Clinical Field Experience Requirements

Clinical Field Experience Placement Procedures
The course instructor and the Office of Field Experience will make the assignments. Under no circumstances should a teacher candidate contact a school to arrange his or her own placement.

Required Clinical Field Experience Hours
Each clinical field experience has an assigned number of hours that are partial fulfillment of the DPI Program requirements. Teacher candidates establish their schedules with their course instructors and cooperating teacher according to the specific expectations of each clinical field experience. Teacher candidates must have blocks of time in their schedules to allow for travel and time in the schools. Morning placements are preferred. 

Name Badges
The university provides Clinical Field Experience teacher candidates a name badge that is available in 223 Cartwright Center. Teacher candidates are required to wear their name badge at all times while in the schools and at clinical field experience settings. Teacher candidates may be expected to pay for replacement name badges.

Sign-in Forms
Each school will be provided a university sign-in binder to be placed in the school office. The clinical field experience teacher candidate will add his/her completed sign-in form to that binder at arrival of his/her clinical field experience. Teacher candidates must sign out at departure. The teacher candidate will return these sign-in sheets to the course instructor at the end of the clinical field experience to validate completed clinical hours.

Clinical Field Experience Teacher Candidate Absences
Excused absences include personal illness, illness in the family, or death in the family. Absences due to work schedules and study schedules are not excused. The clinical field experience teacher candidate should report absences both to his/her cooperating teacher and his/her course instructor.

Teaching Attire
Acceptable and appropriate teaching attire and personal appearance should conform to the highest standards of teacher candidates in the cooperating school system.

Liability Insurance
The State of Wisconsin provides professional liability coverage for all University of Wisconsin clinical field experience teacher candidates. The coverage protects the clinical field experience teacher candidate against third party claims of personal injury or property damage caused by negligent acts while performing within the scope of duties as a clinical field experience teacher candidate. Student WEA provides supplemental coverage.

Transportation
Teacher candidates are responsible for providing their own means of transportation to and from schools.

Criminal Background Check
 Policy

All teacher candidates must complete the designated criminal background checks prior to entering the schools for their first clinical field experience at the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse. This is a requirement of the school placement sites, and it is the teacher candidate’s responsibility to follow the instructions and complete the process by the dates specified. Teacher candidates are responsible for all costs associated with the criminal background checks. Policies and procedures must be followed for teacher candidates to receive a placement.

Prior to student teaching, teacher candidates must complete a second designated criminal background check if more than one year has passed since their last criminal background check. Additional criminal background checks may be required for teacher candidates if the time period between criminal background checks exceeds two years. The Office of Field Experience will record the criminal background checks conducted each semester.

Procedure

  1. Criminal background check policies and procedures will be shared with teacher candidates at clinical field experience meetings prior to registration each semester, and will also be available on the Office of Field Experience website.
  2. Prior to the first day of class, the Office of Field Experience will e-mail the criminal background check instructions to those teacher candidates registered for clinical field experiences.
  3. Course instructors will discuss the criminal background check process at the beginning of the course and ensure students have completed the electronic forms required for the Office of Field Experience.
  4. The Questionnaire for Admission to Student Teaching, Internship, Practicum, and Clinical Field Experiences self-disclosure form must be completed by teacher candidates each semester they participate in any school experience. Teacher candidates must notify the Office of Field Experience of any new offenses as soon as possible according to the terms stated on the Authorization, Acknowledgement, and Release Form.
  5. The Office of Field Experience staff will monitor the criminal background check process and notify course instructors when teacher candidates have been cleared to enter the schools.
  6. In the event the background check discloses criminal activity or information the teacher candidate has failed to report, the teacher candidate may be required to meet with the Director and/or Assistant Director of Field Experience to discuss the discrepancy. The result of this discussion may alter or terminate the teacher candidate's participation in a field experience or student teaching assignment.