

Service Permissions:

  • The permit is valid for one year and the holder may substitute for no more than 10 days per school year for a single teacher and not more than twenty days for multiple employees per school year;
  • The permit is valid for one year and may be renewed for one additional year if the student provides documentation of continued enrollment in the preparation program and the completion of an additional fifteen credit hours or its equivalent.

Responsibilities of the Student Teacher

Student teaching is, in many ways, an enormous responsibility, but it is also an exciting and affirmative experience that provides teacher candidates with an opportunity to understand the rigors and expectations of classroom teaching before entering the profession on a full-time basis. Internships may be required in many professions but rarely are they as carefully managed and supported as the student teaching internship is in a place like Gettysburg College. Our goal as a department is to ensure that every student teacher has an experience that is worthwhile, challenging, useful, and, above all, supported appropriately to ensure that everyone involved in the experience—including student teachers, cooperating teachers, College supervisors/faculty, and especially students—emerges with new insights into the teaching and learning process.

What does it mean to be a student teacher? In the simplest sense student teachers are interns, or students of teaching—people in an apprenticeship situation charged with learning how to teach from an expert. Yet we understand teaching to be much more complex than that: it is not something that can simply be learned by watching others or by imitating their practice. Indeed, the most successful student teachers are those that push the limits of the student teaching experience and challenge themselves to develop a sharpened sense of not only what is possible in teaching but what should be done to ensure that students have an outstanding learning experience when they come to school. In order to accomplish this, student teachers must be knowledgeable about the school curriculum and the culture of the schools they teach in, but also flexible enough to adapt to changing situations and environments. Student teachers should be careful, deliberate, and responsible as they approach their work, but also willing to step outside of their—and their students’—comfort zones in order to provide learning experiences that transcend traditional practices. They should, in short, expect that the only constant in any teaching experience is change—that growth and adaptation mark the transition to “educated” from “uneducated,” and that the most important role the teacher plays is to help students learn how to become better people. Academic achievement certainly matters a great deal to the effective teacher, but only as a portion of what is learned in school. Of greater value is the development of the full potential of each student to participate in the larger social and cultural life of our society.

While there is no single group of specific duties that will be applicable to every student teacher, all student teachers should be prepared to engage in the following duties over the course of the Education Semester:

  • Observe and reflect on the classroom activities of the supervising teacher.
  • Prepare seating charts and learn pupils’ names at the earliest possible date.
  • Observe the reactions of students toward various learning situations.
  • Prepare daily lesson plans in advance of teaching with the approval of the cooperating teacher.
  • Prepare and review appropriate long-range plans and objectives.
  • Prepare effective and varied assignments for students to complete.
  • Perform routine clerical tasks.
  • Perform routine tasks that will develop effective classroom management skills.
  • Have access to available materials of instruction.
  • Prepare appropriate and varied assessment practices.
  • Design and supervise small group and individualized learning experiences.
  • Assist with the school’s extracurricular activities program.
  • Arrange for frequent conferencing with the cooperating teacher.
  • Perform miscellaneous professional duties assigned by the cooperating teacher or school principal, within reason.
  • Seek every opportunity for experimentation, creativity, and originality in teaching assignments.
  • Gradually assume responsibility for planning and teaching the entire class.

Student teachers should be assigned certain classroom responsibilities on the very first day of the student teaching experience. The first responsibilities may be routine tasks activities that help learners on an individual or small group basis. If, in the judgment of the cooperating teacher, the student teacher appears ready to assume teaching responsibilities by the beginning of the second week, this is an appropriate time to give the student teacher full responsibility for a class. The pre-teaching experiences that are necessary prior to assuming the responsibilities for the entire classroom will vary with (1) the experience that the student teacher has previously had in directing the activities of students; (2) the degree of competence the student teacher has exhibited in handling other matters; and (3) the nature of the subject matter being taught.

