TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART 1 –
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to
Internship · 2
Goals and
Objectives of the Internship Experience · 3
Terms You Should
Know · 4
Description of
the Internship Experience · 6
Internship
Clinical Experience Agreement · 7
The Criminal
Background Check · 9
PART 2 –
ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Role of the
Intern · 10
Professional
Responsibilities of the Intern · 10
Role and
Responsibilities of the Mentor Teachers · 11
Role and
Responsibilities of the Campus-Based Supervisor and ATU Liaison · 12
Role and
Responsibilities of the Director Teacher Education Student Services · 13
Role and
Responsibilities of Other Professionals Involved in the Internship Experience · 14
Role and
Responsibilities of the Field-Site Principal · 14
Role and
Responsibilities of Other Teachers in the School · 14
PART 3 –
EVALUATION
Evaluation of
the Intern · 16
Intern Grades · 17
Formative
Observation and Intervention Form · 18
Evaluation of ATU
Support and Supervision Form by Mentor Teacher · 20
Program
Evaluation Form by Mentor Teacher · 21
Internship
Experience Evaluation Form by Intern · 22
Exit Competency
Part I · 24
Exit Competency
Part II · 27
The Exit
Portfolio · 30
Task # 1 A Premise for Student
Learning – My Beliefs about Teaching and Learning · 33
Task # 2 Case Study · 35
Overview
of Tasks 3, 4 and 5 · 37
Task # 3 Planning a Unit · 38
Task
# 4 Two Lessons · 43
Task
# 5 Assessment of Student Learning · 47
Task
# 6 Ready to Teach, Formal Evaluations of My Teaching – Professionals for the
Future · 49
Task
# 7 Professional Development in Education · 51
PART 1
Welcome to
Internship!
The School of Education congratulates you
on the completion of requirements for admission to internship and welcomes you
to the internship experience. This
experience is one of the most important and profitable experiences in your
professional development. It is a time
for demonstrating the skills that you have gained while completing your
program; but, most importantly, this the time to deepen your understanding of the
value of these skills and move from the role of candidate to that of
Professional for the Future.
Internship is that part of the preservice
education program in which the prospective teacher works full time in a
cooperating school with a competent mentor teacher. The period of internship is considered by
many to be the most vital phase of professional development. This handbook provides information vital to
your success. Be sure to keep it for
reference throughout your experience.
You are expected to make practical use of the principles, methods,
knowledge, and materials that you have developed or acquired in previous course
work. Internship is no less important to
the pre-professional teacher than it is to those preparing for the medical
profession.
Internship takes place in a carefully
selected school under the immediate supervision of a mentor teacher selected
according to specific criteria. As
outlined in this handbook, you will assume increasing responsibility for
working with individuals and groups of students through gradual involvement in
classroom teaching situations. All
interns are observed, monitored, and evaluated by the School of Education. Additionally, some secondary interns have
supervision from a content-area supervisor in their major discipline.
During the internship you will complete
requirements for licensure as well as for graduation. You will take the Praxis II Principles of
Learning and Teaching and complete the Criminal Background Check required by
Arkansas Law. The following is a list of
who you should contact should you have any questions or concerns about your
experience.
THE GOALS AND
OBJECTIVES OF THE INTERNSHIP EXPERIENCE
The primary goal of internship is to
integrate coursework with the realities of the actual classroom in order to
provide a practical learning environment and experimental lab for the
intern. In order to accomplish this
goal, specific objectives have been identified.
The Intern Will:
·
Communicate
accurately and effectively in the content area.
·
Maintain
professional rapport with students.
·
Obtain
feedback from and communicate with students in a way that enhances student
learning.
·
Encourage
the development of student involvement, responsibility, and critical thinking
skills.
·
Manage
the classroom in a way that ensures the best of instructional time.
·
Create
an atmosphere conducive to learning, self-discipline, and development of
positive self-concept.
·
Use
a variety of instructional techniques, methods, and media related to the
objectives.
·
Organize
instruction to take into account individual and cultural differences among
learners.
·
Plan
instruction to achieve selected objectives.
·
Demonstrate
understanding of human growth and development characteristics of students.
·
Demonstrate
the value of self-evaluation and reflective thinking.
·
Demonstrate
an understanding of the importance of educational research.
·
Demonstrate
knowledge of foundations of public education in America, both state and
district.
·
Demonstrate
knowledge of legal responsibilities of the public school system.
