Policies and Procedures

Teacher Preparation Program (TPP) Status

Students are required to schedule update advisement appointments every 10 months to ensure that they remain active. Students' TPP status will change to inactive if they fail to schedule an appointment every 10 months; inform the TPP in writing that they are withdrawing from the program, either temporarily or permanently; or are not continuously enrolled in the university. If students reactivate their files, they will be expected to abide by all changes that might have been made to the program since the date they became inactive. There will be no "grandfathering" of requirements in cases of reactivation. Students who withdraw from the TPP having met all responsibilities except the professional semester (student teaching and student teaching seminar) are reclassified as noncompleters. Such students will be permitted to return to complete the program within two years of their withdrawal, without having to meet changes to the program requirements, with the exception of any NJ State Department of Education (DOE)-mandated changes in the Licensing Code. After two years, noncompleters will be reclassified as inactive. Students whose overall or major GPA falls below the required 2.80 will be placed in limbo status. While in limbo, students may not register for practica or student teaching; however, they are sheltered from any changes in the program. Students in limbo status will be provided two semesters to remediate their GPA. If successful, students will be reclassified as active. If unsuccessful, students will be declared inactive.

Practicum

For each practicum course, students are assigned to work in a school setting for 45 hours under the supervision of a cooperating teacher. Once a student teaching application is completed and turned in by the stated deadlines, students are placed automatically on two "must have" practicum lists in the two semesters immediately prior to the student teaching semester.

Before being considered registered for each practicum course, active program students must:

1. File a valid, negative Mantoux test result that is dated less than one year from the beginning date of the field experience.

2. Maintain an overall GPA of 2.8 or higher, with no grades of T/Z or IN.

3. Call or report to the TPP office for the index and special permission numbers during the

    first week of preregistration for the semester in question and successfully complete the

    registration procedure with the registrar's office.

            A. If a student who has already filed for student teaching must delay his or her student teaching semester, his or her name will be removed from the practica "must have" list(s).

            B. Practicum placements are given to students on the first night of their practicum seminar. Students will be placed within a reasonable radius of Rutgers-Camden. We do not guarantee that geographical preferences can be accommodated.

Student Teaching

Student teaching is an entire semester (15 weeks) of full-time, unpaid work in an actual classroom under the supervision of a cooperating teacher and a university supervisor. Students will teach or observe the entire school day and must also be available for after school activities as required by the cooperating teacher. We recommend that students do not assume new commitments or responsibilities during this crucial time. Students must file the Student Teaching Application one full year in advance of the beginning of the student teaching semester. Application packets are due in late January for spring student teaching and late September for fall student teaching. It is the student's responsibility to obtain and submit the student teaching application materials on time. 

Students will be placed for student teaching only after each of the following has occurred:

• A complete and accurate student teaching application has been submitted by stated deadline.
• Proof of a valid, current negative Mantoux test or its equivalent has been submitted by stated deadline.
• The student has maintained a minimum 2.8 GPA overall and in the major or major academic concentration.
• The Teacher Preparation Program office has received, from the student's major adviser, the forms entitled Student Course Requirements/GPA Form, Major GPA Calculation Worksheet, and the Adviser's Major GPA Verification Form, found in the student teaching application packet. Final accountability for this requirement rests with the student.  
• There are no documented infractions vis-ą-vis the Student Code of Conduct from the Office of the Dean of Student Affairs.
• The student has met with a TPP staff member to review his or her file approximately six to seven months before the student teaching semester.
• All courses in the major, the general education requirements, and the teacher preparation program requirements have been fulfilled by the end of the semester immediately preceding student teaching.

1. Unless there are no other viable placement possibilities, student teachers will NOT be placed in schools where immediate family members work or attend; student teachers seeking K-12 certification will not be placed in the high school from which they graduated.
2. All teaching candidates must take and pass the appropriate Praxis II test and earn a passing score as determined by the New Jersey Department of Education in order to be eligible for certification. Candidates for foreign language teaching certificates must also show evidence of a passing score on the Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) in order to be eligible for certification.
3. Students must agree to: accept the student teaching assignment; complete  the entire student teaching semester, including the required hours and other requirements of the State of New Jersey for certification as well as those of the Rutgers-Camden TPP; and attend the scheduled meetings of the student teaching seminar course.                                                   
4. Under no circumstances is it appropriate for students to do or say anything regarding placements or otherwise that might work against the integrity of the Teacher Preparation Program office and its staff. We place students within our established network of partner schools. Students are not allowed to coordinate their own placements.

Failure to comply with the requirements detailed above will result in the withdrawal of the student teaching placement.

Early Termination of Student Teaching

The student teaching experience may be terminated at the request of the cooperating teacher or host school, the university supervisor, the student, and/or the director of the Teacher Preparation Program. After withdrawal from student teaching, reinstatement will generally not be possible sooner than the third semester following the semester of withdrawal. The student teacher will be given individual remediation, and successful remediation must be demonstrated before a second attempt at student teaching will be granted. The final decision with regard to replacement is made on a case-by-case basis by the director of the program in consultation with the supervising dean. Withdrawal from the field experience must be accompanied by a simultaneous withdrawal from the seminar. It is the student's responsibility to withdraw formally from the courses, lest a grade of incomplete become an F. Information about the withdrawal process should be obtained from the registrar's office. No student will be permitted more than two attempts at student teaching.

Certification
Students will receive a packet containing all materials and directions for the application for certification at the last session of Student Teaching Seminar. Completed forms, accompanied by a money order for the exact amount, will be due approximately three weeks after the end of the professional semester. The TPP will then process the applications and request a check from New Brunswick; this takes approximately three weeks. Once the DOE receives the information, the expected turnaround time until the certificate is issued is 10 working days. Failure to return the forms by the announced deadline may well result in delayed receipt of teaching certificates. Due to New Jersey State requirements, candidates who delay submission of the required paperwork will need to wait until the end of the following semester to file for their certification.