Transitioning to Full Responsibility

Cooperating teachers should plan for a gradual assumption of all classroom responsibilities by the student teacher. The list of experiences given below will serve as suggestions relative to activities in which student teachers may engage, particularly as readiness experiences for teaching. Student teachers may also engage in activities that will help them to get to know the academic abilities of the students in their classroom. This may involve data collection activities such as student interviews, anecdotal notes, and analysis of student work. This data gathering is most productive when conducted in consultation with the cooperating teacher, who may provide additional insights on the student(s).

When the cooperating teacher feels that the student is ready for full teaching responsibilities of one class an initial instructional plan should be submitted at least 24 hours before the first day of teaching. This plan should provide an opportunity for assisting the student teacher as s/he develops a sense of the material to be taught, the methods that should be used to teach it, and the problems s/he may encounter while teaching.

Cooperating teachers are asked to remain in the classroom when the student teacher is beginning to direct classroom activities, but to gradually allow the student teacher to have a more autonomous teaching experience. When a student teacher has indicated growth in his or her ability and competence to direct the learning activities of one subject, s/he should assume the responsibility of teaching a second subject or class. However, the rate at which increased responsibilities are given to the student teacher should be specifically related to the growth and potential reflected by previous performance. It is essential that the student teacher be given complete responsibility for the class without the presence of the supervising teacher as s/he progresses. This is necessary to instill confidence in the student teacher while also developing classroom management skills. It is also essential that the cooperating teacher provide the student teacher with frequent half day and whole day teaching experiences. There is no experience comparable to several consecutive days of full-time teaching to give the student teacher the opportunity to learn how to manage the class and to plan for the next day’s learning. Remember also that a minimum of two weeks of full-time responsibility for the classroom is required. Additional full time responsibility is highly recommended.

The Teacher Education Portfolio and Other Responsibilities

At the conclusion of the Education Semester all candidates for certification are expected to submit completed Teacher Education program portfolios to the Education Department. These portfolios are organized around Five Principles of Effective Instruction approved by the Education Department, and each candidate is expected to produce ten artifacts to document his or her growth and development as a teacher. Many of these artifacts may be produced or augmented during the Education Semester. The Education Department strongly encourages student teachers and cooperating teachers to work together on this important project so as to ensure that our collective impact on the student teacher is properly documented and evaluated. The Teacher Education Portfolio is to be submitted as a requirement associated with Education 405. Failure to submit a complete portfolio may result in an unsatisfactory grade in Education 405, which may delay the issuance of a teaching certificate or prevent one from being issued altogether.

Student teachers are also asked to participate in Exit Interviews at the conclusion of the Education Semester and to provide program and student teaching placement evaluations as well. These activities help ensure the continuous improvement of the Teacher Education Programs offered at Gettysburg College and enable the faculty to continue in its efforts to provide the very best preparation experience possible.

Cooperating Teacher Guidelines & Responsibilities

In order for a student teacher from Gettysburg College to be considered for placement in a particular classroom, certain guidelines must be met. The criteria for selection of cooperating teachers are in compliance with Chapter 354 Standards established by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and enforced by the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE). Chapter 354 specifies certain baseline criteria for cooperating mentor teachers. Cooperating teachers must be trained by the preparation program faculty and have the following:

  • Appropriate professional educator certification;
  • At least three years of satisfactory, certificated teaching experience; and
  • At least one year of certificated teaching experience in the school where the student teacher is placed.

In addition to these criteria, Gettysburg College specifies additional qualifications for cooperating teachers to ensure that each student teacher is placed with an effective mentor. In addition to the criteria described above, the specific criteria for Gettysburg College cooperating teachers include:

  • The recommendation of the district superintendent, or other designated administrator, and the principal of the school building in which student teaching will occur;and
  • Acceptance of the position by the cooperating teacher. Each cooperating teacher must volunteer to serve in this capacity. No teacher should be pressured to accept a student teacher under any circumstances.

Key Responsibilities of the Cooperating Teacher

Orientation. All cooperating teachers are expected to attend a mandatory orientation session in each semester that s/he will serve as a cooperating teacher. The orientation session is designed to introduce new cooperating teachers to the culture of the Education Department at the College, to welcome returning coops back to the department, and to build a sense of community connecting the Education Department to local school entities. The orientation also provides the department with an opportunity to share changes in PDE regulations or guidelines, in the department’s curriculum with cooperating teachers, and it provides cooperating teachers with an opportunity to ask questions about the Teacher Education Program and the Education Semester. Typically a social hour follows the orientation, which gives coops an opportunity to spend time with student teachers and department faculty in a relaxed setting.

