office of field experience & internship

All teacher preparation programs must have field experiences that provide candidates with a variety of progressive experiences in multiple and diverse settings.  All candidates must complete a minimum of 100 hours of field experiences prior to student teaching (CCU internship) at the initial undergraduate level. At the initial graduate level, all candidates must complete a minimum of 75 hours of field experiences prior to student teaching (CCU internship).  The internship experience must provide for intensive and continuous involvement in a public school setting.

In initial preparation programs, the internship experience must be an equivalent of a minimum of twelve weeks or sixty full days.  Coastal Carolina University requires that candidates complete 35 full-time days.

Prior to all field experiences, appropriate backgrounds checks, including SLED clearance, must be completed.  Prior to the internship, appropriate background checks, including fingerprint submissions to the State Department of Education, must be completed and cleared.

All candidates must be informed, in writing, of the standards of conduct (based on S. C. code Ann 59-25-160, 59-25-530, and 20-7-945) required of South Carolina educators for initial certification.

All candidates must meet admissions requirements for admission to the Professional Program in Teacher Education, admission to the internship, and pass required external exams (Praxis I and Praxis II – all required tests) prior to participating in the internship.  For successful completion of the internship, candidates must pass the PLT (Principles of Learning and Teaching).

One or more cooperating teachers, in the public school assignment, must supervise each candidate.  Likewise, one or more college faculty members, who have preparation in professional education and in the teaching major, must supervise each candidate. A single institutional faculty member may fulfill both roles if appropriately qualified.  All professional education faculty supervisors must be trained in clinical supervision and in the ADEPT system.

The public schools and the college share and integrate resources and expertise to support the candidate’s learning during field experiences.  College and school-based faculty will work together to design, implement, and evaluate both the program and the field experience assignments.  This team will determine the candidate’s placement for field experiences and will evaluate the candidate’s performance.

Multiple assessments will be utilized to evaluate and reflect upon candidate performance and practice.  Feedback on individual performance will be given to candidates, and any areas of needed improvement will be addressed.