fieldexp

All students in the 5-year, MAT, and Licensure-only programs will participate in a variety of field experiences during their preparation courses.
Field experiences are divided into three primary categories: those associated with undergraduate/prerequisite courses, those that occur during the graduate program, and the 120-hour independent field work requirement.
All field experiences, except for the 120-hour requirement, are arranged through the Office of Teacher Preparation and are completed in the Newport News Public School system (NNPS).

Undergraduate/Prerequisite courses with field experiences:

Soc 314L/Education, Culture, and Society Lab: 30 hours of observation, tutoring, and assisting in NNPS classrooms *Lab must be registered for in addition to the Soc 314 course

Graduate courses with field experiences:

Eng 522/Content Area Reading and Writing: 12 hours of tutoring in reading skills in NNPS classrooms.
Psych 521/Reading Acquisition (elementary only): 10-18 hours of working with elementary students in NNPS who have decoding or comprehension difficulties
Math 570 (elementary and mathematics endorsement only): 12 hours of tutoring/assisting students in the NNPS who have difficulties in math
Tchg 516/Curriculum and Instruction: 15+/- hours of assisting teachers in the NNPS during summer school; culminates in planning and delivering 1 or more instructional lessons
Tchg 510/Student Teaching: 12 weeks of full-time student teaching in the NNPS system.

*Note: Other courses within the graduate program may have field experiences as per the individual instructors' requests.

120-hour Requirement:

Upon admission to a graduate or licensure program, students may begin collecting hours toward the 120-hour requirement. To do so, students must locate an appropriate public school setting in which to work with students in either a voluntary or paid capacity. Students have until the beginning of the student teaching internship to complete the hours. Of these 120 hours , at least 50 must be completed within Newport News Public Schools. (This is in addition to any other field experiences you may have had that were attached to MAT or licensure coursework. )

Revised 9/08

How to Complete your 120 hours' requirement:

Paid or Voluntary Work: This experience allows you to work as a paid employee or as volunteer for an extended period of time prior to the student teaching experience. This allows you to become familiar with the schools and how they operate. Opportunities for paid and volunteer employment can be obtained from the Director of Field Experience in Ratcliffe 125. Paid opportunities include, but are not limited to—

Being an AVID tutor

Being a substitute teacher (including school- and home-based instruction)
Being a substitute paraprofessional/teacher’s assistant
Being an Achievable Dream tutor
Being a tutor for University Instructors

All paid or voluntary field experiences toward the 120 hours must:

Be done during the school day or as a co-curricular activity
Involve direct instructional participation
Be logged with a supervisor’s signature on the appropriate log form
Be done in a public school setting

Counting Hours

Field work done in one of the ways specifically mentioned above: May count ALL hours toward 120
Field work done as part of the PSYC 491 internship (120 hours) AND done in Newport News Public Schools: May count ALL hours toward 120.
Field work done as part of the PSYC 491 internship (120 hours) in a public school setting that is NOT in Newport News: May count ALL of the 120 hours; HOWEVER, you will still need to do 50 hours in Newport News Public Schools.
Field work done as part of the PSYC 491 internship (120 hours) that is NOT done in any type of public school setting BUT still involves working in an instructional, mentoring, or advisory capacity: May count 45 hours
Field work done in a private or home-tutoring capacity: May count up to 25 hours
Field work done in a child care center, private school setting, after-school program, or as an instructional part of Parks and Rec (will need documentation of duties): May count up to 50 hours

Logging Hours

All field hours must be logged on a field experience log form. These forms are available from the Associate Director of Field Experiences in Ratcliffe 125, or online at www.teacherprep.cnu.edu. All forms should be signed off on by a school or other administrator for verification. In the case of private tutoring, a parent signature is allowed.

Students who work as substitutes or paid tutors in a school division may substitute for verification copies of paycheck stubs in lieu of signatures. Students are still expected to log their hours on a field log form.

The Associate Director of Field Experience has further information regarding paid opportunities.

Partnership with Newport News Public Schools
Newport News Public Schools , an award-winning school district, has partnered with CNU to provide numerous practical experiences in local area schools. This means that you will engage in field experiences with practicing teachers even before student teaching. In addition, you will be very familiar with the school system in which you will student teach.

>>>Directions to Newport News Schools

>>>Field Experience Handbook 2007-08 (.pdf)