Fieldwork

In New York State, you can log hours at a public school or a licensed private school. If you live out of state or in Canada you may be able to complete your fieldwork outside of New York with Program Administration approval.

Day care settings must be licensed by the New York State Department of Education and allow you to work across at least two different settings using two different grade levels. Remember that your cooperating teacher also needs to have a Master’s degree and three years experience. Day care facilities certified only by the New York City Department of Health are unacceptable settings.

You are allowed to complete your hours at two different schools (if you complete your hours in one school, you only need to fill out one site on the personnel form). Afterschool and weekend programs will work too. Feel free to find your own school within the borough you reside or contact OCP@touro.edu if you need additional assistance.

We typically want candidates to find a placement within an ICT, Special Education, or General Education classroom setting. Resource room and one-to-one tutoring does not satisfy the requirements for the field experience/practicum courses.

Your cooperating teacher (Certified teacher with a Master’s degree) or school administrator can sign your timesheet. Depending on your placements, it is possible to have more than one cooperating teacher. You should consult with your field supervisors in such situations.

A “high needs school” is defined as one of the schools designated as either Schools Under Registration Review, schools identified as Persistently Lowest Achieving, and those schools designated as Schools in Improvement Status, in which there is a shortage of certified teachers in the previous school year and there is a projected shortage of certified teachers in the current year.

It depends on your certification area:

Course	Non  Certified Teachers*	Certified Teachers**
Practicum I EDSN 682 Grades B-PreK, K, Gr. 1-2	50 hours Field Experience in General Education 100 hours Field Experience Students with Disabilities 100 hours Practicum I in General Education (Any two different early childhood grade levels should be observed.) Total  250 hrs.	50 hours Field Experience Students with Disabilities 50 hours Practicum In General Education Practicum I (Any two different early childhood grade levels should be used.) Total 100 hrs.
EDSN 694 Grades 1-3 and 4-6	50 hours Field Experience in General Education 100 hours Field Experience Students with Disabilities (Gen. Ed and Sp. Ed should be at two different grade levels.) Total 150 hrs.	25 hours Field Experience in General Education 25 hours Field Experience Students with Disabilities (Gen. Ed and Sp. Ed should be at two different grade levels.) (Gr. 1-3 and 4-6)   Total 50 hrs.
SEDN 675 Grades  7-9 and 10-12	100 hours Field Experience Students with Disabilities (Two different grade levels) Total 100 hrs.	25 hours of Field Experience at each of two  different grade levels Grades 7-9 and 10-12 Students with Disabilities Total 50 hrs.

For additional information about course requirements, please refer the syllabus that corresponds with the select courses on the Touro College website.

It depends on your certification area:

Course	Non  Certified Teachers*	Certified Teachers**
EDSN 682 Grades B-Pre K, K, Gr. 1-2	50 hours Field Experience in General Education 100 hours Field Experience Students with Disabilities 100 hours Practicum in General Education (Any two different early childhood grade levels should be used.) Total 250 hrs.	50 hours Field Experience Students with Disabilities 50 hours Practicum In General Education (Any two different early childhood grade levels should be used.) Total 100 hrs.
SEDN 683 Grades B-Pre K, K, Gr. 1-2	100 hours of Practicum Students with Disabilities 100 hours of Practicum Students with Disabilities (Two different grade  levels) Total 200 hrs.	50 hours of Practicum Students with Disabilities at each of two different early childhood grade levels. Total 100 hrs.
SEDN 695 Grades 1-3 and 4-6	200 hours Practicum Students with Disabilities (Two  different grade levels) Total 200 hrs.	50 hours Practicum Students with Disabilities at two different grade levels - Grades 1-3 & 4-6 Total 100 hrs.
SEDN 678 Grades  7-9 and 10-12	200 hours of Practicum Students with Disabilities (Two  different grade levels) Total 200 hrs.	50 hours of Practicum at each of two different  grade levels- Grades 7-9 and 10-12 Students with Disabilities Total 100 hrs.

For additional information about course requirements, please refer the syllabus that corresponds with the select courses on the Touro College website.

Regents:
Regents’ exam period does not count.

Art, music, lunch, and preparation:
The Field Experience and Practicum Guides include the following statement related to required hours: Time spent during preparation periods not used for student teaching purposes, lunch hours not spent with students, and other activities that do not involve work with teachers or students, observations of teachers or students, or planning for student teaching activities may not be counted toward meeting Practicum requirements.

Substitute teaching and paraprofessionals:
If your principal approves and your field supervisor verifies that your settings are appropriate then you can log practicum hours only in your work setting. You must be assigned to a leave replacement or constant assignment 3 or more days in a row.

Field Experience/Practicum done while enrolled at another institution:
You have to complete the student teaching hours, as stated in the course syllabus, while enrolled at Touro College to satisfy the requirements of your master’s degree at Touro College.

Current teachers:
Current NYS certified teacher are not exempt from Field Experience and Practicum coursework, but they may be eligible for a reduction of hours.

If you are teaching at the appropriate grade level to meet a field experience or practicum requirement, you can use your own class only with the permission of the district principal and classroom teacher if you are the Teaching Assistant in that class.

You cannot submit previous hours, even if you’re already teaching in a classroom. You can only submit hours once enrolled in your field experience or practicum class.

Timing (schedules, incompletes):
The Office of Clinical Practice will provide the specific date when you can begin logging hours if it differs from the first day of the semester.

Based on the course and certification area, the amount of required hours will differ so you will need to schedule accordingly to complete them within a given semester.

You are expected to complete the fieldwork for your field experience/practicum course within one semester. If you cannot complete your hours in the semester in which you’re registered for that practicum or field experience class, you will need to request an Incomplete grade from your field supervisor in order to complete your hours the following semester. In order to qualify for an incomplete grade, you must complete 75% of course work within a given semester. Then you have to submit a request for an incomplete grade along with a detailed action plan outlining, your plans to finish and submit all assigned work by the end of the semester following when you received the incomplete grade. Please review the policy in the college catalog and consult with your field supervisor regarding your eligibility based on the work submitted and financial aid regarding your loans.  

Summer is a shorter semester during which time you may be able to log approximately 174 hours based on the NYCDOE summer school schedule and placement availability.

 

 

You will receive a phone call/email from your assigned field supervisor typically within the first two weeks of the semester. Your field supervisor will work with you on setting up the dates and times of your meetings and will observe you 1-2 times based on whether you are enrolled in the field experience or practicum course. Meetings are held in the borough where your placement site is located and your field supervisor will discus the time and date with you. If you miss a meeting, contact your field supervisor to make alternative arrangements, such as one-to-one meeting, phone conference, or Skype meeting. 

We cannot grant mentor/professor requests since field supervisors’ assignments are based on availability, certification levels, courses, placement location, and enrollment needs. There is no guarantee that you will have the same professor for the Field Experience/Practicum courses.