I.  General Policies

            A.  Admission

The teacher candidate applies to the Unit of Assessment for admission into Phase III of the PreK-8 Program.  Phase III is a fourteen week internship in a Professional Development School.  Usually, application forms are made available the second week of the semester and are due one month later. Formal admission to Phase III occurs only after all phase requirements have been met and all grades are verified.  This usually occurs during January (for the spring semester internship) and August (for the fall semester internship)

            B.   Placement of Interns (Procedures)

1.   Information from the Phase III application concerning intern placement is

      shared with the Office of Clinical and Field Experiences so that interviews

      can be scheduled and tentative placements made for the internship.

2.  The teacher candidate provides information about personal circumstances that might impact the placement, but no guarantee can be made that this information will determine intern placement.  Each candidate will continue his/her second internship within the same Professional Development School (PDS) as his/her first internship if at all possible. If this is not possible, the intern will be placed in a PDS within the same cluster.  If this is not possible, the intern will be placed in another appropriate Professional Development School.  If no PDS opening is available to meet an intern’s requirements, other suitable placements will be considered.

3.  Placements are made to meet certification requirements.  ELEM/ECE majors are placed in Pre-K/K, in primary grades (1, 2, or 3), and intermediate grades (4, 5, or 6) over the course of Block I, Internship I, and Internship II experiences.  Thus, during Internship II, the pattern for each candidate in the ELEM/ECE major is completed.  ELEM majors are placed in grades 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or middle school (6, 7, or 8) depending on the candidate.  Candidates requesting a middle school placement must take EDUC 445—Middle School Curriculum—prior to Internship II.

4.   The specific placement begins with each PDS Principal, in consultation with the PDS Site Coordinator, notifying the Placement Coordinator of available mentor teachers and grade levels.  Taking into consideration the needs of each intern, the placement coordinator matches interns to each PDS opening and sends the list to the appropriate principal.  The principal makes the placements and notifies the Placement Coordinator and the PDS Site Coordinator.  All preliminary contacts with the schools and the mentor teachers are made by the Placement Coordinator. Note: No PreK-8 teacher intern shall be placed beyond Frederick County.

5.  The Placement Coordinator notifies each intern of his/her placement, and each intern makes a pre-practice visit to the mentor teacher.  At this time the mentor teacher signs the pre-practice visit card, and the intern submits it to the Office of Clinical and Field Experiences.

6.   Orientation meetings are scheduled prior to each field experience in order to orient candidates to their intern responsibilities.

C.  Number of Internship Days

      The minimum number of internship days is 70 during Internship II.  Interns are expected to start on the assigned day and end on the last day of classes for the semester, unless make-up days are required to meet the 70 day requirement.*  Interns are to have an extended experience in Professional Development Schools to focus on student achievement, action research, collaboration, and professional growth.  To do this, the entire semester is planned in professional development schools.  The number of days required in internship over Internship I and Internship II is a minimum of 100 days.

      *Internship days counted for the minimum of 70 days include Tweener Day, Job Fair, and the scheduled days interns are in attendance at the schools.  The Pre-Practice visit does not count as one of the 70 days.  Any days interns are absent from the classroom are to be made up.  Problems with achieving the required number of days will be handled on an individual basis with the university supervisor and the placement coordinator.

      In the fall semester, interns are expected to be in the schools for an additional experience prior to the day students are scheduled to arrive.  These days are placed on the time sheets.

D.  Coursework during Internship

      The only course taken with Internship II isEDUC 422 – Leadership Seminar: PreK-8.  This course focuses on educational leadership in the classroom including management, leadership in the schools including a focus on the PDS partnership, and leadership in the profession including the completion of a professional portfolio. This course is conducted partly on campus and partly in the PDS Schools. It generally meets on Monday late afternoon or evening.  Only the required courses of EDUC 422 Leadership Seminar:  PreK-8 and ELED 495 –Teaching Internship II:  PreK-8 Programs are to be taken during the internship II semester.  Exceptions are applied for and approved through the Office of Assessment.

E.  Attendance and Punctuality

      The teacher intern is expected to arrive and depart the assigned school at the same hour that regular members of the teaching staff arrive and depart.  Interns are to put in a full day of activities related to the instructional program.  If not teaching a class, an intern should be observing the mentor teacher, assisting the mentor teacher as needed, working on development of the curriculum or environment, or collaborating with others on professional agendas.

F.  Absences

      When illness occurs and an absence becomes necessary, notify the following:                    

1.  Mentor Teacher and Principal – before the start of the                                  school day.

      2.  Placement Coordinator – before 9:00 a.m.

      3.  University Supervisor – before 9:00 a.m.

      Absences may need to be made up in order for the intern to meet the required number of internship days.

Remember Intern II candidates must complete 70 days.

G.  Involvement in Campus Activities and Employment

      In order to obtain the most benefit from the professional semester, the intern is requested to limit all outside activities.  The intern is expected to devote full time to his/her teaching.  The intern is not to participate in demanding extra-curricular events while interning without the consent of the Placement Coordinator and the University Supervisor.  Ideally, outside employment is minimized during the interning semester(s).

H.  Vacations

      The teacher intern follows the university calendar, and is entitled to the same vacation periods reflected in that calendar.  Interns may make special arrangements when differences exist between the university calendar and the intern’s school calendar, with permission from the Placement Coordinator, the University Supervisor, and the Mentor Teacher. Written requests are signed by both the Mentor Teacher and The University Supervisor and submitted to the Placement Coordinator.

I.  Beginning of the Year Experience

      Beginning interns (Intern Is) and extended interns (Intern IIs) in the fall semester begin their experience with a Beginning of the Year Experience.  This allows the candidates an opportunity to experience the roles and responsibilities of the classroom teacher at the start of the school year.  Interns are asked to keep time sheets, answer questions that will be discussed at their first seminar/class, and to record an experience reflection.