Onsite Expectations

Onsite Field Experience Expectations 

NOTE: If teacher candidates do not comply with the following on-site expectations, school divisions have the right to request that a teacher candidate be removed from his/her assigned location. There is no guarantee that a teacher candidate will be approved for an alternate assignment or location. Due process will be followed by the College of Education.

Attendance

Teacher candidates who are placed by Portland State University are required to follow the cooperating teacher’s daily schedule. Teacher candidates must be punctual, arrive when the cooperating teacher arrives, and leave when the cooperating teacher leaves. When an absence is unavoidable, the teacher candidate must notify the school office personnel, cooperating teacher, and university supervisor as far in advance as possible. If the teacher candidate is absent on a day when he/she is expected to teach, lesson plans and materials must be delivered to the cooperating teacher before class begins.  Teacher candidates who are completing on-the-job practicum are expected to adhere to their regular work schedule and responsibilities.

Personal Appearance and Professional Conduct

Teacher candidates must dress professionally and exhibit professional behavior in their assigned school. Teacher candidates must conform to the professional expectations of their placement site(s) and adhere to the College of Education dispositions.

Holidays and Vacations

Teacher candidates must follow the school year calendar of their assigned schools. Portland State University may have days off that do not coincide with placement site holidays. If this is the case, teacher candidates must follow their assigned placement schedule.

Substitute Teaching

A teacher candidate may not act as a substitute teacher. A school district or school-designated substitute teacher is provided when a cooperating teacher is absent.

Teacher Candidate Activities Not Permitted During Field Based Experiences 

As a policy, PSU students will not participate in the following practices as a part of their PSU field experiences:

• No pre-planned physical restraint,

• No pre-planned seclusion, even with training,

• No planned participation creation of aversive intervention plans,

• No participation in feeding/medication protocols,

• No independent completion of home visits, unless completing on-the-job placement as an early intervention specialist.

PSU students may participate in training for these protocols, but not implementation. If districts have hired the students as employees, then their contracts will dictate what is appropriate.