UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAVEN
INSTRUCTIONS FOR STUDENT TEACHING APPLICATION
Fall 2011 Student Teaching Dates:
August 29 – December 2, 2011
Completed application packages are due no later than March 1, 2011

Districts are under no obligation to accept or work with student teachers; your placement is a
professional courtesy extended by the district and the cooperating teacher(s). Please keep in mind
that you will be a guest in someone else’s classroom and that teachers and building administrators
will ultimately be held accountable for the students’ learning when you instruct their classes. The
application paperwork you submit will make the case for accepting you into this position of trust.

If your application is complete and submitted on time, we will make a good faith effort to find you a
placement in this cycle; if this is not possible you will be wait listed with first priority for Jan. 2012.
As the supply of cooperating teachers shrinks, placements may not be available close to home, and
candidates may have to commute longer than ideal distances.

If you obtain a potential placement, but are rejected by the district after an interview, it may not be
possible to find you another placement for this cycle.

Secondary Candidates must take and pass Praxis II exams before applying to student teach.

NEW! Fingerprinting and background checks:
Recent legislation requires that anyone working in a school site after July 1, 2010 must undergo a
criminal background check. Candidates should be aware that their placement district will require
them to participate in this process at their own expense, and it may be necessary to undergo the
check again even if they have already been fingerprinted for an Internship. Be prepared to be
proactive once you have been placed, asking your district for instructions and timelines. If your
fingerprinting was done at a RESC within 3 years of August 2011, you will probably be fine as long
as you have the receipt.
The Application Process:

Download the application template from the website to your computer, complete and save it and print a
hard copy. It will be sent to school districts exactly as submitted. Bring it with you on flash drive (or email
it as an attachment) when you meet with your advisor, so that corrections if needed can be made without
further delay. Please do not add extra information to the application form itself. You may write on the
checklist or include a separate note if necessary.
Please make an appointment with your advisor to review the entire application before submission.
Advisors are responsible for checking that you have no unresolved incompletes and have met the
GPA requirements. They will also review your written plan to satisfy all pre-requisites before the
beginning of the student teaching period and counsel you about districts selected. Applications
without the signature of your advisor will not be accepted.

Selecting School districts. Your paperwork will be sent one at a time to the districts listed on the checklist
in the order you list them. (Districts do not see this list.)
Please follow the balance between
urban/suburban guidelines when requesting school districts. A list follows at the end of the instructions.

Do not list specific schools (except for Magnet and Vo-Tech Schools) or grades in a district. If the three
suggested districts are unable to fulfill the request, you will be asked for further choices, and it may be
necessary to go beyond the normal commuting distance. Placements are made by the BEST/TEAM
Facilitator in the districts usually with input from principals/department heads. The university does not
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request specific grades, schools or teachers, and, once a preliminary placement has been found, it would be
unprofessional to request a change. If you decide not to accept an offered placement, it is very unlikely that
we will find you an alternative for this cycle.

When completing the application form, especially the final section, strive for clarity of expression and
check for spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors. District personnel reviewing your application will
have only this paper introduction (application sheet and one-page resume). This is your opportunity to
“sell” yourself to a potential employer! Please ask your advisor to assist with this and review it carefully.
The University of New Haven Career Services Center (kforkin@newhaven.edu) provides resume and
personal statement advice and assistance.) Career Services also has interview practice software available
and can provide workshops and counseling to prepare for successful interviews. Information about all of
the available services can be obtained on the website or through the email above.

You may deliver or mail your completed application to the Director of Student Teaching or ask your
advisor to submit it. A completed application consists of all of the items on the checklist including the
advisor’s signature. Applications without signatures and those that are incomplete will be returned
to advisors and may be delayed beyond the due date. Although the compete packet must exist in hard
copy, please be sure that your advisor has your application and resume in digital format as well, since some
districts will request these via email. All forms including this instruction sheet will be available on the
university’s website: www.newhaven.edu/education. Click “Forms and Handbooks” under Department
Information.

Please be sure that your resume presents you at your professional best and has been updated to include
details of your Internship or Capstone Field Experiences.

Once a tentative placement has been secured, the Director of Student Teaching will contact you either by
surface or e-mail and relay all the relevant placement information. It will then be your responsibility to
schedule the interview at the earliest possible date. (Please be sure that your mail and email addresses are
current, professional, and your filtering systems will not reject messages from the university. Check your
junk folders frequently.)

Once you have a tentative placement, you must contact the prospective cooperating teacher to set up an
interview. Your placement is not final until this meeting has occurred and the placement is confirmed by
the cooperating teacher. Do not delay this appointment.

If your placement is not confirmed, the Director of Student Teaching will inform you of the difficulty. If
confirmation proceeds routinely, there will be no further notification.

Students are expected to register on time for ED 600, Student Teaching. If you have graduated, the
Graduate Records office will not send registration materials to you, and you must request them.

About one month before the practicum starts, students will receive notice of the date of the initial required
student teaching meeting, notice of handbook availability on the website, and other pertinent information.
At the same time, the cooperating teacher will be sent information about training in the student teaching
evaluation process and procedures along with notice about the Cooperating Teacher Handbook.

