Clinical Experiences

Clinical observations in regional high schools are an essential and exciting part of the educator preparation process.

CLAS educator candidates must complete 100-120 hours of observations through three sequenced one semester classes, followed by a semester of student teaching:

• ILAS 201
• ILAS 301
• ILAS 401 (or its discipline-specific final clinical)
• Student Teaching

Benefits to educator candidates of this three-semester clinical experience include:

• Exposure to a wide variety of school settings, such as rural/urban, small/large, diverse student population/non-diverse student population
• Allowing candidates to learn about the practice of education through a tiered system
• Providing candidates a chance to apply knowledge and skills gained in their content and education-related classes to a real-world situation
• Inspiring and encouraging educator candidates to see their potential to become teachers
• Making contacts with teachers and administrators and building professional relationships  

The CLAS Office of Teacher Preparation and Development is responsible for all placements and teaching the ILAS 201 and 301 courses, with input from the specific programs. In all clinicals and student teaching, this office will try to assign students to a district within 60 miles of their place of residence. Students are responsible for providing their own transportation.

Introductory Clinical (ILAS 201)

ILAS 201 has two parts:

• Clinical observations: Thirty total clock hours of observation in a high school.
• Seminar: Seven class sessions where candidates hear from local public school teachers and administrators and participate in small-group discussions relating to their observations. 

Second Clinical Experience (ILAS 301)

ILAS 301 has two parts:

• Clinical observations: Thirty total clock hours of observation in a high school where candidates observe primarily within their discipline and are expected to be an active participant in the classroom.
• Seminars: Eight class sessions where candidates hear from local public school teachers and administrators and participate in small-group discussions around lessons that relate to their observations.

Final Clinical Experience

ILAS 401 and its departmental equivalents (BIOS 401, CHEM 401, ENGL 482, FLMT 401, EAE 401, ENVS 401, HIST 401, MATH 401 and PHYS 401) are the final discipline-based clinical experiences preceding student teaching and require a minimum of 40-60 hours of clinical experience at the school the candidate will student teach at the following semester.

The course prepares candidates for the student teaching experience by familiarizing them with their cooperating school and providing experience in preparing and presenting lessons to secondary students. Candidates develop an understanding of their school and their subject area department or team and establish professional working relationships within that department or team.

This final clinical experience gives candidates the opportunity to put into practice theories on creating and managing productive classroom environments, working with diverse populations and engaging students in active learning.

For the final clinical experience, each discipline coordinator designs activities for their teacher candidates and links these requirements to the teaching methods course in which the candidates are simultaneously enrolled.

Student Teaching

In order to receive an initial educator license in the state of Illinois, candidates must complete a rigorous student teaching experience. In the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at NIU, the length of student teaching assignments varies between 14 and 16 weeks depending on the program. Student teaching is not a paid experience.