INTRODUCTION
Student teaching is a college-supervised instructional experience; usually the
culminating course in a university/college undergraduate education or graduate school
program leading to teacher education and certification. It is required by
thoseearning either a Bachelor of Education or Master of Education degree.
 
Student teaching is required for students who are not yet certified to teach. It
isdifferent from a practicum, which is required when a student
already 
holds certificationto teach, yet wants a certificate extension to teach another
area of specialization; theyare both college-supervised field-based experiences.T h e
student teaching experience lasts about the length of a semester;
l o n g enough to fulfill the college’s assigned tasks. It is an unpaid internship. This
experiencegives the prospective teaching professional an opportunity to teach under
thesupervision of a permanently certified master teacher.T h e s t u d e n t t e a c h e r i s
u s u a l l y p l a c e d i n a n e i g h b o r i n g o r p a r t i c i p a t i n g school district. The student
teacher is monitored by the cooperating teacher from the district, aswell as a
supervisor through the college. The supervisor acts as a liaison between
thecooperating teacher and the head of the college’s student teaching department.The
student teacher essentially shadows the cooperating teacher for about
onew e e k , e v e n t u a l l y g a i n i n g m o r e r e s p o n s i b i l i t y i n t e a c h i n g t h e c l a s s
as the days andweeks progress. Eventually, the student teacher will
a s s u m e m o s t o f t h e t e a c h i n g responsibilities for the class including class
management, lesson planning, assessment,and grading. Thus, the student
teacher is able to more fully experience the role of theteacher as the
classroom teacher takes on the observation role in the class. There
issometimes a "phasing out" week were the student teacher returns the
teaching roleback to the regular teacher.