Absences During Clinical Practice
You are expected to report to your school site every day that there is school. You will follow the same expectations as all other school faculty and staff. All teacher candidates are allowed three “grace” days of excused absences. An excused absence means that you have contacted your cooperating teacher, college supervisor, and academic coordinator beforehand to notify that you will not be attending school that day.
Excused absences include job interviews, sickness, death in the family, or inability to get to school due to car issues and/or road conditions where the school is open, but you do not feel it is safe to commute. These all count as absences and must be approved by your cooperating teacher and college supervisor. Attendance at the required college seminars is not considered an absence, nor is it an absence if your school is closed, or you attend a professional development conference with your cooperating teacher, or you miss for a school-related activity (like a field trip) with your students and/or cooperating teacher.
Absences beyond three days should be reported to the Academic Clinical Practice Coordinator and the Director of Education Services as soon as possible. Teacher candidates who miss three or more instructional days at their assigned school will be subject to a review of their performance by their cooperating teacher and college supervisor that will result in one of the following: a) no further action; or b) having to make up the missed days by extending the Clinical Practice timeline; or c) termination of the Clinical Practice assignment due to poor performance. The decision regarding satisfactory performance is the shared responsibility of the college supervisor, cooperating teacher, and academic coordinator for clinical practice.
Substitute Teaching During Clinical Practice
The most frequent question that arises is whether the candidate can serve as a substitute teacher for the cooperating teacher in the placement classroom or for another teacher within the building. In the event that your own cooperating teacher is absent, you are allowed to serve as a substitute teacher in that situation if the following have occurred:
- You have been at the school site for at least two weeks.
- The student must have met all requirements of said district regarding local substitute teacher certification (students who have been a part of the NENTA program should have a local sub certificate that is eligible for any school district in ESUs 1, 2, 7, 8, and 17).
- The student agrees to serve as a substitute for the day
- Any assessment of the student performance up to that point has been generally positive
- The subbing is done within the placement classroom
Thus, it is not permitted for you to be moved from your own classroom where you have been completing your clinical practice experience to another classroom. In addition, the maximum number of days where subbing is allowed is three. Since the Spring 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the need for many schools to have substitute teacher coverage, this policy has been revised to allow up to 15 days of subbing as needed by the district.
Any student teacher who changes placements during the semester must complete two (2) full weeks in the new placement before being eligible to substitute. Any requested exception to the maximum days available to substitute requires prior approval from the WSC Director of Education Services.
Student teachers are not fully licensed; therefore, it is expected that the student teacher be provided with support from a certified professional within the building during a substitute teaching assignment. WSC reviews the candidate’s performance on a regular basis and reserves the right to deny or terminate a substitute teaching assignment if the student’s performance drops below our acceptable standards and expectations. The Director of Education Services will make the final decision regarding eligibility in these circumstances.
Employment During Clinical Practice
While employment during Clinical Practice is not prohibited, it is strongly advised against. You are expected to be present for all hours required of other teachers in the district and follow the district’s calendar of workdays, holidays, vacation, etc. Remember that good planning and effective preparation takes time and energy. Don’t overbook or exhaust yourself so that your performance suffers. Employment includes coaching responsibilities. Although often teachers are also coaches, it is highly encouraged for teacher candidates to refrain from coaching duties during clinical practice so that they can focus on lesson planning, grading student work, and being fully prepared each day.