Supervisors are official representatives of the School of Education who assume responsibility for directly supervising our students in the field and who serve as liaisons between the campus and cooperating sites. A supervisor may be a faculty/staff program coordinator, a graduate student, or another staff person. The supervisor role is critical to the success of the School’s educator preparation programs.
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Field Experience Information
The UW-Madison School of Education TE Field Experience Policies is linked below. This document has not been formally approved by School of Education governance committees, but has been vetted widely and includes long-standing School of Education policies and practices. Faculty, supervisors, students and cooperating teachers are encouraged to consult this document.
- TE Field Experience Policies (July, 2017)
The Considerations regarding Credit-Bearing Field Work in the School of Education document is an unofficial statement on characteristics of credit-bearing field experience courses. This document was developed to give guidance to faculty and staff who are developing such classes.
- Considerations regarding credit-bearing field work (August, 2017)
Supervision Resources and Other Information
The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction has established minimum requirements for student teaching observations:
- Observed by the university supervisor at least four times throughout the semester.
- Each observation visit must be at least one hour in duration.
- Written evaluations of each observation must be completed and included in the student’s permanent file. Completed forms should be submitted to program coordinators at the end of the semester. These forms should be considered supplemental to preferred instruments that may be in use in specific program areas.
- At least two three-way conferences involving the student teacher, cooperating teacher and university supervisor must be held during the semester.
These requirements governing student teaching observation visits should be considered minimum expectations. The number of university supervisor visits may vary according to student teacher need and program expectations. It is recommended that the cooperating teacher participate in as many of the post-observation conferences as time will allow.
Generic observation forms are available in PDF format as well as an example for Supervisor Evaluation Art and a mid term evaluation used for MCEA Special Education Dual Certification. Observation forms developed by former UW-Madison supervisor Barbara Bales are also available in MS-Word format.
Travel Information and Forms
Student Testing and Assessment
Teacher Performance Assessment (edTPA)
The edTPA is a subject area-specific, performance-based assessment for pre-service teacher candidates, which is centered on student learning. Evidence of candidate teaching proficiency in the areas of planning, engagement and instruction, and assessment is drawn from a subject-specific learning segment, 3–5 lessons from a unit of instruction. Assessment artifacts include video clips of instruction, lesson plans, student work samples, analysis of student learning and reflective commentaries. These artifacts will be taken together and scored by trained evaluators using the standardized set of edTPA rubrics. Initial license candidates must complete and pass the edTPA before they can be recommended for licensure. Current admitted teacher education students and authorized faculty/staff can visit the School’s edTPA website for more detailed information.
Foundations of Reading Test in Wisconsin
Wisconsin State law requires that all Grade K-5 teachers, special education teachers, reading teachers, and reading specialists who are applying for initial Wisconsin licensure must take and pass the Foundations of Reading Test for Wisconsin. For our School, this requirement applies to all Elementary Education program students, all Special Education program students, and all students completing the Reading Teacher and Reading Specialist programs. Applicants who apply for Wisconsin licensure must post a passing score of 240. Students should check their scores to be sure that they have met the minimum requirement applicable to their license application date. Test sites, registration, preparation, and other test information are available at www.wi.nesinc.com.
Academic Tests
Prospective teacher education students have been required to submit test scores to the School of Education to be eligible for professional program admission. Students also have been required to take and pass an approved content examination. World Language Education students must meet an ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview requirement and must take and pass the ACTFL Writing Proficiency Test (WPT).
Due to recent changes in Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction regulations, some of these testing requirements are under review. Please consult published program admission requirements, program advisors, and teacher preparation program coordinators for the most current information.
MMSD Guidelines for ID Badge
The Madison Metropolitan School District hosts hundreds of practicum students, student teachers, and fieldwork interns in their schools each year. They know pre-service teachers and professionals play an integral role in supporting a great experience for all MMSD learners. To help ensure the safety and security of their students, they require all full-time student teachers to visit Human Resources prior to the start of their student teaching semester for fingerprinting (for a background check) and ID badge issuance. In general, most school visitors (non-employees) should only require a Visitor Pass and will not need a printed ID badge. However, there may be instances where a school determines other categories of regular visitors (for example, practicum students, interns, student observers, volunteers, college/university supervisors, etc.) should be issued an MMSD ID badge.
At elementary schools, school secretaries may submit an ID badge request online here. At secondary schools, the secretary may print an ID Badge on site.
The Human Resources Office for the Madison Metropolitan School district is located in Room 133, at the Doyle Administration Building, 545 West Dayton Street. The office is open between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. on school days. MMSD will notify full-time student teachers on how to proceed with arranging an appointment to complete the necessary steps prior to the beginning of placement. For more information, please visit Pre-Service Teaching with MMSD
Contact Human Resources:
Emily Nyquist – enyquist@madison.k12.wi.us
Shauna Sendelbach – srsendelbach@madison.k12.wi.us