If teacher candidates are unsuccessful on their extended practicum, they will be required to repeat the two week orientation practicum and then the ten-week extended practicum in the year they wish to return (NB. there may also be other requirements they have to fulfill prior to being permitted to take another practicum).

In relatively rare cases, teacher candidates may be permitted to proceed to additional practica in the fall in lieu of the process described above.  This would be the occurrence of either a Supplemental or Deferred practicum.

SUPPLEMENTALS

If a teacher candidate completes the entire 10 week extended practicum, makes steady and significant progress, but still is not at the level of an acceptable beginning teacher, the school and faculty advisors may recommend to the Teacher Education Office that a 6-week supplemental practicum be offered.  This additional practicum would give the teacher candidate an opportunity to continue to work on his/her teaching skills, in the hopes of achieving a passing standard.

Supplementals are typically taken in the fall immediately following the initial practicum, and are offered at a new school with completely different advisors.  Four of the six weeks of the practicum are at ‘full load’, so this is a relatively intense experience – indicative of the teacher candidate’s relatively strong performance on the original practicum.

In summary, if the following conditions hold, a teacher candidate may be considered for a supplemental:

1] the teacher candidate makes steady and significant progress throughout the practicum;
2] the teacher candidate completes the entire 10 week practicum;
3] the advisors feel that the teacher candidate would have made a passing standard had it not been primarily that they had ‘run out of time’;
4] the advisors feel that given 6 more weeks, the teacher candidate is likely to achieve a passing standard.

DEFERRALS

In certain instances unforeseen circumstances may occur which prevent teacher candidates from completing their practicum on the original timeline.  In the majority of cases these situations are caused by sudden health issues, but they may also be due to serious personal issues which arise in a person’s life.  If a practicum is otherwise going smoothly, and such a circumstance arises, a teacher candidate may qualify for a deferral – in these cases the teacher candidate may be granted ‘credit’ for the practicum time completed, with the possibility of finishing the remainder of the practicum in the fall.

Ideally, the following conditions will apply for deferred students:

1] the practicum was experiencing no major issues, and would in all likelihood have completed successfully if not for the unexpected situation;
2] the teacher candidate has completed a significant portion of the practicum (e.g., 5 weeks) – if this is not the case, a more likely outcome will be a withdrawal from the practicum;
3] the teacher candidate will be permitted to complete the practicum in the fall at the same school with the same advisors.

In the case of either a supplemental or deferral, the hope is that the teacher candidate will complete this additional practicum in time to graduate with his/her peers in late November.