Conferencing. The college supervisor and cooperating teacher must confer on a regular basis concerning the observation and evaluation of the student teacher. Cooperating teachers are also encouraged to attend campus activities related to student teaching.

Evaluation. The cooperating teacher is expected to evaluate the student teacher’s progress utilizing the “Student Teacher Weekly Observation/Evaluation Form” weekly during the Education Semester.

  • Major competency reviews should be completed by the cooperating teacher during the fifth, ninth, and final week of student teaching.
  • A conference with the student teacher must be held after each evaluation. This is an opportunity to discuss improvement, or lack of it, in the teaching skill of candidates and a chance for student teachers to clarify expectations.
  • Major competency review sheets (completed during the 5th and 9th weeks of student teaching, and again at the end of the Education Semester) must be submitted to the Education Department at the end of the student teaching experience. More information on these competency reviews is available in the section “Evaluation of Student Teacher Effectiveness,” located in this handbook.
    • It is recommended that the student teacher and cooperating teacher each complete evaluation forms independently s that areas of difference can form the basis of discussion about the student teacher’s progress.
    • It is also recommended that cooperating teachers keep a notebook of suggestions made and issues discussed. Documentation of progress is thus assured and records are easily referenced.

The cooperating teacher will submit a recommendation letter on district letterhead to the Education Department at the completion of the student teaching experience. The college supervisor will assign a satisfactory (S) or an unsatisfactory (U) grade for student teaching. At the conclusion of the Education Semester, cooperating teachers and administrators are encouraged to provide feedback about the teacher certification program. These forms are shared with cooperating teachers by the college supervisor as the semester concludes.

Suggestions for the Cooperating Teacher

The most successful cooperating teachers are those that challenge student teachers to do the best work they can do, but also provide help and support for student teachers as well. Anyone who has ever completed student teaching knows that it can be an extraordinarily stressful experience, and, like any stressful experience, a balance between expertise and nurturance is required to make it fruitful. The Education Department expects cooperating teachers to provide student teachers with this balance of challenge and support. With that in mind, we recommend the following practices to cooperating teachers.

