Teacher Education at Illinois State
 

 

 

Clinical Experiences and Student Teaching for Special Education Majors

The purpose of clinical experiences and student teaching is to provide you with an opportunity to apply the theory that was learned in your coursework to the practice that you gain through experience in the field. You will also benefit greatly from the hands-on learning and experience collaborating with a variety of educational professionals. You may find yourself teaching any area from biology to cooking to Braille! Our field experiences exceed the requirements for certification in your field.

Illinois State is committed to providing you with experiences in all facets of your certification area. As a Special Education teacher candidate, you will have approximately five unique experiences in your field of specialization at a variety of grade levels before graduation. The variety of our clinical experiences is what makes Illinois State teacher candidates some of the very best in their field.

Clinical Experiences

Your clinical experiences begin early in your education at Illinois State with opportunities to observe in classrooms. You will also have an early practicum experience in which you will have consistent teaching responsibilities. Then, when you are in the first semester of your senior year, you will begin field based experiences which replicate student teaching in almost every way.

Learn more about clinical experiences:

Student Teaching Forms

Student teaching follows your Field Based Semester and is divided into two experiences. You will be required to demonstrate competency in those planning, assessment, and instructional tasks required of effective special educators while steadily increasing your classroom responsibilities. Successful teacher candidates will take over the total responsibilities of their cooperating teacher for a period of several weeks in each placement.

Apply to student teach: