As a teacher education student, you will have many opportunities to work with children and teachers in the local schools; in fact, we consider your fieldwork integral to your success – we believe that your skills will develop at a more rapid pace and in a much more effective manner when you are learning from a professional teacher who is working with a professor. 

          The following section provides a brief overview of the three types of field placements you will experience during the four years here at the University of Evansville. Although you may hear colleagues and friends from other universities use different terms to describe field placements, we think that there are three different levels of field placements and we use different nomenclatures to describe them. 

          Practicum: A Practicum is a field placement within which a student performs a number of related teaching activities, but does not actually have teaching responsibilities. In the practicum associated with Education 200, for example, students work with students and teachers in the school setting once or twice a week, usually for about two hours. This 9-10 week practicum is designed to help teacher education students experience life in a classroom and get an accurate feel for teachers’ responsibilities. In addition, the practicum provides an opportunity for students to work with small groups of children in very diverse classroom settings. The case study and educational philosophy that accompany this course are important assignments that help faculty determine the degree to which you are meeting standards. 

          Internship: Internships are much more intense than most other placements; in an internship, students usually have regularly scheduled (4-5 times per week) planning and teaching responsibilities. During internships, candidates work closely with their respective cooperating teachers, and although the teaching responsibilities are not full-time, they can be intense and challenging. For this reason, the standards for internships are quite high; after all, students must be accountable for not only their own learning, but the children’s learning that is taking place when they are teaching.  

       Remember that as you progress through your program, standards and performance requirements often increase; with respect to elementary and secondary internships, this is especially true because you must attain a B or higher in the internships in order to be qualified to student teach.

         Student Teaching: Student teaching is completed when students have: 

• Completed all coursework with a C or better (B or better for internships

•  Passed Praxis I tests

• A GPA of 2.7 or above

•  Completed a comprehensive portfolio with assessments from at least three advisors or faculty members

        The length and type of student teaching placements depend largely on which programs a student is completing and/or which endorsement a student is pursuing. The following chart presents the most common student teaching placements.