The successful completion of student teaching with a minimum passing grade of B- is usually among the
last steps in the certification journey; however, Praxis requirements must be met as well. Praxis I (or
waiver) is a requirement for admission to our graduate program. Elementary candidates are encouraged to
take and pass Praxis II and the Foundations of Reading Test before student teaching begins, so that
certification paperwork is ready for submission immediately after the successful completion of student
teaching. Secondary candidates must pass Praxis II before applying to student teach. The PLT is a
master’s degree requirement; you must pass it in order to graduate, but it is not required for certification.

While student teaching, students will meet with the Chief Certification Officer to assemble and review all
credentials for certification. Appointments can be scheduled by phone or e-mail (203-932-7336 or
pgwatkin@newhaven.edu). Leave several dates and times when you are available.
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Personal Contacts
Placement of student teachers is the responsibility of the designated District Facilitator in each district, and
individual teachers or principals may not make arrangements among themselves. In addition, certification requires
that you student teach with a BEST/TEAM-trained cooperating teacher. For answers to specific questions, or advice
about individual circumstances, please speak with your advisor or the Director of Student Teaching.
Urban, Suburban, and Rural
The attempt to balance experiences among different types of communities is made in recognition that most of the
job openings will occur in urban or high need districts, and interviewing teams will expect candidates to speak from
experience about English Language Learners, “non traditional parent” involvement strategies, techniques for
motivating students, racial and ethnic diversity, and addressing a wide achievement range within the same
classroom. The distinction between urban and suburban districts below is based upon District Reference Groups
(DRG’s) as determined by data collected by the Connecticut State Department of Education. For specific details,
students should consult data available at www.state.ct.us/sde. Students are encouraged to broaden their employment
networks, and, therefore, discouraged from student teaching where they have Interned even if it is an urban district.
Questions about selecting districts should be addressed to your advisor, the Chairperson of the Education
Department, or the Director of Student Teaching.
Districts considered urban are:
 All in DRG I, H, G, F
 Windsor, and Milford
 All Magnet Schools regardless of location
 Vocational Technical Schools
All other districts are generally considered suburban or rural.
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Education Department Advisors
Secondary Interns [WH] Science and Math: John Ciochine, (jciochine@newhaven.edu)
History: Dr. David Perry (dperry@newhaven.edu)
World languages, business and music: Dr. Louise Soares
(lsoares@newhaven.edu)
English: Pat Maiorino (pmaiorino@newhaven.edu)
Capstone Students [WH]
Mr. John Ciochine, Math Educator and Math Curriculum,
Capstone Coordinator (jciochine@newhaven.edu)
Elementary Students [WH]
Elementary Students [WH]
(A-L) Dr. Amanda Bozack,
(abozack@newhaven.edu)
(M-Z) Dr. Judy Randi, (jrandi@newhaven.edu)
Newington Students Mr. Nicholas Maiorino, Internship Recruitment Coordinator
(nmaiorino@newhaven.edu) English candidates: Pat Maiorino
Southeastern Students
Mr. Lawrence Roberts, Coordinator of Southeastern
(lroberts@newhaven.edu)
All Student Teachers
Revised January 2011
Ms. Susanne Murphy, Director of Student Teaching
(smurphy@newhaven.edu)
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Connecticut District Reference Groups, 2006
Darien
Easton
New Canaan
Avon
Brookfield
Cheshire
Fairfield
Farmington
Glastonbury
Granby
Andover
Barkhamsted
Bethany
Bolton
Canton
Columbia
Cornwall
Ellington
Essex
Hebron
Berlin
Bethel
Branford
Clinton
Colchester
Cromwell
East Granby
East Hampton
Ashford
Bozrah
Brooklyn
Canaan
Chaplin
Chester
Colebrook
Coventry
Deep River
Eastford
East Haddam
Franklin
Canterbury
East Windsor
Enfield
Griswold
Montville
North Canaan
Bloomfield
Bristol
East Haven
Groton
Hamden
Killingly
Ansonia
Danbury
Derby
Revised January 2011
Bridgeport
Hartford
New Britain
DRG = A
Redding
Ridgefield
Weston
DRG = B
Greenwich
Guilford
Madison
Monroe
New Fairfield
Newtown
Orange
DRG = C
Mansfield
Marlborough
New Hartford
Oxford
Pomfret
Salem
Sherman
Somers
Suffield
Tolland
DRG = D
East Lyme
Ledyard
Milford
Newington
New Milford
North Haven
Old Saybrook
Rocky Hill
DRG = E
Hampton
Hartland
Kent
Lebanon
Lisbon
Litchfield
Norfolk
North Branford
North Stonington
Portland
Preston
DRG = F
Plainville
Plymouth
Seymour
Sprague
Stafford
DRG = G
Manchester
Middletown
Naugatuck
Plainfield
Putnam
DRG = H
East Hartford
Meriden
Norwalk
DRG = I
New Haven
New London
Westport
Wilton
Region 9
Simsbury
South Windsor
Trumbull
West Hartford
Woodbridge
Region 5
Region 15
Region 4
Region 7
Region 8
Region 10
Region 12
Region 13
Region 14
Region 17
Region 18
Region 19
Shelton
Southington
Stonington
Wallingford
Waterford
Watertown
Wethersfield
Windsor
Scotland
Sharon
Thomaston
Union
Westbrook
Willington
Woodstock
Region 1
Region 6
Region 16
Woodstock Academy
Salisbury
Thompson
Voluntown
Windsor Locks
Wolcott
Region 11
Sterling
Torrington
Vernon
Winchester
Gilbert School
Norwich Free Acad.
Stratford
Norwich
Stamford
West Haven
Waterbury
Windham
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