Clinical Practice II / Student Teaching Application

Two Steps to Apply for Fall 2024 CPII Student Teaching

1. Submit a Fall 2024 Clinical Practice II, Student Teaching Application (due March 8, 2024)

• If you need to make a change to your application (location, selected wrong program, etc.) and you have already submitted your application, email step@tcnj.edu as soon as possible.
  DO NOT SUBMIT A SECOND APPLICATION.
  
• If there are special circumstances you’d like to make us aware of, note that in the appropriate section of the application.

2. Submit Initial Clearances for Student Teaching (due March 8, 2024)

What happens after I submit my application AND clearances?

The STEP Office will contact districts to request specific placements (TCNJ students are NOT permitted to contact the district directly, unless they are told to do so).

• Each district has its own process for securing and approval placements.  Some districts prefer to handle the process and required clearances directly with student teachers, while others do not allow contact until all clearances are in and placements are board-approved.  The STEP Office will let you know if the district wants to communicate with you directly.
• Although it may seem like a simple process, there are MANY details and steps that get taken care of at the pace of the district.  As a result, the STEP Office cannot provide a concrete timeline for when placements will be approved.  Staying on top of your TCNJ emails and responding to any emails from STEP is incredibly important to keep the approval process moving, especially when they provide directions for additional clearances that are needed.
• After your placement is secured within the district, the STEP Office will notify you, along with any additional needs or information that needs to be communicated.
• Every student teacher will receive a placement.
• Our goal is to secure placements as quickly as possible.  When students email the STEP Office unnecessarily, we have to take time away from securing your placements to respond to all of the emails.  Therefore, please follow the emailing guidelines below.
  • Fall 2024 CII Student Teaching Emailing Guidelines:
    • Emailing to check if we’ve received your application and/or initial clearances: Please wait until after March 25, 2024 to do so.  We’re aiming to reach out to Fall 2024 student teachers by 3/25/24 to let them know that either we’ve received everything we currently need or we’re missing something from you.
    • Emailing to ask when you’ll receive your school building or cooperating teacher: Please wait until after August 5, 2024 to do so. Often, districts do not allow us to release that information until certain things are approved within the district.
    • Emailing to ask if there are any updates on your placement: Please do not do this. Securing placements is not an overnight process, and most districts have different process requirements, steps, and timelines.  We have to work at the specific district’s pace.  As soon as we have updates on your placement, we will email you and let you know.

Receiving Coop & Placement Details

Most districts require students to wait for the official board of education approval before reaching out to their cooperating teacher.  

Once you’re fully approved and you have received your placement and cooperating teacher details:

• Email your cooperating teacher and principal to introduce yourself.  Information not provided by the STEP office (i.e. other contact information, building location, grade level, etc.) can usually be found online.
• All student teachers are required to participate in any district-wide or school-wide training once their student teaching semester begins.
• Once student teaching begins, Clinical II students follow the school district schedule (not TCNJ’s) for holiday and days off.  While the STEP Office may give a blanket start and end date for the placement for approval purposes, your actual start/end date may differ, depending on the school district’s calendar and schedule and if there are any missing clearance documents.

Important Notes