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Collaboration between Unit and School Partners

Field experiences and clinical practice experiences have been designed to gradually immerse the teacher candidate into the teaching experience. Candidates progress from observing and reflecting to teaching whole classrooms. The field experience placements are selected to appropriately correspond with the course content and the candidates’ level in the program. As described in Standard 1, all initial programs have been revised, including field experiences, and school partners were actively involved in shaping these revisions. Teachers helped us determine how to ensure diversity in placements while remaining in schools and classrooms long enough to understand the school or classroom culture. They also shaped the links between content courses and field experiences and how to establish workable partnerships between higher education and school faculty.

All field and clinical practice experiences are delivered in public schools in the greater Charleston area (See Table 3.4 for the demographics of schools in Charleston County School District, Berkeley County School District, and Dorchester School District Two), as well as the N.E. Miles Early Childhood Development Center (ECDC). The N.E. Miles Early Childhood Development Center has been the laboratory preschool for the College of Charleston since 1974. True partnerships have developed between the teacher education program and school partners in the actual delivery of field experiences and clinical practice. These partnerships are evident in the formal agreements reached between the College of Charleston and three local districts (see Updated Contracts with School Districts). Responsibilities of the district and the College of Charleston related to the selection of school faculty, the selection of higher education faculty supervisors, the placement of candidates, the responsibilities of all parties, and the candidate assessment procedures are included in the agreements.

Field experience and clinical practice evaluations are conducted jointly by higher education faculty and school faculty. Once candidates begin actual teaching, candidates are evaluated by both school faculty and higher education faculty. During clinical practice, school faculty and higher education faculty use the South Carolina teacher assessment system (ADEPT Overview) to ensure that interns meet South Carolina standards for effective teaching. Both parties record at least six formal evaluations of candidates’ teaching and provide feedback to candidates on their strengths and weaknesses. The design and delivery of field experiences are evaluated by school partners and programs and the unit. School faculty and higher education faculty members’ evaluation of field experiences are conducted at the program level through surveys or at advisory group meetings. We also seek candidate input into the design and delivery of field experiences. At the completion of clinical practice, school faculty members have the opportunity to evaluate the higher education faculty members and vice versa. This information provides important data about the strengths of individuals and also strengths and weaknesses of the program (see College Supervisor Evaluation and Cooperating Teacher Evaluation).

The Director of the Office of Certification and Clinical Practice and the Office of Certification and Clinical Practice (OCCP) staff are responsible for placing clinical practice interns. They work closely with district principals and/or central office administrators, School of Education department chairpersons, program directors and faculty members to arrange clinical practice placements. As of the fall 2004 semester, the Director of Certification and Clinical Practice is also responsible for placing candidates in field experience placements. The decision to move this responsibility from the department level to the Office of Certification and Clinical Practice was the result of input from the local school leadership and school faculty, as well as the College of Charleston leadership and higher education faculty. As is the case with clinical practice placements, the Director of Certification and Clinical Practice works closely with the unit and school partners in placing these candidates in field experience settings.

Field experience placements. Agreements help to delineate responsibilities for each individual involved in a field experience course. An agreement is first reached with individual school principals who provide names of teachers who will work with the field experience candidates. The Office of Certification and Clinical Practice informs principals and school faculty members via letter of the specific dates and times the candidates will be visiting and the requirements the students must complete during this field. The letter includes a written agreement that spells out roles and responsibilities for candidates, school faculty, and higher education faculty members. This is usually expanded upon in a syllabus or field experience packet which is also provided to the school faculty. School faculty members are asked to sign, copy, and return. This establishes a formal agreement between the school faculty, candidates, and higher education faculty. Communication with cooperating schools is maintained by the higher education faculty members who are assigned to supervise the particular field experience. Higher education supervisors are on-site while candidates are in schools for field experiences.

Clinical practice placements. The Office of Certification and Clinical Practice communicates frequently with area schools regarding the clinical practice experience. The process of placing clinical practice interns begins two semesters prior to the clinical practice semester. During the latter portion of that semester, Clinical practice informational meetings are held to provide the candidates with information regarding clinical practice. At these meetings, we distribute clinical practice application forms, provide an overview of the program, with special emphasis on the placement procedures, and conduct a question and answer session.