  • Encourage exploration and provide regular constructive feedback. Each student teacher should be encouraged to develop his or her own style and personality as a teacher, to try new ideas and methods on a daily basis. The cooperating teacher must allow the student teacher to work with students in his or her own unique way and not simply expect the student teacher to imitate the cooperating teacher’s style. While we recognize and value the expertise of cooperating teachers, research shows that attitudes and practices developed during student teaching influence future performance, and that student teachers who are given an opportunity to develop their skills go on to become more effective teachers.
  • Schedule time regularly to explore concerns, questions, and procedures. Every student teacher begins the experience with lots of questions, and many of the day-to-day habits and expectations of teaching simply cannot be learned until full-time work in a school begins. Each school setting has its own culture and student teachers must learn to adjust to it in a very short amount of time. Please take the time to talk about expectations and procedures regularly—daily, even—to ensure that your student teacher feels welcome in your school and can contribute in the fullest way to the school’s mission.
  • Be patient with your student teacher, and always focus on his or her growth. As every good teacher knows, not all learners learn at the same pace or in the same way. Some student teachers are prepared to undertake the responsibilities of classroom teaching long before the Education Semester begins, while others struggle throughout the entire internship only to rapidly pull things together at the end. We encourage all student teachers and cooperating teachers to think of student teaching as a learning experience—one in which certain assumptions about teaching will be called into question, where ideas and activities that seemed to work with one group of students fail miserably with another, and where success may not be measured as easily as we would like for it to be. Most of all, try to remember that student teaching is the beginning of a process, as well as the end of one—it serves as the end of the induction experience but as only the start of a student teacher’s journey into effective professional practice.
  • Model the dispositions you want your student teacher to display. Remember, as a cooperating teacher, that you are the embodiment of the teaching profession to the student teacher you work with. In a certain sense, student teaching pulls back the curtain on schooling to reveal the inner workings of the school. Student teachers are deeply affected by this. It is not uncommon for cooperating teachers to undermine the goals of a teacher education program by speaking negatively about students, colleagues, or administrators, or about the teacher education program itself; it is also not uncommon for cooperating teachers to send a message, intended or not, that certain things are simply “not possible” in teaching. While some of these insights may be warranted, we want to encourage cooperating teachers to promote positive approaches to teaching and learning that further creative and powerful visions of teaching. This is not to suggest that teaching should be sugarcoated or that challenges should not be discussed. It is simply to suggest that student teaching serves as a critical induction into the profession, one that can, and often does, have a lasting impact on the student teacher’s commitment to, and understanding of, teaching. We believe that effective teachers are empathetic, authentically interested in student learning, are respectful of their colleagues and of students, and believe in their own ability to teach effectively. When these dispositions are shared by student teacher and coop alike, wonderful things can occur.
  • Be flexible, respectful, and understanding of the student teacher’s time and effort. Pursuant to the previous point, it can be useful to remember that student teachers are not employed by the school district; indeed, they are paying tuition to the College as they complete the process of learning to teach. Additionally, while many teacher education programs require a seminar to be taken on campus during the student teaching experience, ours is somewhat more rigorous than most. While we want to be sure that student teachers are held to the highest possible standards, we also hope to encourage cooperating teachers to be understanding of the great many demands placed on these students. The explosion of calls for accountability in education over the past several years is only now beginning to be felt in teacher education, and it promises to radically alter the way student teaching internships work. One likely outcome is that student teachers will be expected to do even more to prove their commitment to teaching. Smoothing that transition is very important to all of us in the Education Department at Gettysburg.
  • Be mindful of relationships. The student teaching experience involves multiple people with varied roles to play in the education of the student teacher. At a minimum, at least four individuals are involved in the student teaching experience, leading to a web of different relationships: the cooperating teacher, the college supervisor, the faculty member teaching the student teaching seminar, and the student teacher himself or herself. Ideally the relationship between each individual is one of honesty and trust, but one that challenges each person as well. We encourage cooperating teachers to view their relationships with student teachers and representatives of the College as true partnerships marked by give-and-take and by mutual respect. At the same time, only the cooperating teacher has the opportunity to work one-on-one with a single teacher. Sometimes the bond between cooperating teacher and student teacher is a strong one, sometimes it isn’t. In any case, cooperating teachers are encouraged to remember the student part of the student teacher’s title—to recall that the first order of business is to teach, and that friendship, while extremely important, is secondary. Again, striking a balance between expertise and nurturance is crucial to establishing the right kind of professional relationship.
  • Communicate! Finally, the importance of effective communication cannot be overstated. Be sure to ask your student teacher frequently if s/he has any questions about accepted rules, procedures, and practices, and never assume that a student teacher knows something about the workings of a school unless you have imparted that information personally. It is easy to forget, after working in a school for a number of years, that not all schools operate in the same way. Likewise, we strongly encourage cooperating teachers to maintain close contact with the college supervisor and/or with other members of the faculty of the Education Department, especially the instructors of Education 405 and Education 476. Regular personal contact not only helps prevent potential problems from festering but can also provide valuable positive feedback about the growth and maturation of the student teacher.

In the end, no student teaching experience is a truly successful one without the help of an effective cooperating teacher. Any questions or concerns about the expectations for cooperating teachers should be directed to the college supervisor, the Director of Field Experiences, or the chair of the Education Department as soon as possible. The Education Department can always be reached by phone at 717.337.6550.

College Supervisors

Supervision and evaluation of student teachers is shared by the cooperating teacher and the college supervisor. The college supervisor will visit each student teacher assigned to him/her a minimum of eight times during the Education Semester to develop direct knowledge of the student’s teaching and to aid in determining eligibility for the teaching certificate and awarding an S/U grade for the student teaching semester.

