What is a field placement?

The Teacher Education Program at Hope College provides many opportunities for teacher candidates to gain extensive classroom experience. Beginning with the first course in Level One, and continuing through Level Two courses, and culminating in student teaching, the Hope student is placed in an area P-12 setting. By design, these placements are time-incremented. For example, in Level One courses our students spend a minimum of twenty hours in the P-12 school. In Level Two courses students spend a minimum of twenty-five hours. In summary, our elementary-track students spend over 152 hours, and our secondary-track students, 120 hours in early field experiences in several schools mentored by different teachers before the student teaching semester.

The Department believes in the importance of continually visiting the issue of guaranteeing the most appropriate and beneficial field placements and clinical practice sites for our students. The NCATE 2000 Standards and the Michigan Critical Accountability Factors have informed our most recent discussions. Additionally, we have identified the following core characteristics, which we believe should be requisite for the Department's endorsement:

schools which offer a safe and healthy environment;

schools in which the faculty is current, well informed, and maintained by strong developmental support;

schools which are willing to collaborate with the College and are willing to offer experiences commensurate with the department's developmentally appropriate expectations;

schools which are hospitable to, and patient with, our students;

schools which comply with state standards, employ certified teachers, and exhibit non-discrimination policies in staff hiring and student enrollment.

Many other characteristics, of course, are desirable, but are not necessarily verifiable. For example, we prefer placements where instruction is varied, innovative and always student centered. Likewise, we prefer that our students be placed in schools where enthusiasm and collegiality are routine.

The core characteristics here described are found in all types of schools in the Holland area. Historically, the Department has placed students in public, private, and parochial schools and prizes its relationships with all participating institutions. More recently, the Department officially added charter schools to the list of appropriate placement sites. During a three-year moratorium, the Department was able to witness the growth of charter schools from untried and untested to their more permanent place on the institutional landscape. As it would with any newly approved site, the Department will pursue entry-level course placements at charter schools, beginning with the fall semester, 2002, incrementally adding courses from Levels II and III, including the student teaching semester (clinical practicum).