**Note: It is your responsibility to review all of the UTEP Policies & Procedures and to stay in communication. Policies & Procedures can be found online through the Department of Urban Education's Blackboard Organization.

Practicum (3 credits)

New Jersey law requires a “junior field experience” prior to student teaching. We call that experience “ practicum.”  In the semester prior to your student teaching, you take the practicum course, which is focused on literacy education. The Practicum requires 50 - 60 hours of work in a school. The teacher education program will handle your placement, and in accordance with our mission all of the placements will be in the Newark Public Schools.

• Elementary Practicum 21:300:414
• Secondary Practicum 21:300:418

**In order to register for the practicum, you will need to obtain a special permission number from the Program Coordinator. It is important that you set an appointment with the advisor to obtain your special permission number and discuss the Praxis.

Download the Pre-Practicum Interview here and bring it with you to your appointment.

You must successfully pass the Praxis II exam before you will be permitted to Student Teach. For more information about the Praxis II exam, check out our "Licensure" page.

Before registering for student teaching, check that:

• You have at least a 2.8 GPA
• You have fulfilled all of the program requirements for the program
• You have satisfactorily completed at least one course that studies the history or culture of one national, cultural, or ethnic group that is represented in New Jersey’s urban schools.
• You have passed the Praxis II exam and your score report is on file in the department.
• You have taken biology or passed the state required hygiene test, administered by the department.
• You have submitted proof of a current negative TB test to the department.
• You have completed and submitted all documentation for Student Teaching: Application for Student Teaching, Advisor GPA Verification Form, and Confirmation of Placement.
• You have completed all of your Rutgers University General Education and Major Requirements, and have APPLIED TO GRADUATE

Student Teaching (6 - 12 credits; MAT: 9 credits)

• Student Teaching & Seminar 21:300:487

You have completed your coursework, and now you are ready to work in the schools. Your semester as a student teacher will be exhilarating, challenging, and exhausting. You will have the opportunity to put into practice, over time, in a classroom, all you have learned in the Rutgers-Newark Urban Teacher Education Program. As a student teacher, you will be working under the close supervision of an experienced classroom teacher, and you will return to campus on one afternoon each week to discuss your experiences with a cohort of student teachers. In the process of your student teaching, you will become a teacher. You will be observed in the classroom at least 6 times by a University Supervisor. These evaluations are 60% of your Student Teaching & Seminar grade. In order to be recommended for Certification, you must achieve a B or better in Student Teaching & Seminar.

 Student Teaching is done in the final semester of your program. To download the full Student Teaching Handbook (Adobe Acrobat Reader Required) please click HERE.

**Note: Student teaching is a full-time experience; no other courses in any department may be taken at the same time as student teaching.