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Student Teaching FAQs
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Where will I student teach?
Student teaching placements are made through the Office of School College Relations (OSCR). There will be a required meeting held on your campus a week prior to the start of your program which will spell out the requirements and expectations for student teaching. Every effort is made to place students in an advantageous student teaching position.
Placements for student teaching happen during all points of the first and second term of your program. Receiving your assignment is determined by the districts with whom NLU and the OSCR office work and will be made in as timely a fashion as possible. The OSCR office works very diligently to find an optimal placement for all students, so please do not contact them unless you have information that is critical or helpful to your placement.
If I student teach in a middle school or a diverse city environment, will I be able to get a job in a suburban high school?
A student teaching placement rarely leads to a job at that particular school; rather, your success in the classroom as a hard working and dynamic student teacher should lead to excellent recommendations. These recommendations will be crucial in securing future employment. Your academic background, perseverance, honest desire to teach anywhere there may be openings, and interviewing skills will be additional factors in your job search. Furthermore, it may be to your advantage when seeking employment that you were able to capitalize on your learning and succeed in a challenging environment.
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How do I get an Illinois State Police Background Check with fingerprints?
The policy for requesting the fingerprint background check can be found here: Criminal Background Check. You should get the fingerprint check done as soon as possible, as it makes obtaining observations in schools much easier. The fingerprint check form, however, must be received by Bonnie Daleiden at the OSCR Office on the Wheeling Campus prior to the beginning of student teaching.
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When will I hear about the progress of my student teaching placement? Once your application for student teaching has been sent to a school, it varies as to how long before the Clinical Placement Office (CPO) hears back from each school or district. If the CPO has not heard back from a school within a reasonable period of time, the school is contacted again until a decision has been made. You will be contacted when a positive decision is received (see below), when we receive a negative decision and need further information from you regarding placement options, or when other choices may be possible. Back to the Top Do I have to interview for the student teaching position? Almost always, yes. Back to the Top What should I expect at an interview? Knowledge of content area may be a main topic of discussion. Otherwise, the interview is an opportunity for school personnel to determine whether the placement is a good match for both the student and the school. Dress professionally; show enthusiasm and an eagerness to learn. Back to the Top How will I be informed of my confirmed student teaching placement? Once the Clinical Placement Office receives your official Confirmation Form from a particular school, you will receive a phone call or e-mail which will include the following: name, address and phone number of the school, start and end date and name of your cooperating teacher(s). Once all the students have received their placements, you will receive literature from the Secondary Education Dept., which will include the following: Final placement (again), name and phone number of your NLU supervisor and time, date and location of all mandatory seminars. Back to the Top What are my duties as a student teacher? By the end of the 10-week assignment, you ought to have had a minimum of 4 weeks during which you will have assumed the major responsibilities for a full-load (5 classes or 3 blocks) of classes. Back to the Top Can I teach in my additional area of endorsement? Yes, one class of the full-time teaching load that the school assigns may be in your additional area of endorsement. Back to the Top Will I be assigned to more than one cooperating teacher? Sometimes, one teacher’s class-load will not meet your student teaching needs. Therefore, multiple teachers may combine portions of their class-load in order to provide one full-load of classes for you. Also, some schools require that all student teachers be assigned multiple cooperating teachers. Back to the Top Do I have to start and end my student teaching on a certain date? Yes, dates will be set by the cooperating schools in conjunction with National-Louis University. Back to the Top What are the prerequisites for student teaching, and who should receive that data? The following should be sent to Bonnie Daleiden in the Office of School-College Relations several weeks before student teaching: - Completion of 100 original observation hours (including 15 hours in Special Education)
- An IL Criminal Background Check
- A copy of your Tuberculosis test results
- Satisfactory completion of all required coursework
Back to the Top Can I student teach at a private school?
Students wishing to do SEC590A-F Student Teaching in a private and/or parochial school must complete at least 51 observation hours in public schools. If SEC590A-F Student Teaching is to be done in a public school, any portion of the 100 hours may be completed in a non-public school. All cooperating teachers must be State certified (Illinois or elsewhere) and must have three years of classroom experience, whether the experience is in a public or private school.
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Can I participate in paid student teaching?
Paid student teaching is an option at NLU under certain circumstances. Candidates for the paid student teaching experience must be admitted to the Secondary Education traditional Master of Arts in Teaching degree program in the National College of Education at National-Louis University. Candidates complete the same coursework as traditional student teachers. The only difference for these candidates is a paid experience in place of the traditional unpaid experience. All other degree requirements remain the same. Other qualifications include:
1. Admission to the Master of Arts in Teaching program
2. All General Education requirements are complete
3. All prerequisite certification classes are complete
4. Pre--clinical hours are complete and Log Sheets on File
5. Content-Area Test for certification passed
6. Current employment as a full-time teacher: for example, one of the following
- Individuals serving as full-time teachers in public schools
- Individuals serving as full-time teachers in charter schools
- Individuals serving as full-time teachers in non-public schools
7. Two NLU faculty recommendations
8. Recommendation from School District Administrator
9. Approval of advisor
Additional requirements and information can be found in the Paid Student Teaching Applicationform. Students MUST fill out a traditional Student Teaching Application form as well, as the traditional form must be on file in the OSCR office. The paid student teaching application form must be completed in addition to the traditional form, not in place of it. Paid student teaching applications must be made in the FIRST term, by the 4th week, at the beginning of your cluster sequence. Back to the Top ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ |
Last modified on: 2008-10-08 13:56:30 by: Gina Sammarco
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