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Teacher Education (TE)
Candidates are placed for their Teacher Assisting field practicum according to their level of program. For instance, elementary candidates are placed in either a lower grade classroom or an upper grade classroom. At the secondary level, candidates are placed in their major field of study at either the middle or high school level. For special education, candidates are placed into any special education classroom environment, with the exception of the self-contained cognitively impaired classroom. Teacher Assisting may be done either at a multi-cultural or non multi-cultural building. For Student Teaching, many additional factors need to be considered. If Teacher Assisting was at a lower grade, e.g., K-2 classroom, placement is now placed in an upper grade classroom, 3-5. If the first secondary practicum was at a middle school setting, placement is now in a high school setting. Special Education candidates complete Teacher Assisting, one special education placement, Student Teaching in a general education classroom, then their final special education placement. Another factor to consider when placing candidates for Student Teaching is the multi-cultural experience. If candidates were not placed in a multicultural setting for Teacher Assisting, they are now required to fulfill that requirement. Sometimes, candidates will receive both placements at a multi-cultural building. To determine setting, we use the Standard and Poor Report; a district is considered multicultural if it has at least a 20% multicultural student population. Graduate Teacher Certification (GTC) Public schools within a 65-mile radius of Grand Rapids are sent placement request forms every January. The forms are distributed by the principals to teachers. With permission from the principal, teachers indicate if they wish to host a GTC Program student for the year. The forms also ask the teacher to indicate years of teaching experience. Beginning in April, candidates are notified to arrange for a placement interview with the designated teacher(s). If accepted, the candidate is assigned to the teacher for two semesters. An acceptance form, signed by the teacher and principal, is kept on file in the College of Education. Candidates are placed in area schools within a reasonable driving distance (up to forty-five minutes) from their homes. Schools often choose to have GTC candidates placed there every year. Supervising teachers are self selecting with the permission of the principal and in accordance with the district contract. Principals are specifically requested to place interns with role model teachers and not with teachers who have questionable teaching or classroom management skills. Graduate Teacher Certification Program interns are placed in public schools for two consecutive semesters of field placement. Each intern normally remains in the same school with the same teacher(s) during the placement time. In order to have diverse classroom experiences, interns arrange to exchange school placement sites for several days during fall semester. Interns placed in schools with less diverse populations exchange places with interns in more diverse environments and vice versa. |