A few weeks after the beginning of the semester prior to clinical practice, the Director of Certification and Clinical Practice contacts, via letters, the principal of each school in the three local districts. This letter describes the clinical practice experience, the types of placements sought, and the qualifications required of school faculty who wish to host clinical practice interns. When principals elect to have school faculty members participate, they notify the Office of Certification and Clinical Practice by returning a form included in the initial mailing. The Director of Certification and Clinical Practice, in collaboration with the department chairpersons and/or their designees, assigns interns to schools and school faculty. The Director of Certification and Clinical Practice verifies that each intern has had experiences in diverse settings (urban, suburban and rural) while participating in the field experiences and clinical practice. School faculty members are informed of clinical practice placements prior to the notification of interns. They are also required to complete a cooperating teacher information sheet, which is returned to the Office of Certification and Clinical Practice. Clinical practice contracts for Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester counties are distributed and signed so that each principal and the Office of Certification and Clinical Practice have individual copies of the clinical practice agreements. Candidates are required to return a signed clinical practice placement confirmation form, which is included in the letter indicating their clinical practice assignment. Additional “thank you for your interest” letters are sent to those teachers, with copies to the principal, who indicated an interest in having an intern but were not assigned one this semester (for copies of all clinical practice letters, forms, and contracts see Clinical Practice Letters, Forms, Questionnaires, and Contracts).

Due to the specific requirements related to special education certification, an individualized cooperating teacher questionnaire is faxed to those special education school faculty members who have been recommended by their principals. The information gleaned from this questionnaire helps the special education faculty and the Office of Certification and Clinical Practice verify that the classroom setting is appropriate for the intern’s certification areas.

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Design, Implementation, and Evaluation of Field Experiences and Clinical Practice

All initial candidates engage in a developmental sequence of courses and related field experiences once they have been admitted to the teacher education program. In these field experiences they apply the theoretical and conceptual learning from content courses. Each program provides field experiences each semester that build on coursework and on previous field experiences. Table 3.1 summarizes the purpose of each field experience and the number of hours candidates engage in field experiences.

Table 3.1
Field Experiences and Hours for Initial Candidates

Candidates spend sixteen weeks in clinical practice. A full-day orientation program for clinical practice interns is scheduled at the beginning of each semester. The interns receive additional training on the ADEPT system, teachers’ organizations, health and safety issues, and clinical practice requirements. The interns meet with higher education faculty who will supervise their experience at the end of the orientation. Candidates begin clinical practice following this orientation. The recommended teaching schedule involves one to two weeks of observation, followed by a three week phase in period. All candidates complete at least six weeks of full-time teaching followed by a five week phase out period.

The conceptual framework comes to life in field experiences and clinical practice. Candidates truly “Make the Teaching and Learning Connection” as they observe, reflect, and interact with P-12 students and teachers. For example, EDEE 327: Learner Development and the Context of Learning is the first field experience in the early childhood, elementary, and middle grades undergraduate programs. In this experience, candidates observe and reflect on the three Elements of Teacher Competency (ETCs) that are the foundation of the conceptual framework (ETC 1. Understand and value the learner, ETC 2. Know what and how to teach and assess and how to create an environment in which learning occurs, and ETC 3. Understand self as a professional).

The electronic portfolios developed by all candidates are designed around the Elements of Teacher Competency, assuring that candidates make the connection between what they are seeing and doing in the field and the conceptual framework. The electronic portfolios also reflect the School of Education Teaching and Learning Standards, and professional standards. In developing the conceptual framework, we identified the Elements as “umbrella concepts” that organize the state, unit, and professional standards (see Standards Alignment Matrix). In this way, we retain unit coherence while allowing for program-specific modifications to assignments and assessments. This is clearly visible in field experiences and clinical practice.

Field experiences and clinical practice provide opportunities for candidates to develop the knowledge, skills, and dispositions outlined in state, professional, and institutional standards and in the conceptual framework outcomes. They are able to see the real world connection between theory and practice, and they are able to practice skills and use knowledge with students in classrooms. We capture candidates’ development of knowledge, skills, and dispositions in three ways. The first way is through the electronic portfolios that are maintained and expanded in their field experiences and in clinical practice. The portfolios are developed over time using the conceptual framework’s Elements of Teacher Competency as a frame. As candidates move through the program, they and faculty members can trace their development in these key areas.

