Graduate Fieldwork/Student Observation Requirements
Graduate Program in Special Education Childhood, Sequence 1
All students in the Master’s degree program for special education – Sequence 1, must complete a minimum of 100 hours of fieldwork/observation. This is a New York State requirement. These hours must be completed prior to registration in the teaching practicum. The state requires that a student be exposed to various settings while observing. Therefore, you must have observations in the following areas: at least 50 hours in a Title One school - one that has more than 60% of its students receiving free lunch; at least 10 hours observing classrooms with English Language Learners.
Childhood candidates will do these hours across developmental levels, with at least 25 hours in grades 1-3 and 25 hours in grades 4-6.
Many of the core courses in the sequence 1 program have observation hours attached to them. Please be aware of the number of hours required when you register, since you need to consider these as part of your workload for the course.
If you are presently teaching or are a substitute you may observe in your school but not in your own class. You need to observe a colleague. Paraprofessionals may observe in their class as long as it is at the appropriate developmental level.
At the beginning of each semester a letter of introduction along with a time sheet will be given to each student. This letter is to be taken to the school when you observe and the time sheet is to be signed by the classroom teacher you are observing. Your class will be assigned a partner school host site for fieldwork. If you don’t have your own classroom, you will be expected to attend that school. Any exceptions must be discussed in advance with the Director of Fieldwork. Once assigned to a school, it is your responsibility (unless your professor made other arrangements) to email the contact person and arrange a schedule, usually after the first two weeks of the semester.
Completed timesheets should be turned in to the purple box under the mailboxes in 208.
The courses that include fieldwork/observation hours for candidates in the Special Education Childhood Sequence 1 are:
EDP 610 – 10 hours
EDP 611 – 20 hours
EDP 621 – 20 hours
EDP 622 – 20 hours
EDP 624 - 20 hours
EDP 626 – 20 hours
EDP 680 – 20 hours