Standard 11. For candidates seeking an initial professional license, the unit must:

(2) provide a minimum of 12 full-time weeks, or the equivalent number of weeks where the candidate is participating in at least 80 percent of the contracted school week, of face-to-face student teaching that:

(a) is aligned to the scope and content of the licensure field sought;

(b) is split into no more than two placements where each placement is with a continuous group of students and for continuous weeks in alignment with the school calendar and day;

(c) includes ongoing observations with actionable feedback to ensure growth and attainment of standards with a minimum of four observations conducted by the cooperating teacher;

(d) includes ongoing observations with actionable feedback to ensure growth and attainment of standards with a minimum of four observations conducted by the supervisor;

(e) includes a minimum of three triad meetings with the cooperating teacher, the supervisor, and the candidate for clear and consistent communication; and

(f) includes a written evaluation by the supervisor that addresses the candidate's ability to meet the standards in parts 8710.2000 to 8710.8080 and the required professional dispositions.

UED requires that teacher candidates in all initial licensure programs complete at least 12 continuous weeks of full-time, face-to-face student teaching with a continuous group of students in the scope and content of the license being sought. Elementary and secondary candidates complete at least 12 full-time weeks in one placement, while Early Childhood Education and Special Education candidates require 15 total weeks of full-time, face-to-face student teaching split into one 8 or 10 week and another 7 or 5 week placement with a different age level (i.e., ECE–infant-toddler, or preK-K, or Grades 1-3; SPED–elementary, or middle school or high school). 

Program Completion requirements including number of student teaching weeks are stated on each requirements page listed below:

• Early Childhood https://www.metrostate.edu/academics/programs/urban-early-childhood#requirements
• Elementary Ed https://www.metrostate.edu/academics/programs/urban-elementary-education-bs#requirements
• Special Ed (undergraduate) https://www.metrostate.edu/academics/programs/urban-special-education-bs-for-abs-licensure#requirements
• Special Ed (graduate) https://www.metrostate.edu/academics/programs/urban-ed-SPED#requirements

Secondary Education Degree and Licensure Programs

• English Teaching (undergraduate)
  https://www.metrostate.edu/academics/programs/secondary-education-english#requirements
• English Teacher Prep (graduate) https://www.metrostate.edu/academics/programs/urban-ed-secondary-english#requirements 
• Life Sciences Teaching (undergraduate)
  https://www.metrostate.edu/academics/programs/secondary-education-life-science#requirements
• Life Sciences Teacher Prep (graduate) https://www.metrostate.edu/academics/programs/urban-ed-secondary-life-science#requirements
• Math Teaching (undergraduate)
  https://www.metrostate.edu/academics/programs/secondary-education-math#requirements
• Math Teacher Prep (graduate) https://www.metrostate.edu/academics/programs/urban-ed-secondary-math#requirements
• Social Studies Teaching (undergraduate)
  https://www.metrostate.edu/academics/programs/secondary-education-social-studies#requirements
• Social Studies Teacher Prep (graduate) https://www.metrostate.edu/academics/programs/urban-ed-secondary-social-studies#requirements

Observations and Evaluations of Student Teaching Candidates

Assessment and evaluation of teacher candidates is an ongoing process throughout the student teaching semester. The cooperating teacher(s) and university supervisor(s) each complete 5 formal lesson observations with written, actionable feedback. The candidate’s lesson plans and all 10 of the formal lesson observations are uploaded into TaskStream.

The lesson observation form and overall evaluation form includes a rubric with each of the 10 SEPs and several quality indicators which must be assessed on the student teacher to ensure licensure standards in parts 8710.2000 to 8710.8080 are met. For each standard, there is a place to note a numerical rating and make comments. The numerical ratings range from a score of 1 “lacking” to a score of 4 “exemplary”. For example, Figure 11.1 shows an image of the scores with quality indicators the student teacher candidate’s performance can be assigned for Standard 1: Subject Matter. 

Figure 11.1  Image of Student Teaching Lesson Observation Rubric in TaskStream

Student teaching mid-point and overall final evaluations are also completed in Taskstream during triad meetings between the university supervisor, cooperating teacher and student teacher.  The Student Teaching Overall Evaluation submitted by the cooperating teacher and/or university supervisor includes ratings of subject area proficiency, pedagogical proficiency aligned to the remaining nine Standards of Effective Practice, and evaluation of UED-defined professional dispositions.

Triad Meetings

During the student teaching experience, a minimum of 3, three-way “triad” conferences between the student teacher, cooperating teacher and the university supervisor are required to help ensure clear and consistent communication. This opportunity is to give and receive feedback using a growth mindset. These meetings generally occur at the beginning of the placement, the middle of the placement and at the end of the placement. Dates of Triad meetings are documented in TaskStream by the University Supervisor.

Formative Assessments and Observations

Furthermore, formative and informal assessment of the student teaching experience involves the following activities to encourage candidate growth:

• Opportunities for student teachers to self-reflect, explore and demonstrate their professional development through a clinical supervision model with their cooperating teacher(s) and university supervisor. Each student teacher is expected to submit a minimum of 8 written reflections responding to prompts in TaskStream, and these regular reflections are then read and responded to by the university supervisor.
• The cooperating teacher is expected to informally observe the student teacher on a regular basis and provide feedback on the teaching performance. Throughout the student teaching experience, the cooperating teacher is expected to continuously assist the student teacher in reflecting on teaching performance and developing goals and strategies for improving practice.
• Throughout their student teaching experience, student teachers are expected to maintain an electronic archive of all lesson plans, unit plans, handouts, assignments, tests, and reflections which usually show growth over time.