The second way we capture candidates’ development of knowledge and skills is through assessing their performance in field experiences and clinical practice using the South Carolina teacher assessment system, ADEPT (Assisting, Developing, and Evaluating Professional Teaching). ADEPT was developed to systematically assess clinical practice interns and new teachers on ten performance dimensions (PDs) (see ADEPT PDs). Programs took these performance dimensions and scaled them back to be developmentally appropriate for each level of field experience. For example, early childhood, elementary, and middle grades undergraduate candidates use ADEPT PDs as observation guides in their first field experience, and they are evaluated by school and higher education faculty and peers using the PDs in their second and third field experiences. By the time all candidates reach clinical practice, they are very familiar with the state expectations for new teachers.

Finally, we use field experiences and clinical practice to develop candidates’ dispositions. Dispositions are assessed at the end of the final field experience by higher education and school faculty members; candidates are expected to meet criteria of “developing competency” at this point. School and higher education faculty members evaluate clinical practice interns on dispositions expected of competent teachers at midterm and as part of their final ADEPT evaluation (See Educator Dispositions across the Professional Lifespan for our expectations of candidates’ developmental progression).

Candidates’ opportunities to use technology as a communication and teaching tool continue to increase as technology becomes a bigger part of everyone’s professional and personal lives. Technology is used heavily in field experiences as a teaching and communication tool. Many higher education faculty teaching field experience courses use WebCT or e-mail for reflection and debriefing. Journal prompts are posted on WebCT and candidates submit their journals and papers electronically through WebCT or e-mail. They may also participate in chat rooms or discussion groups.

Clinical practice interns also communicate with the College through WebCT. In response to feedback regarding the clinical practice experience, the Office of Certification and Clinical Practice implemented a WebCT website in August 2002. WebCT provides information to all parties connected with the clinical practice experience. The website contains a discussion area where interns can ask questions, share experiences, and post notices. Further, important dates and deadlines are posted by the Office of Certification and Clinical Practice or anyone else connected with the School of Education. Information pertaining to certification requirements and teaching positions are also posted on this website. Candidates also receive information from the Director of Certification and Clinical Practice via a listserv. The listserv allows for the immediate distribution of information to candidates in the field. School of Education information and other College-related information is also disseminated in this way.

Candidates also have resources available on LiveText to create electronic portfolios required for their programs. They can also take advantage of LiveText’s electronic lesson planning, unit planning, and assessment templates. By requiring candidates to use technology while in the field to create portfolios, they see the potential uses of this technology when they start teaching.

All undergraduate candidates enroll in EDFS 326: Technology for Teachers and all M.A.T. candidates enroll in EDFS 687: Technology Education for Teachers early in their professional program. Through these courses, they learn to use information and educational technology; they have many additional opportunities in their professional courses to develop skills in using word processing, PowerPoint, databases, and spreadsheets, WebQuests, and they frequently use search engines to find powerful teaching sites online. Candidates’ actual use of technology in field experiences and clinical practice depends heavily on the technology resources in the schools and classrooms.

Clinical faculty (higher education faculty supervising field experiences and school faculty working with candidates and interns) are all highly qualified to supervise and guide candidates and interns. Most full-time and part-time higher education faculty members supervise either field experiences or clinical practice. This provides an excellent way for them to retain currency in public schools. See Higher Education Faculty (Tables 5.1-5.3) for qualifications of higher education faculty. School faculty members exemplify best practice, and are chosen collaboratively by the School of Education and public school administrators. Field experience school faculty must possess valid state teaching certificates in the area in which they are teaching and must be approved by the building principal. Clinical practice school faculty must meet the above criteria and also have a minimum of three years teaching experience and complete a two-day training which emphasizes South Carolina’s ADEPT program.

The Director of Certification and Clinical Practice is a member of the Cooperating Teacher Training Consortium, a group with representatives from local school districts (Charleston County School District and Berkeley County School District, Charleston Southern University and The Citadel). This group works collectively to provide two-day training workshops for school and higher education faculty involved in our clinical practice program. The group collaborates to insure that South Carolina’s Advising, Developing, Evaluating Professional Teaching (ADEPT) program is the focus of the trainings. Time is always set aside at the meetings of this group to allow the members of the group to share thoughts and ideas related to field experiences and clinical practice.

