If you are a working teacher, please follow the policies of your school system.

If you are being placed in a practicum experience please follow the guidelines listed here.

Candidates are expected to adhere to the Office of Clinical Field Experience OCFE process for alerting individuals when he/she will be absent, late or must leave school early.  Any days/hours missed for personal reasons must be made up after the last scheduled day of the field experience. Candidates are strongly encouraged not to miss days during the field experiences.

If absent, tardy or needing to leave early, the intern is to notify the following people by a phone call:

1. The Mentor Teacher and Principal /Designee– Before the start of the school day
2. The Office of Clinical and Field Experience– Contact your program coordinator.
3. The University Supervisor – before 9:00 a.m but ASAP if the Supervisor is scheduled to conduct an observation on that day.

Confidentiality

Candidates are expected to practice professional ethics. Candidates will demonstrate professional courtesy and confidentiality during interactions with students, parents, and other professionals. Candidates will not discuss the students in the school setting with anyone beyond the school. Candidates are aware that even talking about students with the paraprofessionals in the classroom may be a breach of confidentiality.

ATTENDANCE/ATTENDANCE LOG
1 credit hour = 40 school visitation hours to complete the 1 hour practicum for SPED 602, 603, and 604.

3 credit hours - 120 visitation hours to complete the 3 hour practicum for SPED 696.

The mentor teacher and the students are counting on you! If you are unable to visit the site on an assigned day, you must phone the school secretary in order to get a message to the teacher at the beginning of the school day and contact both the instructor and mentor teacher (by email) to notify them of your absence. You are to record all absences on the Attendance Log, in addition to completed hours. Candidates are to make up observations missed due to delay/cancellation. Frequent or unreasonable absences at the field school site will lower your final grade.

The candidate is to keep possession of and complete the Attendance Log at each visitation. On your first visitation, tell the mentor teacher that you need to obtain the mentor teacher’s signature before you leave the classroom. Obtain the signature on your COMPLETED form each day in a non-disruptive manner. You may count any time you are in the school. You may NOT count transportation time. The completed Attendance Log must be turned in to obtain credit for your visitations.

REPORTING TO THE SCHOOL: Arrive at the school a few minutes before the observation time. Go to the Office to obtain a visitor’s badge and then go directly to the observation classroom. You are to remain at the school during the entire time indicated on the “Confirmation Form”.