A primary purpose of early field experiences (EFE) on the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus is to ensure that educator licensure candidates in educator licensure programs have early and ongoing opportunities to develop and demonstrate the knowledge and skills required for entry into final internship or student teaching.
Early field experiences must consist of a coordinated sequence of authentic experiences that enable educator licensure candidates to integrate practical experience and theoretical knowledge. There should be continuous support, supervision, and feedback from the university and preK-12 partners along with performance-based assessments at key points. Experiences should provide early involvement in primary activities required in the role of the preparation area. For initial teacher programs, opportunities for leading class activities and/or solo teaching are ensured. Taken as a whole, the clinical experience sequence (including final internship or student teaching) should provide educator licensure candidates with meaningful experiences representative of the range of ages, educational situations, and populations in their program area.
Early field experiences must have an assessment and evaluation process that provides for ongoing feedback focused on educator licensure candidate growth. For initial teaching licensure programs, at least one performance-based assessment aligned with the CoTE EFE instrument must be administered to provide educator licensure candidates with formal evaluation and feedback on their performance prior to student teaching.
It is expected that, on and off the clinical site, all educator licensure candidates conduct themselves in a professional and ethical manner. This includes treating all students, families, cooperating teachers and school personnel and licensure program personnel with dignity and respect. Additionally, all educator licensure candidates should familiarize themselves with and adhere to the Illinois Educator Code of Ethics.