Middlesex Community College

Practicum, Student Teaching and Field Placements

MCC offers students various opportunities to gain classroom experience leading toward teacher certification.  These opportunities are in the form of either a practicum (also known as student teaching) or a field placement.  A practicum is a supervised classroom experience which serves as a capstone for a degree or certificate program.  The supervised practicum is accompanied by a required seminar for additional credit.  A field placement is a one-credit seminar that is taken along with it's three-credit co-requisite course.  The field placement is intended to provide opportunity to observe in real-world settings the concepts learned during its accompanying course.  A practicum typically consists of completing 150 hours, while a field placement typically consists of 22 hours.    Please note that these experiences are not the same as "Service Learning", which may be required by other courses you may take at MCC.

Please click on each of the courses below to learn more about the opportunities MCC offers:

• EDU 251—Supervised Practicum and Seminar for Teacher Certification
• EDU 109—Supervised Practicum and Seminar for Assistant Teacher Certificate and the CDA Credential
• IDS 122—Field Placement I (this is the co-requisite for EDU 104)
• IDS 123—Field Placement II (this is the co-requisite for EDU 153)

A Few Things to Know:

• Field placements are taken during the same semester as their co-requisite courses. Students need to register for both the three-credit course (either EDU 104 or EDU 153) and the corresponding one-credit IDS course. These may be taken at any point in a student's program as long as the pre-requisites have been met.  (See individual course descriptions for more information.)
• Supervised Practicum and Seminar should be the last course taken in students' programs.
• Practicum Students may take other general education courses or electives along with the practicum, however, students should keep in mind that they will be spending 10 - 15 hours each week at their placement sites. Practicum Students are expected to be at their practicum site at least two days a week.
• Practicum Students must successfully complete a minimum of 150 hours, over at least an eight-week period, of direct work in an approved (by MCC) early childhood education school or community setting. For teacher certification purposes, early childhood is defined as under the age of seven and not yet enrolled in first grade.
• Practicum Students must complete all 150 hours within the same classroom; they may not switch between different classrooms or age groups.
• Practicum Students are also expected to complete all written assignments and attend all seminars that accompany the practicum experience.
• Successful completion of the Supervised Practicum and Seminar is defined by students’ ability to demonstrate competency of the NAEYC Standards for Professional Preparation.
• In order for a student to be eligible to participate in an academic, community or clinical program that involves potential unsupervised contact with children, the disabled, the elderly, or other vulnerable populations, the student may be required to undergo a Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) check and/or a Sex Offender Registry Information (SORI). Practicum placement sites may additionally require fingerprint checks at the site's discretion. All background checks are handled individually by each site and not by MCC.
• Practicum Students will progress from observing, to working with individuals and small groups of children, to planning and teaching full class activities, applying what has been learned through coursework and previous fieldwork experiences.
• Practicum Students are allowed to do their student teaching at their place of employment with permission of MCC Faculty and Site Supervisor.
• Practicum Students may be paid for their practicum hours if they are employed by the site and at the discretion of their employment supervisor.
• Practicum Students DO NOT count in teacher/child ratios if they are not employed by the site.
• Practicum Students are never allowed to be left alone with children if they are not employed by the site.
• Cooperating Teachers and Practicum Students are expected to meet weekly to discuss curriculum planning and ongoing evaluation of student's progress.
• Practicum Students will plan any curriculum and activities to be carried out in collaboration with the Cooperating Teacher.
• Practicum Students will be evaluated three times by an MCC Faculty Supervisor during the course of the practicum.
• Cooperating Teachers must be Teacher II certified by MA EEC and have served in the Lead Teacher role for at least 5 years.
• Placement sites must be in Massachusetts and in operation for at least 2 years.
• Practicum Students are encouraged (but not required) to seek placement sites that are NEAYC program accredited.