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Candidates' Development and Demonstration of Knowledge, Skills, and Dispositions to Help All Students Learn

The entry and exit criteria for clinical practice are clearly delineated in the Unit Assessment System. Both undergraduate and M.A.T. candidates must demonstrate the following to enter clinical practice:

• Approved program portfolio: Reflections on demonstration of Elements of Teacher Competency
• Program specified courses and general education courses completed as outlined on program of study
• Cumulative GPA of 2.5 in general education courses (undergraduates) or any additional undergraduate courses required (M.A.T.)
• GPA of 3.0 in education courses
• Acceptable or better field experiences evaluated through rubric based on ADEPT criteria
• Passing scores on Praxis II or proof of registration
• Assessment of dispositions by higher education and school faculty at the developing competency level
• Successful completion of EDFS 326/687 or equivalent technology course.

Undergraduate and M.A.T. candidates demonstrate the following to exit clinical practice:

• Approved program portfolio: Reflections on demonstration of Elements of Teacher Competency
• Cumulative GPA of 3.0 in education courses
• All course work completed
• Passing grade in clinical practice
• Acceptable or better assessment of performance using ADEPT
• Assessment of dispositions by higher education and school faculty at the competent level
• Passing scores on relevant Praxis II exams

If concerns regarding candidates’ performance should arise during the semester, candidates either withdraw or fulfill a contract specifying the improvement that must be demonstrated in particular areas in order to continue. This contract is developed in conjunction with the higher education faculty member and department chair, school faculty member, candidate, and Director of Certification and Clinical Practice. Program completion is indicated by successful demonstration of acceptable knowledge, skills, and dispositions.

All participants in the clinical practice experience have a thorough understanding of the requirements and processes. A set of handbooks provide detailed information regarding requirements and procedures. Each clinical practice intern is provided with a Clinical Practice Intern Handbook. Each school faculty member receives a Clinical Practice Cooperating Teacher’s Handbook which includes information for the school faculty member as well as that included in the intern’s handbook. The Clinical Practice College Supervisor’s Handbook includes information for the higher education faculty member as well as information included in the school faculty member’s handbook and the intern’s handbook.

During the 2003-2004 school year, over 220 clinical practice placements were arranged by the Office of Certification and Clinical Practice (See 2003-2004 Clinical Practice Placements). Table 3.2 tracks clinical practice placements for two years.

Table 3.2
Clinical Practice Interns (Undergraduate and M.A.T.): 2002-2003 and 2003-2004

The vast majority of the interns are successful; Table 3.3 illustrates that very few interns withdraw or fail clinical practice.

Table 3.3
Clinical Practice Interns Withdrawals and Failures

There are three key candidate assessments in field experience and clinical practice: portfolios, ADEPT performance assessments, and dispositions assessments. At the unit level, these are assessed in the final field experiences prior to clinical practice and during clinical practice. Programs also assess each of these at key transition points in the programs. For a more complete description of the relationship of assessment during field experiences and clinical practice and content courses, see the Unit Assessment System-All.

The electronic portfolio provides candidates an opportunity to collect artifacts that demonstrate their ability to “Make the Teaching and Learning Connection” as defined by the Elements of Teacher Competency, the School of Education Teaching and Learning Standards, and program standards. Candidates are expected to self-select course artifacts to address the required standards. They write a reflection describing how the evidence submitted links to the relevant standards and the Elements of Teacher Competency. It is consistent with our concept of shared ownership of the assessment process to expect candidates to choose wisely and provide convincing evidence that they are meeting the criteria described in the portfolio rubric. Portfolios are evaluated at the program level, typically by the faculty member supervising field experiences. At the unit level, programs report if candidates exceed (score of 3), meet (score of 2), or do not meet (score of 1) program standards. Candidates not completing the portfolio receive a score of 0. See Candidate Portfolio Evidence or Table 1.27 on p.30 for candidate performance on the portfolios.

