We have compiled some common inquiries. If you have further questions after reading, please contact us!
All prerequisites–a negative TB test, a Certificate of Clearance from the CTC, and proof of liability insurance–must be current and submitted with the Fieldwork Application prior to the start of the semester. Failure to submit one or more valid prerequisites on time may result in being dropped from the course.
You may not observe in a classroom for more than five hours in one day. This practice is discouraged because you will lose some authenticity of the field experience objectives by not participating in the classroom within a longer span of time. The hours included in your log must only contain instructional hours. Recess, lunch, passing minutes, before school or after school hours cannot be counted toward your observation hours.
Fieldwork hours for separate courses cannot be combined. You must complete your observations during the semester for which you are registered for the course.
It is the Field Experience Coordinator’s responsibility to ensure that you are placed at a school site that will meet both PLNU’s requirements and the state standards (including linguistic and ethnic diversity requirements). In addition, as a university, we must follow the school districts’ protocols for inviting visitors into classrooms, especially for the courses which require you to gather information about specific students or teach a lesson. Legally, we cannot place students in districts for which we do not have a Memorandum of Understanding in place. Students are not permitted to set up their own placements, no exceptions.
As a professional community, universities, school districts, and county educational offices adhere to each other’s guidelines and standards. One of those guidelines is to clear all students with fingerprinting and TB results. School sites cannot verify these requirements and must begin at the district level. All districts in the county require universities to communicate first with the district before sending students out to school sites. We cannot jeopardize our partnerships with the districts by attempting to circumvent this process.
No, you may not complete any field experience hours in a classroom in which the host teacher is a relative or friend.
Yes, as long as those hours were completed for a college program and the hours meet the fieldwork requirements. You must begin the transfer process with an Academic Records Specialist in the Records Office.
All university programs require their candidates to complete fieldwork hours as a standard of the state. Fieldwork is an integral part of the teacher preparation program and is required for all candidates. Prior to registering for a course with integrated fieldwork, it is important that you understand the time commitment. You will be expected to set up a system with your employer to allow you to fulfill the necessary field experiences during the semester.
All field experiences must commence by the 4th week of the semester, as you will have course assignments that rely on the field experience. Fieldwork must continue on a regular schedule in order to fulfill the ongoing class assignments. Field experiences must be completed prior to the last week in the semester so all paperwork can be completed.
We require our candidates to complete the Dual Reporting Livescan process. This process includes a more thorough background check than most fingerprint processes. In addition, we require that fingerprints be sent to the San Diego County Office of Education so that we can place you for fieldwork. If you think that your previous fingerprints will meet these 2 requirements, you can ask the fieldwork coordinator to verify your information with the SDCOE.
Due to the the restrictions on the Dual Reporting Livescan process, it is not possible to complete your fingerprints outside of California.
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