Placements and Student Teaching

You will be asked to attach a current resume and teaching philosophy to your Intent to Student Teach form. These documents are shared with principals and teachers as they consider hosting you.

It’s important that your documents are professional and error-free. You want to communicate the experiences that have prepared you for student teaching and share your personal beliefs and goals as a future teacher.

When you update your resume for the Intent to Student Teach form, focus on your education, school placements, and other employment or volunteer experiences working with young people. Limit or remove anything not relevant to student teaching.

Be sure to update your teaching philosophy for the Intent to Student Teach form. Avoid using an exact copy of a past assignment. Instead, customize your philosophy for student teaching.

Topics you should cover in your teaching philosophy include:

• Why you want to be a teacher.
• Your approach to teaching in your major and minor subject areas and why this is your approach.
• Grade levels and subjects you will be licensed to teach and what you hope to teach.

Do everything you can to make sure your documents are error-free. Visit Career Services and the Writing Center for help. Ask friends, family, or faculty to proofread for you. Use spelling and grammar checks.

Make sure to upload PDF versions of your Resume and Philosophy to your Intent to Student Teach Form.

All student teachers are required to complete a Criminal Background Check (CBC) for student teaching. This is meant to protect you, the University, and the school districts where you student teach.

The College of Health and Human Sciences uses a third-party vendor, Viewpoint Screening, for all CBCs. Teacher Education will send instructions to you when it’s time to complete your CBC.

Viewpoint Screening charges a fee for processing your CBC. The fee amount varies depending on whether you have completed a previous CBC with Viewpoint Screening.

Some school districts require an additional CBC through their own Human Resources office. If you are placed in one of these districts, you will need to complete their CBC, but you will not have to pay a fee.

All student teachers are required to submit a TB test. You can have your test done at Student Health Services or any private healthcare provider of your choice. Obtain a copy of your TB test result sheet.

To submit your TB test, send a photo or scan of the result sheet to tep@uwec.edu or drop it off in Teacher Education in Centennial 3102. We have a drop box outside our office if you need to deliver it after hours.

You will be charged a $15 course fee in student teaching seminar to cover the cost of TB testing at Student Health Services. If you go to a private provider for TB testing, the course fee will be refunded.

All student teaching placements are made by Teacher Education. We base placement decisions on many factors including licensure requirements, placement availability, preferred locations, and students’ personal situations.

Students are prohibited from locating their own placements. You should not contact a teacher, principal, superintendent, or any other school staff about your student teaching placements.

Based on the information you provide in your Intent to Student Teach form, we will take your circumstances and preferences into account. Keep in mind we can only consider what you yourself disclose to us.

Students are generally not placed in schools where:

• They attended themselves as K-12 students.
• Their family members currently work.
• Their siblings or children currently attend

When student teachers want or need to be placed more than 70 miles from Eau Claire, we refer to this as out-of-area placement. We offer several out-of-area options that any student can request. Most require department approval. Students can also request out-of-area placements due to specific personal circumstances.

Wisconsin Cluster Sites

Any student teacher can ask to be considered for a Wisconsin cluster site. Current sites are Madison, Milwaukee, Green Bay, and Wausau. Students must be approved by their department. When you request a cluster site, you may be placed in any of these partner districts. Student teaching in a cluster site is for the full semester. 

Alaska Program

UW-Eau Claire partners with the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District in Soldotna, Alaska for student teaching placement. Students who apply to go to Alaska must be approved by their department. The district accepts up to four students per semester. Student teaching in Alaska is for the full semester.

Out-of-Area Requests for Specific Personal Circumstances

To be considered, the student teacher must meet one of four qualifying criteria listed below. If you request out-of-area placement based on any of these criteria, you should be prepared to provide documentation if requested.

• Military obligation, either of the student teacher or their spouse.
• Primary caregiving responsibility for a family member.
• Medical or health concerns that require proximity to specific healthcare providers.
• Spouse relocation to an area more than 70 miles from any partner district.

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) offers an internship option as an alternative to student teaching. Internships are not the same as traditional student teaching, but they meet Wisconsin licensure requirements for the student teaching semester.  

Internship requests require department approval. Not all students will be approved. If you are approved, we will try to locate an internship for you. We cannot guarantee that an internship will be available. If no internships are available in your field, we will place you for student teaching. 

Finding an internship is similar to a job search. Interns apply and interview for positions that interest them. Internship requests require department approval. Not all students will be approved. If you are approved, we will try to locate an internship for you. We cannot guarantee that an internship will be available. If no internships are available in your field, we will place you for student teaching.

 An internship is a contract between you and the school district. We are not involved in hiring, payroll, work requirements, etc. The contract will have a start and end date that may differ from the student teaching semester. 

 For more information, please review the Department of Public Instruction’s WIP internship handbook.

The Student Teaching Handbook outlines all policies and procedures related to student teaching. You are responsible to know and abide by the contents of the handbook.

If you are a student experiencing a sudden financial need during your student teaching semester, please contact Dr. Carol Koroghlanian at tep@uwec.edu. Teacher Education manages the Student Teacher Support Fund (which has limited funds), and we may be able to assist you.