The student teaching experience must be a full-day and span a minimum of 11 consecutive weeks (16 weeks for special education), including all days that the school teachers are required to be in attendance (e.g., parent conferences, staff development days and institute days). Candidates in the Early Childhood, Physical Education or Special Education programs have combined student teaching placement requirements (please see below for specific program requirements). Student teachers are expected to arrive and depart from their student teaching site at the time designated for all teachers by the school. If the student teacher is going to be absent for any reason, s/he is required to promptly notify the school clerk, the cooperating teacher and the university supervisor. Failure to do so may result in removal from one's student teaching placement.
Students may not act as a substitute teacher or accept payment from their student teaching placement site.
In the event of a strike or unplanned work stoppage, the student teacher must notify the Office of Field Experiences and Student Teaching within 24 hours. If it appears that a work stoppage may prevent the student from completing the experience within one quarter, as defined by DePaul University's calendar, the student may be withdrawn from the school and assigned to another placement.
Should a problem arise that cannot be resolved by the student teacher, the cooperating teacher and/or the university supervisor, a conference will be arranged with these parties and the school principal to try to resolve the issue. If the problem still cannot be resolved, guidelines for continuing or terminating the experience should be mutually agreed upon in conjunction with personnel from the Office of Field Experiences and Student Teaching.
The cooperating teacher(s) and university supervisor will complete mid-term and final evaluations pertaining to the student teacher candidate's performance throughout the student teaching quarter. All mid-term evaluations are due midway through each placement. A final evaluation is due by the end of the last week of the placement. If requested by the student teacher, recommendations from the cooperating teacher may be written at the completion of the student teaching experience and sent directly to the student teacher.