Clinical Partnerships and Practice
Field Placement Selection
For qualifications of cooperating teachers and field supervisors, please click the following link: Cooperating Teacher and University Supervisor Requirements
Cooperating Teacher Selection Process
Step |
Stakeholders Involved |
Procedure |
|
1 |
|
Nomination. PK-12 school administrators are asked to nominate cooperating teachers for upcoming placements/term. Occasionally, some building administrators allow for self- nominations. As appears in Cooperating Teacher and University Supervisor Requirements, cooperating teachers must possess the minimum requirements to be eligible to be nominated by a PreK-12 principal/administrator or to self-nominate. |
| 2 |
|
Evaluation. The list of nominated teachers is reviewed to ensure qualifications are met. The Field Coordinator will add qualified teachers’ names to the list of potential placements. |
| 3 |
|
Selection. From the list of potential placements, the Field Coordinator matches a candidate with a cooperating teacher based on geographic location and classroom type. Several factors are taken into account with regard to classroom type: Ability level of students, school type (urban, suburban, or rural), grade level(s), and subject area(s). The Field Coordinator ensures that candidates receive diverse placements and compares previous placements to make future matches. This step ends with a preliminary placement. |
| 4 |
|
Verification. After the Field Coordinator assigns a preliminary placement and sends tentative confirmation to the principal/administrator, the candidate must interview with the cooperating teacher as outlined in the Student Teacher Handbook. This enables the Field Coordinator to determine if the candidate will be compatible with the cooperating teacher selected. A field placement is not final until all parties are in agreement. Once this is completed, the placement is confirmed. |