·
Prepare
to arrange for conference and referral opportunities.
TERMS YOU
SHOULD KNOW
Campus-Based Supervisor - The University representative from the
School of Education who is responsible for supervising an Intern or group of
Interns, and who acts as a liaison between the intern, field-based supervisor,
administrators and the University.
Content-Area Supervisor - The University representative from the
secondary intern’s major field of study who makes classroom observations to
evaluate the intern’s content proficiency.
The content-area supervisor’s evaluation is taken into account in the
intern’s final evaluation.
Director Teacher Education Student
Services – The person
designated by the University with administrative responsibility for organizing
and coordinating professional field experiences, including internship.
Domains – Is a way of organizing what all teachers
should know and be able to do. The 19 PATHWISE criteria have been divided into
four domains aligned to licensure testing.
The domains are:
·
Organizing
Content Knowledge for Student Learning
·
Creating
an Environment for Student Learning
·
Teaching
for Student Learning
·
Teacher
Professionalism
Exit Portfolio - A Standards-Based Presentation of
Evidence for the Licensure of Beginning Teachers. The exit portfolio is a performance-based
assessment completed during the internship.
It should contain documentation of essential teaching skills and
dispositions as required by the State Standards for Beginning Licensure. The contents of the exit portfolio should
document growth in reflective practice.
Field-Based Site – A school that provides facilities for
professional field experiences in a teacher education program.
Field-Site Principal – The person designated by the school
district as having ultimate responsibility involving the school building
personnel.
Field-Based Supervisor - A fully qualified and certified
classroom teacher, with a minimum of three years experience, who is assigned
the responsibility of providing instruction and leadership for a student during
his/her internship.
Intern – A pre-service professional whose
focus, first and foremost, is on student learning.
Internship - The semester-long, guided or directed
teaching experience during which the intern takes increasing responsibility for
instruction of a given group of students.
Throughout this time the Intern is under the supervision of a fully
qualified mentor teacher in cooperation with university supervisors.
Liaison – The Arkansas Tech faculty supervisor who
supports the link between university and the public school systems in the
cohort placement of interns.
Mentor Teacher – can be either the Field-Based Supervisor or the Clinical
Practice Instructor.
PATHWISE – The PATHWISE Classroom Observation
System is an assessment tool for the evaluation of the classroom performance of
student teachers and first-year teachers.
Praxis II – Subject Assessments, including:
·
Subject
Assessments/Specialty Area Tests, measuring general and subject specific
pedagogical
skills and knowledge, and
·
Principles
of Learning and Teaching (PLT), a constructed-response and multiple-choice item
case
study approach to measuring general
pedagogical knowledge at three grade levels K6, 5-9 and 7-12.
Praxis III – Classroom Performance Assessments are
used to evaluate all aspects of a beginning teacher’s classroom
performance. Designed to assist in
making licensure decisions, these comprehensive assessments are conducted in
the teacher’s own classroom by trained local observers who employ a set of
consistent, reliable, nationally validated criteria. The assessments are typically administered
during the first year of teaching, although under special circumstances they
may take place during the second year.
Standards-based – developed from and
aligned to established national, state and program requirements for acceptable
quality.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INTERNSHIP EXPERIENCE
The internship experience is an intense,
semester-long, full-time assignment. In
order to gain essential competencies in an organized manner, it is suggested
that the experience be divided into four levels with appropriate tasks assigned
at each level.
LEVEL
ONE is primarily a
period of orientation and observation during which the intern learns school
procedures and becomes acquainted with the students, faculty, and
administration. As the intern becomes generally familiar with the situation,
plans should be made for a more active classroom role.
LEVEL
TWO is the period when
the intern begins to assume some of the responsibilities of the classroom
teacher. These may include general classroom procedures, working with small
groups, planning and teaching individual lessons for small groups, and
assisting the mentor teacher. Observations of teaching techniques and
management procedures with a great deal of interaction between the intern and
mentor teacher are essential in order for students to understand “why” events
are occurring in the classroom. As the intern gains confidence and competency,
responsibility should increase. In both Level One and Level Two, the mentor
teacher is primarily responsible for overall planning and instruction.
LEVEL
THREE is when the intern
begins to assume total responsibility for planning and teaching. This should
begin with the intern having total responsibility for one class. The lessons
for this class should be critiqued by both the mentor teacher, and campus-based
supervisors. Classes should be added until the intern is assuming full
responsibility for all aspects of the teaching and learning process. The intern
is expected to do as much full-time teaching as time, energy, and skill will
permit. The mentor teacher, with assistance from the campus-based
supervisor(s)/liaison, will judge the intern’s readiness to teach and will
increase responsibilities according to the competencies demonstrated.
