Undergraduate Students
Clinical Experiences
The Office of Clinical Practice coordinates early field experiences and student teaching placements for all students in Purdue’s teacher education programs. Boilermaker Educators get more hands-on experience in our program, participating in a field placement every semester from their freshman year on.
Early Field Experiences
Early Field Experiences provide an opportunity to collaborate with an experienced teacher to gain knowledge of the teaching profession. During this experience, you will be placed in a variety of schools and grade levels to help prepare you for student teaching and your career as a lifelong learner. Your experience can begin as early as your freshman year in your specific content area and will continue until your Student Teaching experience.
Student Teaching Experience
Student teaching placement options vary by program. Your needs, licensing requirements, and mentor availability will all be factored into finding you a great experience.
More than half of our students choose to stay near Purdue’s campus. But if you’re looking for an adventurous experience, consider our student teaching options at Aldine School District in Houston, Texas; in Honduras; on Native American reservations in Arizona or New Mexico; or on a Department of Defense military base in Germany.
We also have student teaching partnerships with Jefferson County School Corporation (KY), Indianapolis Public Schools, and Chicago Public Schools.
What’s it like to be a student teacher?
Our program uses the co-teaching model. This means that you’ll work closely with your cooperating teacher in all aspects of the teaching experience. You’ll be actively engaged with students from the first day of your student teaching experience, and your students will benefit from two teachers’ energy, attention, instruction and feedback.
You’ll also plan curriculum with your cooperating teacher. This means that you’ll have a great model of everything that goes into the planning process. You’ll learn how to work with school personnel like aides, resource teachers, and even parent volunteers, all with guidance and feedback from your cooperating teacher.
Boilermaker Educators get more hands-on experience in our program, participating in a field placement every semester, which is paired with a weekly one-hour seminar for deep reflection, planning, and collaboration with teaching peers. Majors within the College of Education can get a full school year in the classroom and some may even be paid for it.
International Student Teaching
During their student teaching experience, many of our students choose to stay near Purdue’s campus, but others choose to explore the world through an international student teaching placement.
You may choose to teach in Honduras or on a Department of Defense military base in Germany. Our partnership with Global Gateways through Indiana University offers experiences in 21 countries.
You’ll get the thrill of exploring new cultures and countries while practicing everything you’ve learned while studying to become a teacher at Purdue.
Supervisor Resources
Evaluation
Each Purdue teacher candidate goes through a rigorous selection process during the application for student teaching placement. We continue to monitor performance throughout this capstone experience in terms of classroom skills, content knowledge, and dispositions toward the profession. Use the button below to request information and links for the disposition assessment process, the edTPA requirement, and who to contact for midterm and final evaluation training and forms.
Expectations
We have high expectations for professional behavior, teaching skills, and knowledge throughout the capstone semester. Use the button below to request the policies and procedures that guide the student teaching experience: co-teaching, criminal background checks, professionalism agreement, and our policy on remediation.
Handbook Information
Each participant in the student teaching triad plays an important role in developing our next generation of outstanding educators. Specific handbooks for classroom teachers, university supervisors, and our teacher candidates will be provided by the Head Supervisor of each program.
Concerns or Questions
Please use our Supporting our Students portal.
FAQs
Undergraduate Students
Everything You Need to Know About Being a Purdue Student