In addition, candidates’ performance in field experiences and clinical practice is assessed using the South Carolina teacher assessment system, ADEPT, which was developed to systematically assess clinical practice interns and new teachers on ten performance dimensions (PDs):

• PD1, Long-Range Planning;
• PD2, Short-Range Planning;
• PD3, Short-Range Planning, Development, and Use of Assessments;
• PD4, Establishing and Maintaining High Expectations for Learners;
• PD5, Using Instructional Strategies to Facilitate Learning;
• PD6, Providing Content For Learners;
• PD7, Monitoring and Enhancing Learning;
• PD8, Maintaining an Environment That Promotes Learning;
• PD9, Managing the Classroom; and
• PD10, Fulfilling Professional Responsibilities Beyond the Classroom.

Programs use scaled-back versions of these performance dimensions for field experiences. For example, early childhood, elementary, and middle grades undergraduate candidates use ADEPT PDs as observation guides in their first field experience, and they are evaluated by school, higher education faculty and peers using the PDs in their second and third field experiences. By the time all candidates reach clinical practice, they are very familiar with the state expectations for new teachers. Clinical practice interns are evaluated formally using an ADEPT Observation Instrument at least six times by the clinical faculty (higher education and school faculty members).

Candidate dispositions are assessed in field experiences and clinical practice. At the end of the final field experience, the higher education and school faculty members complete a Disposition Assessment Form (see Dispositions). This form captures the developmental level expected of candidates who will be recommended for clinical practice. School and higher education faculty evaluate clinical practice interns on dispositions expected of competent teachers at midterm and final evaluation points (See Educator Dispositions across the Professional Lifespan to see our expectations of candidates’ developmental progression).

Considerable time for reflection and feedback are built into field experiences and clinical practice. Field experience courses rely heavily on structured journal writing between candidates and faculty members. Using WebCT or e-mail, faculty pose questions or offer observation or reflection prompts, and candidates respond. Candidates typically move through programs in cohorts and they spend considerable time together reflecting on their experiences. Peer assessment is also built into many of the field experiences. As candidates move into more advanced field experiences, school faculty join higher education faculty in providing feedback.

In clinical practice, interns keep a journal or log of their experience that is reviewed by the higher education faculty member. Time for feedback from both clinical faculty members is allowed at least weekly. In addition, interns join with other interns and the higher education faculty member in weekly seminars. These seminars provide an opportunity to learn new content but also to reflect and share experiences. Candidates develop mentoring and peer support skills in these seminars.

Considerable evidence of candidates’ mastery of knowledge, skills, and dispositions related to helping all students learn is presented in Standard 1. As summarized below in Table 3.4, candidates receive very high ratings on ADEPT; their disposition ratings are high at the end of clinical practice, and their portfolios provide sufficient evidence that they meet program standards related to understanding and valuing the learner (ETC1), knowing what and how to teach and assess (ETC2), and understanding themselves as learners (ETC3).

Table 3.4
Mean Rating of Clinical Practice Interns: ADEPT, Dispositions, Portfolio*

* All ratings are on a 3-0 scale where 3 equals exceeds expectation, 2 equals meets expectation, 1 equals does not meet expectation, and 0 equals unavailable evidence.
** Dispositions are rated on a 5-1 scale where 5 equals always, 3 equals usually, and 1 equals seldom. This score is an average across the eight dispositions.

Candidates have multiple opportunities to work with diverse populations. As Table 3.5 illustrates, the three districts that work with the College of Charleston for field experience and clinical practice placements have highly diverse populations. In addition, all of the field experience and clinical practice placements provide opportunities for candidates in all programs to work with children with exceptionalities.

Table 3.5
Demographics of Field Experience and Clinical Practice Placement Sites*

* Sources: Berkeley County School District; Charleston County School District; Dorchester School District Two

Programs are careful to ensure that all candidates have field experience placements in urban, suburban, and rural settings. We are fortunate that in the three local districts, sufficient numbers of these placements are available.

Licensed teachers use their day-to-day experiences in their own classroom as a base for coursework and experience. Those who are not teaching are placed in field experiences either as a partner with fellow candidates are in placements facilitated by the higher education faculty member. The focus of the M.Ed. programs is to make advanced candidates more observant and reflective of what is happening in their classroom and school. This is reflected in the emphasis on action research projects in many of the M.Ed. programs. Through these experiences, candidates gain knowledge and skill in making data-based decisions. See Table 3.6 for brief descriptions of field experiences in M.Ed. programs.

Table 3.6
Field Experiences in Advanced Programs

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