LEVEL
FOUR is the period when
the intern begins to return responsibility to the mentor teacher. This might be
done in the reverse order in which responsibility was assumed. During this
time, the intern once again observes and assists. The emphasis is on answering
questions that resulted from the internship experience and enhancing
professional development.
At
all four levels, the mentor teacher and the campus-based supervisors(s)/liaison
must share the responsibility of determining if and when the intern has
developed the necessary skills. If an intern fails to progress through the
levels at a rate which would result in competency in all levels within the
allocated time, a meeting of the intern, mentor teacher, and campus-based
supervisor/liaison should be called.
CLINICAL EXPERIENCE
AGREEMENT between
ARKANSAS
TECH UNIVERSITY, RUSSELLVILLE, AR
and
____________________________________ School District
It is hereby agreed
between the _______________________ School District and Arkansas Tech University
that these two institutions will collaborate in a program of teacher education
involving laboratory experiences and teacher candidateship for students of
Arkansas Tech University referred to as teacher candidates. This agreement is of a continuing nature,
subject to termination by either party upon proper notification. The nature of the agreement is such that
notice of termination shall be considered appropriate if it is in writing and
effective at the beginning of the semester subsequent to the notice. This agreement shall be reviewed each year,
prior to August 1, to determine those modifications in general policies and
understandings, and the responsibilities of the agencies involved which are
necessary for the operation of the next academic year.
GENERAL POLICIES AND
UNDERSTANDINGS
1.
The
underlying purpose and intent of this agreement is concerned primarily with the
advancement of the profession of teaching.
2.
The
University has no pre-determined intent to modify the public school
organization concerned, its administration, staff, curriculum, or procedures
for operation, as these are determined by district personnel and boards of
education.
3.
The
school accepts the teacher education program of the University and undertakes
to cooperate fully in its development and application.
4.
The
selection of teachers to supervise teacher candidates or other laboratory
experiences shall be the joint responsibility of the administrative officers of
both institutions.
5.
Assignment
of teacher candidates shall be the joint responsibility of the University and
the designated school/district personnel.
6.
Teacher
candidates assigned to the school for internship or other preservice laboratory
experiences will be expected to conform to all regulations of the University
that apply to student activities on the ATU campus and to adhere to all
standards of professional conduct which the school and Board of Education may
have determined for its own staff.
7.
Any
questions involving conflict of interests are to be resolved by the administrative
officers of the two institutions in harmony with the policies stated above.
8.
The
internship program shall be evaluated each year under the direction of the
Director of Teacher Education Student Services with assistance from field-site
personnel for the purpose of improving the teacher preparation programs.
1.
To
collaborate with the administrative staff of the school in the selection of
mentor teachers to supervise teacher candidates.
2.
To
remove or reassign any teacher candidate whose work is judged by the mentor
teacher to jeopardize student learning in the classroom.
3.
To
define in detail the experiences that may be provided to teacher candidates.
4.
To
provide professional materials and assistance to mentor teachers appropriate to
the task of fulfilling their responsibilities for guiding the growth and
evaluation of teacher candidates.
5.
To
observe the calendar of the host school during the internship experience.
6.
To
have ATU faculty on site, or recall the teacher candidate, within 24 hours in
case of problems.
RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
1.
To
collaborate with the ATU Director of Teacher Education Student Services in the
selection of mentor teachers with the following minimum qualifications:
·
are
fully licensed in the appropriate content field;
·
have
a minimum of three years of teaching experience with at least one semester in
the current position;
·
have
no more than three different preparations exclusive of activity courses
(applies to secondary mentor teachers only); and
·
are
qualified mentors having completed PATHWISE training. These should be the best teachers possible
who will provide a high quality educational role model and who will have an
interest in participating in a teacher preparation program.
2.
To
host the teacher candidate for a duration of at least 12 weeks.
3.
To
accommodate P-8/7-12 licensure in art, music, and physical education with
assignments in at least two of the three levels of licensure (P-4, Middle
Level, Secondary).
4.
To
seek approval of the building principal, the mentor teacher, and the Director
of Teacher Education Student Services in making changes in the original
placement of an teacher candidate.
5.