Important College-Wide Student Teaching Policies

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  5. Important College-Wide Student Teaching Policies

I. Attendance

  • Student teachers are expected to attend every day.
  • Sick days, personal days, or cuts are not allowed.  Absences are permitted for attendance at professional conferences and/or teacher recruitment fairs.
  • An absence may also be permitted for a rare and documented emergency.  You must call and report your absence, the day before to 1) your mentor teacher who needs to prepare, 2) your college supervisor who must report it, and 3) the school secretary
  • If you miss more than one full day during a placement due to a legitimate emergency, you must arrange to make up time missed to meet NYSED guidelines.
  • All students are responsible for 100% attendance and punctuality in each student-teaching quarter.  Prior to beginning each assignment, the student teacher is expected to find out from his/her cooperating teacher: (1) whom to notify in case of illness/emergency; and (2) policies/procedures for leaving lesson plans to cover classes. If an emergency should arise which requires you to be absent from student teaching, you must use the special form in the student-teaching handbook to obtain advance approval from your College supervisor.

For ANY absence, you must also complete the “Absence from Student Teaching Form” (found in the field placement office handbook) and give this to your supervisor.

II. Substitute Teaching is not allowed under any circumstances

  • Student teachers are not legitimate employees and are not covered by “Good Samaritan” insurance clauses.  Thus, you can teach class when the mentor is absent, but only if a paid, legitimate substitute teacher is present.

III. Working While Student Teaching

  • College-related activities are not allowed without special written permission from the Dean, AND your college supervisor has the right to ask you to choose between the activity OR student teaching.
  • After-school jobs are not allowed unless school-related (play directing, coaching, tutoring) and unless they are determined to be not detrimental to the student teaching experience.

IV. Final Grades

  • Final grade for each placement/quarter is “S” or “U.”