Our four-block clinical practice program provides teacher candidates the experience they need to succeed as an educator.
Essential clinical practice for teacher candidates
Strengthen your teaching skills with experiential education
Experiential education immerses students preparing for teaching in real-world projects, bridging theory and practice for hands-on learning and skill-building.
Clinical experiences strengthen teaching skills
At IU Southeast, you’ll be place in guided, hands-on clinical experiences early in your program and will continue them throughout the teacher preparation process.
Early field experiences take place in K-12 schools with diverse populations in Southern Indiana and Louisville, Kentucky.
Clinical experiences are linked to a specific education course or a cluster of courses (referred to as a “block”). You’ll be challenged to meet academic, professional, dispositional, and behavioral expectations to successfully complete each block before moving on to the next one. Each of the four blocks is structured so that teacher candidates have clinical experiences in diverse settings—each with a different focus.
Early field experiences are arranged with K-12 school partners in diverse populations of Southern Indiana and Louisville, Kentucky.
- Block 1 focuses on exposure to diverse school settings.
- Block 2 focuses on content strategies for all students.
- Block 3 focuses on infusing Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and assessment strategies in the content areas.
- Block 4 focuses on classroom management and assessment strategies in clinical practice.
Clinical practice learning outcomes
As a result of clinical practice, degree candidates will demonstrate:
- Proficiency in their respective Education Program Standards as aligned to the Indiana Department of Education’s Developmental Standards for Educators: School Setting Developmental Standards.
- Proficiency in their respective Education Program Standards as aligned to the Indiana Content Standards for Educators.
- Effective classroom-management strategies.
- Effective use of classroom data to inform instruction.
- The skills and dispositions necessary for proficient, beginning teachers.
Student teaching eligibility
To be eligible for student teaching, candidates must meet the following requirements:
- Successful completion of all coursework.
- Meet GPA requirements
- Demonstrate acceptable teaching dispositions.
Teacher candidate responsibilities during clinical practice (student teaching)
Clinical practice provides the opportunity to successfully transition from college student to beginning teacher. Teacher candidates will furnish transportation to and from teaching assignments. They should meet with their university supervisor for orientation and feedback sessions and must successfully complete all required assignments.
Teacher candidates must become familiar with policies and procedures, classroom, curriculum, equipment, and schedules of their assigned school. They are expected to be punctual in attendance and in carrying out assigned responsibilities and exhibit a strong work ethic. They must be responsible in terms of reporting and making up absences during student teaching and following appropriate protocol, and they must complete their documentation form. They shall maintain standards of dress and appearance that conform to the policies and practices of the local school, district, and Indiana University Southeast. Confidentiality must be always maintained.
Periodically throughout the clinical practice, seminars or small group meetings will be scheduled to supplement and enrich the student teaching experience, to provide for the sharing of experiences, and to inform the candidates about placement files and certification procedures. The on-campus seminars provide another means of encouraging best practices, reasoned experimentation, and continual reflection. Each placement will include at least two seminar meetings, which may be a face-to-face meeting or a Zoom meeting.
Phases of candidate teaching
The clinical practice consists of a gradual integration of the candidate into the activities of the professional teacher. The amount of time spent in each phase will vary according to the number of weeks in the assignment and the progress of the candidate. Integration takes place in approximately the following manner.
The first week is a good time for the teacher candidate to learn the school and classroom routines and observe instruction and classroom management. This time is not “sit and watch,” but rather a period of systematic observation of student and teacher behaviors. Limited participation might include working with one student or a small group, helping with part of a large group lesson, or assisting with planning and evaluating. Time may be spent observing other specialized services in the same building or other classes into which students are integrated.
IU Southeast teacher candidates are required to attend all professional-development activities offered at the school or district level as required by the P-12 Clinical Educator.
Participation in the classroom is much more active during this phase. Responsibilities include preparing instructional materials, planning and implementing lessons, facilitating individual and small-group work, and supervising students during non-instructional times—such as recess, bus, lunchroom, and hallway duties.
Starting during Phase II, the P-12 Clinical Educator gradually steps back and allows the teacher candidate to take the lead.
In Phase III, the teacher candidate should demonstrate increasing responsibility for instructional programming, following IEP and BIP requirements, behavior management, formative and summative evaluations, working with other staff members, contacting parents and or guardians, and other duties required of the classroom teacher.
Assessment of clinical practice
Assessment of teacher candidates during clinical practice happens in multiple phases. Teacher candidates are assessed by the university supervisors and P-12 educators/mentors to meet the Interstate Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (InTASC) Standards. Other program standards specific to the discipline, such as special education, teaching English Language Learners, and content areas, are also assessed.
NOTE: If deemed necessary by the university supervisor and P-12 clinical educator, clinical practice can be lengthened either through continuing at the same site or through completing additional fieldwork.
School of Education partnerships with P-12 schools for clinical practice
The School of Education works to ensure that teacher candidates engage in a variety of clinical experiences during the course of the teacher education program. The P-12 school settings for these clinical experiences will reflect a wide diversity of location (e.g. urban, rural), culture, race, age, and socioeconomic status of student populations. The School of Education collaborates with partners to design and implement clinical experiences of sufficient depth, breadth, diversity, coherence, and duration to ensure that candidates demonstrate their developing effectiveness and positive impact on diverse P-12 students’ learning and development.
The School of Education and P-12 school partners co-select, prepare, evaluate, and support high-quality clinical educators, both university- and school-based, who demonstrate a positive impact on candidates’ development and diverse P-12 student learning and development. The School of Education and P-12 school partners share responsibilities and practices supporting the teacher candidates to be successful in their clinical practice.