Practicum Supervision What College Supervisors and Students Need to Know about the Practicum

Things to Have in Place Before You Begin Student has taken all courses and passed all required state required tests (MTEL) Student is registered for the Practicum and the Practicum Seminar

Setting Student must arrange for the setting. For most students it is their own classroom. For some, they must find an appropriate setting, based on the license they are are seeking -- eg. if they are seeking a license that is very different from their current position ( a teacher trying to get a moderate special ed license when they teach in a substantially separate setting)

Setting Whoever you choose as your cooperating teacher make sure he/she has an appropriate license (not a waiver). You must make sure the setting is correct and the you will be able to participate in the program for the correct number of hours

Hours In general Early childhood, Elementary SPED PreK hours Secondary 150 hours Those students seeking a license in Teaching Students with Moderate Disabilities must spend at least 75 hours in an inclusive setting.

Responsibilities of The Supervising Practitioner The student must be able to observe the cooperating practitioner modeling positive classroom methods and skills. (Observation should not be more than 25% of the time.) The cooperating teacher must be able to observe the student at least three times. The cooperating practitioner will then sit down with the student to discuss the observation.

Supervising Teacher The supervising teacher may use the MA state form to record observations. The supervising teacher will meet with the college supervisor 2 -3 three times during the course of the practicum.

Responsibilities of the College Supervisor The college supervisor will visit the site of the practicum at least three times

Visit 1 The purpose of the initial visit is to meet with the student and the cooperating practitioner. Discussions at this meeting will be on The Professional Standards Procedures for evaluation Initial observation

Documents This is the most important page.

Documents At the first meeting, go over the first page of the Pre-service Assessment form. The student should fill out Part I College supervisor can fill out Part II The supervising or cooperating practitioner should fill out Part III All three of you will fill our Part IV and initial #1.

Page 2 of 6 This the first page of the standards assessment.

Standards Assessments Pages 2 through 5 deal with the standards and have a second column for evidence. When the cooperating teacher and the college supervisor observes the student’s class, it is helpful to use these pages to record evidence of the student meeting the standard. The student should also use these pages to give evidence as to how he or she has met the standards.

Classroom Visits The student should arrange for a time for the college supervisor to visit for an observation. The length of the observation should be a natural class period. The college supervisor will touch base with the cooperating practitioner at the end of the second visit.

When the College Supervisor Observes a Lesson The student should make available: Lesson Plan for the lesson to be observed Type of class to be observed (inclusion -- substantially separate) Journal -- so far Performance Portfolio -- so far

Third Visit At the time of the third visit, regular classroom observation time shall be scheduled. Also, an additional hour should be planned for to complete the observation forms.

Summary Assessment After the class observation, the student, the cooperating practitioner, and the college supervisor will meet to discuss the observations. Each one will bring his or her copy of the Pre-service Performance Assessment forms. The college supervisor will lead the discussion.

Summary Assessment Each of the Standards is discussed and everyone adds whatever he or she feels is evidence that the student has met the standard. The college supervisor summarizes the comments at the bottom of each page and together with the cooperating teacher, a rating is given.

Rating Scale 1 = Does not meet the Standard 2 = Meets the Standard 3 = Exceeds the Standard NA = Not Applicable

Summary Decision for Pre- Service Assessment Copy the ratings from previous pages Summarize the comments

The Last Step Return to Page 1 of the document. Go to the very bottom of the page -- Part V. If the candidate has successfully completed the assessment -- the college supervisor and the cooperating practitioner sign off.