Office of Field & Clinical Experiences
"WSSU is committed to the preparation of school personnel who effectively model social justice in a diverse 21st century learning community."
The Office of Field and Clinical Experiences (OFCE) plays a critical role in the preparation of teacher education majors and teacher licensure candidates at Winston-Salem State University. The major responsibilities of the OFCE include facilitating all education related field experiences. The OFCE works closely with administrators in local school systems and other approved settings that will provide placement opportunities to support teacher education majors and teacher licensure candidates in becoming highly qualified teachers in their respective areas.
All teacher education majors and teacher licensure candidates must present proof of professional liability insurance prior to beginning any field experiences. Professional liability insurance is specialty coverage that will provide legal protection in the event that legal action is brought against students while they are performing field experience activities. Students are encouraged to acquire professional liability insurance through one of the following options:
- Student North Carolina Association of Educators
- Professional Educators of North Carolina
- Specialty area professional organization
- Place of employment
Dear Teacher Candidate:
You are enrolled in an education course that requires successful completion of a field experience component. In order to fulfill the field experience requirement for this course, you must satisfactorily complete related assignments. Please follow the placement procedures below:
- Acquire professional liability insurance through one of the following
options, and save your welcome letter showing coverage dates as
a PDF:- Student North Carolina Association of Educators
- Professional Educators of North Carolina
- Specialty area professional organization
- Place of employment
- If applicable, download and complete the DoE Employment and Placement Confirmation Form on the right hand side of this page. Scan and save the document as a PDF.
- Request placement for early field experience as per instructions from the related course instructor.
- Submit both the proof of current liability insurance and the DoE Employment and Placement Confirmation Form with request for placement.
- After you receive your placement confirmation, download your Early Field Experience Welcome Packet from this webpage. Packets will include an informational letter for you and one for your Cooperating Teacher; a schedule worksheet; and a log sheet for you to track and verify your hours. Please duplicate the log sheet as necessary. A separate log sheet must be completed for each course for which you are placed for early field experience.
- Submit signed log sheets to each course instructor and retain a copy for your personal file.
- Please remember: Failure to complete required field experiences and assignments in a timely manner may adversely affect your grade for the related course.
For additional information about course expectations/requirements/assignments for early field experiences, contact the related course instructor.
Student teaching is an intensive 15-week clinical experience that provides a planned, supervised learning experience in a real school setting under the supervision of a cooperating teacher and university supervisor. During student teaching, the student teacher applies professional knowledge, skills, and dispositions, demonstrates teaching ability under the direct supervision of school and university faculty, assesses the impact of teaching on student learning, and completes electronic evidences to demonstrate proficiency in meeting the North Carolina Professional Teaching Standards.
The candidate's success as a student teacher is assessed based on teaching performance and student learning (impact on student learning). As the culminating experience, student teaching is completed during the candidate's last semester and requires 15 consecutive weeks in a P-12 classroom under the supervision of a P-12 cooperating teacher and a university supervisor from the candidate's program of study.
During the semester of student teaching, the candidate is also enrolled in the Student Teaching Seminar course (EDU/PED 4333), which provides the setting for the candidate to complete the various evidences required to demonstrate proficiency in meeting the North Carolina Professional Teaching Standards.