Eligibility for Methods and Student Teaching
Office of Field Experiences
Office: W249 Thompson Hall
(716) 673-3443
Debra Karpinske-Keyser, Director
Email: debra.karpinske-keyser@fredonia.edu
The Office of Field Experiences
The Office of Field Experiences places over 500 student teachers each academic year. This includes Childhood, Early Childhood, Childhood Inclusive Education (childhood and special education), Music, Speech Pathology and Audiology, plus those students seeking Adolescence certification in English, Social Studies, Mathematics, Biology, Earth Science, Chemistry, Physics, French and Spanish. In addition candidates participate in at least 100 pre-service clock hours of supervised Early Field Experiences. All monitoring of placements and placement requests is done in the Office of Field Experiences. For more information on the Office of Field Experiences, please consult the web page at http://home.fredonia.edu/coe/field-experiences-office.
Eligibility for Methods and Student Teaching - Adolescence Education & Middle Childhood Mathematics
Students in the various adolescence education programs are responsible for contacting the Office of Field Experiences during the first week of classes in the spring semester of the year prior to the Student Teaching Year. They are to apply for student teaching during the spring semester. Applications for student teaching must be submitted by the deadline.
A candidate who receives a Satisfactory standing in the Student Teaching placement must also receive a passing grade in their co-requisite Seminar/Methods course to advance.
Students should refer to the departmental Assessment Model for specific criteria regarding entrance into student teaching.
Eligibility for Student Teaching Childhood, Childhood Inclusive, Early Childhood, and Childhood/Early Childhood Education
Student Teaching is a full time, semester long experience under the supervision of a mentor teacher and a college supervisor which can take place in the fall or spring semester. To be eligible to student teach, candidates must meet completion criteria for all Professional Education courses, maintain the required 3.0 minimum cumulative grade point average (GPA), and apply by the deadline stipulated each year by the Office of Field Experiences. Candidates are responsible for contacting the Office of Field Experiences early in the semester BEFORE participating in Methods of Instruction courses.
Student teachers are expected to observe the calendars, regulations, and philosophies of the schools in which they are placed. The Office of Field Experiences, in collaboration with the participating schools, determines the beginning and ending dates for student teaching placements. Student teaching placements involve full-day (8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.), Monday through Friday involvement for 15 weeks, and prospective student teachers are advised to plan their extracurricular schedules accordingly.
Placements of all candidates in all certification areas is at the discretion of the Office of Field Experiences, based upon factors including candidates' content area qualifications, availability of college supervisors, willingness of schools to accept student teachers, and the College of Education's commitment to serve schools equally. The College of Education - Professional Education Unit reserves the right to remove any student teacher from any student teaching placement at any time for inadequate performance or inappropriate behavior. Prospective candidates are advised that student teaching placements are currently limited to Chautauqua County, Erie (N.Y.) County, Cattaraugus County, New York City, and Houston, Texas.
A candidate who receives a Satisfactory standing in the Student Teaching placement must also receive a passing grade in their co-requisite Seminar/Methods course to advance.