Observation visits to a student teacher’s classroom ordinarily will cover one complete class period. Following each observation visit a conference will be held with the student teacher. During the visit, as convenient, the supervisor will also confer with the cooperating teacher. An written observation/evaluation form, will be completed by the college supervisor at the conclusion of each visit, with one copy provided to the student teacher, another copy to the cooperating teacher, and a third copy held by the college supervisor and filed with the Education Department.

The quality of supervision received in student teaching is vital to the student teacher’s success. Communication with supervisors on a regular basis will help to ensure that success.

Evaluation of Student Teacher Effectiveness

Student teachers are expected to meet several expectations during the Education Semester.

Satisfactory Completion of Teacher Competencies

Prior to the issuance of a teaching certificate at the conclusion of the Education Semester, the student teacher shall display satisfactory performance on all appropriate PDE-approved teacher competencies. A minimum of three competency evaluations shall be done by the cooperating teacher and reviewed with the student teacher. The first two evaluations occur during the 5th and 9th weeks of student teaching and the final review of competencies takes place at the end of the student teaching internship. The procedure for evaluating competencies during student teaching is as follows:

  • The Student Teacher self-evaluates his or her performance using competency list.
  • The Cooperating Teacher evaluates student teacher using another copy of the competency list.
  • The Cooperating Teacher and Student Teacher compare evaluations and discuss performance rating.
  • Results of the collaborative evaluation are recorded and shared with the College Supervisor.
  • Final evaluations are conducted in the same manner and copies are submitted to the cooperating teacher, student teacher, and the supervisor.

Periodic Formal & Informal Evaluation

PDE Form 430 must be completed by the College Supervisor two times during the student teaching experience at midterm (eight week) and the final week. Each candidate for certification must achieve at least a satisfactory overall rating consisting of 4 points or higher in order to be recommended for an Instructional I certificate in Pennsylvania. An evaluation form will be completed at the end of each week of student teaching by the Cooperating Teacher. This evaluation will be the basis for a conference between the Student Teacher and Cooperating Teacher to discuss the student’s progress and to provide specific feedback. The Student Teacher, the Cooperating Teacher, and the College Supervisor should each receive a copy of this evaluation, which is to be submitted to the Education Department at the conclusion of the semester.

There is no limit on the number of times a Student Teacher may be observed, but one form must be completed each week to indicate the number of hours of observation completed by the Student Teacher, the number of hours taught by the Student Teacher, and the ending date of the week. This information is necessary for certification records. The total number of hours taught will be submitted to the Education Department at the end of the Education Semester. For the record, “hours taught” includes any time the Student Teacher has spent working with students.

Final Evaluation

Final evaluation of the student teacher will be in writing, utilizing the following three forms:

  • Evaluation of Teacher Competencies. The competency-based form is the basis for determining the issuance of a Pennsylvania Department of Education certificate. In order to receive certification, the student teacher must achieve a satisfactory rating in all competencies.
  • Recommendation Letter. A recommendation letter is submitted on appropriate letter head for each student teacher at the end of the experience by both the cooperating teacher and the college supervisor. Copies are forwarded to prospective employers upon request.
  • Form PDE 430, completed by the College Supervisor.

The College Supervisor is charged with awarding a final grade for Student Teaching: S (Satisfactory) or U (Unsatisfactory). The instructor of record for Education 476 also must enter a grade of S or U for that course.

Other considerations

Should a student teacher not prove proficient, it may be necessary to limit his/her teaching activities and prolong the observation period. If a student teacher reveals a degree of incompetence, as judged by the Cooperating Teacher, the College Supervisor should be notified immediately.

The student teaching period may be prolonged if competence is not demonstrated by the end of the regular student teaching period.

The student teaching period may be terminated if sufficient progress is not demonstrated during the first six weeks of the student teaching assignment. Such a decision will be determined by the college supervisor in conjunction with the chair of the Education Department, the Cooperating Teacher, and the Student Teacher.

It is recommended that Cooperating Teachers keep a notebook of observations and recommendations made. These notes may then be used as a basis for conferences with the student teacher and for completing the evaluation form.