Standard 3 Aspect B

Preparation programs ensure that candidates, upon completion, are ready to engage in professional practice, to adapt to a variety of professional settings, and to grow throughout their careers. Effective program practices include: consistent offering of coherent curricula; high-quality quality, diverse clinical experiences; dynamic, mutually beneficial partnerships with stakeholders; and comprehensive and transparent quality assurance processes informed by trustworthy evidence. Each aspect of the program is appropriate to its context and to the credential or degree sought.

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Rationale for Partnerships:
A central part of the Single Subject’s clinical practice experience is partnering with school districts that can provide our credential candidates with real-world field placement experiences in 7-12 public school settings. These school district partnerships afford our credential candidates the opportunity to observe, acquire, and use appropriate pedagogical knowledge, skills, and abilities gained from their coursework in a diverse range of field experiences under the supervision of qualified professionals. Field placement partnerships also provide an entry point to jobs for our candidates and support the program in keeping up with the rapidly changing requirements of the teaching workforce.  

Description of Clinical Experiences:
During the arc of the program, it is expected that our Single Subject Credential Candidates will complete a minimum of 800 clinical practice hours.  These hours are completed through  a sequenced, fieldwork experience that is designed to:   

(a) extend candidates’ understanding of major ideas and emphases developed in program and/or prerequisite coursework; 
(b) contribute to candidates’ meeting the state of California’s Teaching Performance Expectations (TPE’s), and 
(c) contribute to the candidates’ preparation for the teaching performance assessment. 

Typically, 210 hours are completed in initial student teaching (semester one), and 590 are completed in final student teaching (semester two).  However, in Spring 2020, these hours were reduced to 600 (190 in initial student teaching and 490 in final student teaching) in accordance with the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CCTC) clinical practice guidelines, due to the pandemic.

In student teaching (initial and final), role expectations for student teachers include: observing teachers and students, aiding teachers with their responsibilities, planning instruction, delivering instruction, evaluating learning, and participating in extra-classroom activities. 

Throughout the student teaching experience, candidates are supported by group seminars, led by their university coach, and triad meetings with their coach and their mentor teacher. The seminars provide an excellent opportunity for connecting the real-life classroom issues candidates face with the theories and principles they learn in course work. The triad meetings, held at least three times each semester, ensure candidates are making adequate progress towards the fulfillment of their student teaching experience.

Initial Student Teaching (Semester One):
The first experience is initial student teaching (EHD 155A).  In this field placement, students spend two class periods per day, five days per week, in an appropriate single subject classroom, typically at the middle school level (i.e., seventh or eighth grade) for 15 hours a week. At least one of the classes must contain a substantial proportion of students who are English learners and are receiving both subject-area instruction and English language development.

Prior to assuming daily teaching responsibilities in the last three to five weeks of EHD 155A, students are assessed by the university supervisor in consultation with the master teacher(s). Students are again evaluated at the end of initial student teaching in terms of their mastery of the TPEs and other teaching competencies to determine their readiness for final student teaching. Candidates in initial student teaching (EHD 155A) are also expected to submit at least six formal lesson plans along with reflections and score at least a 2 on their mid and final-semester evaluations as well as on their Site Visitation Project.  

A typical schedule for initial student teaching (EHD 155A) for a sixteen-week semester would be as follows:

Final Student Teaching (Semester Two):
In EHD 155B (final student teaching), students are typically placed at a different school site from where they were for their initial student teaching, typically a high school, for the full school day. Over the course of a semester, they work up to teaching a minimum of four periods or the equivalent each day. Time depends on the schoday. EHD 155B requires a full-time commitment, M-F, from the start of the school site placement and mentor teacher’s schedule.

It is expected that credential candidates in final student teaching (EHD 155B) will be actively working toward full teaching responsibility in the class periods to which they are assigned (4 class periods), upon approval and recommendation of the Mentor Teacher and University Coach. EHD 155B culminates in a minimum solo or co-teaching field experience for four weeks to include: planning, implementing, and assuming all classroom duties/responsibilities. Candidates in final student teaching are also expected to submit at least six formal lesson plans along with reflections and score at least a 2 on both their mid and final-semester evaluations and on their Teaching Sample Project.  

A typical schedule for final student teaching (EHD 155B) for a sixteen-week semester would be as follows:

All credential candidates are supervised by a university supervisor who has subject-specific pedagogical expertise. These supervisors observe and conference with candidates approximately six to eight times throughout the semester. During these conferences, candidates discuss course-based theories and principles as they apply to their daily teaching experience.

Throughout both semesters of the field experience, candidates are expected to make continuous progress toward mastering the TPEs. Because the field experience takes place over two semesters, candidates naturally experience all phases of a school year on-site. (All the high schools and most of the middle schools in our region are on traditional as opposed to year-round schedules.)

In addition, every effort is made by the Office of Clinical Practice to ensure that our candidates are in the best possible placement to support their development. In initial student teaching, our program candidates are placed in six school districts in the surrounding region:  Fresno Unified, Clovis Unified, Central Unified, Madera USD Unified, Sanger Unified, and Visalia Unified. However, in final student teaching, our candidates are placed all over the region, as shown in the table below. Our region is home to some of the most diverse student populations in the state, meaning candidates in our program are able to have opportunities to develop as practitioners while working with students from diverse racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds, as well as students with disabilities.

Single Subject Partnerships Table: 

Aspect C →