Field Supervisors

Responsibilities (Each discipline may require other duties as assigned)

1. Provide guidance to both the student teacher and cooperating teacher with respect to the pacing of experiences and steady development of the student teacher’s professional competencies.

2. Must contact the candidate within the first 3 weeks after the start date of the assignment.

3. Observe each student teacher on a regular basis and provide the student teacher and the with a written account of your observations (STOT Form). Monitor the progress of each student teacher and maintain regular communication with each cooperating teacher.

   1. A minimum of THREE, 45-minute observations are required, completing a STOT form for each. Each visit includes:

      1. pre-teach conference (could occur via phone, video-conference, or face- to-face before the class begins)

      2. 45-minute observation (TEA required minimum)

      3. post-teach conference (face-to-face, phone, email, video-conference)

   2. Two 7-week placements:

      1. Minimum of 2 visits in the 1st placement (OR 1st half of the entire student-teaching semester) and 1 visit in the 2nd placement (OR the 2nd half of the entire student-teaching semester

   3. 14-week placement at two campuses:

      1. 3 visits: one in each third of the 14-week placement (OR each third of the entire student-teaching semester)

      2. 4 or more: ensure at least one visit occurs in each third of the 14-week placement (@ every 3 weeks)

4. Help student teachers with any problems that may arise in their student teaching assignments.

5. Conduct a three-way conference (may or may not be in-person) during the 1st half and 2nd half of the semester (1st and 2nd placement) with the cooperating teacher and student teacher to discuss the evaluation of the student teacher.

   1. This can be completed via phone, video-conference, or in person.

   2. It must be documented and include the names and titles of participants (ST, CT, FS), date & time, and content of discussion.

6. Complete the Formative Assessment at mid-semester and the Summative Assessment at the end of the semester. Cite specific examples of observed behaviors as supporting evidence. Discuss each evaluation with the student teacher. At mid-semester, concrete suggestions for improvement should be identified and then communicated in writing to the student teacher and cooperating teacher.

7. Maintain communications by checking email and telephone messages daily and responding promptly. The Field Supervisor must be available for communications and meet deadlines.

8. Communicate with Faculty Area Coordinator on a regular basis to ensure that everyone is up-to-date on the student teachers’ progress in the schools.

Observation Requirements Beginning in Fall 2026

1. Observe each student teacher on a regular basis and provide the student teacher and the with a written account of your observations (STOT Form). Monitor the progress of each student teacher and maintain regular communication with each cooperating teacher.

   1. Must be at least 45 minutes in length

   2. Must include an individualized pre-observation conference (could occur via phone, video-conference, or face-to-face before the class begins)

   3. Feedback within 72 hours of observation (provide written feedback through individualized post-observation conference)

      1. Provide a copy of the written feedback to the candidate’s cooperating teacher

2. For EC-12 certification in two assignments, there will be a total of SIX formal observations.

   1. Two formal observations in the first half and one formal in the second half of each of the two assignments.

3. Field supervisors must conduct 3 informal observations that are 15 minutes or more in duration per semester. The first informal must occur within the first 6 weeks of the assignment and must be in person (may conduct the other two virtually.)

Training & Qualifications (These come from TEA; Texas Education Code Chapter 228)

Field Supervisor--A currently certified educator, hired by the educator preparation program, who preferably has advanced credentials.

1. Must have at least 3 years of experience and current certification in the class in which supervision is provided.

2. Shall be an accomplished educator as shown by student learning.

   1. This is justified with the Accomplished Educator Verification form that is required with the application and is included in the Appendix, Pg 39

3. If an individual is not currently certified, an individual must hold at least a Master's degree in the academic area or field related to the certification class for which supervision is being provided and comply with the same number, content, and type of continuing professional education requirements described in 232.11 of this title (relating to Number and Content of Required Continuing Professional Education Hours), 232.13 of this title (relating to Number of Required Continuing Professional Education Hours by Classes of Certificates), and Åò232.15 of this title (relating to Types of Acceptable Continuing Professional Education Activities).

   1. New TAC Code states that a Master’s degree in the academic area or field related to the certification (additional PD required) is required in order to supervise students admitted into the PDS in Sept 2024. Current Intern 1 &2s are unaffected by this requirement.

   2. CPE Hours Requirements are included in the attached Appendix, Pg 35

      1. All records of approved completed CPE Hours must be held in the Field Supervisor folder on BOX

4. A Field Supervisor shall not be employed by the same school where the candidate being supervised is completing his or her clinical teaching, internship, or practicum.

5. A mentor, cooperating teacher, or site supervisor, assigned as required, may not also serve as a Student Teacher's Field Supervisor.

6. There can be no familial bond between a Student Teacher and any employee (Cooperating Teacher, Faculty, Staff, Administration) at the campus where Student teacher’s field experience is taking place.

7. Every Field Supervisor must complete the TEA mandated T-TESS.

   1. Training is generally offered early in the fall and early in the spring semesters, on the UT campus, through the College of Education.

   2. Training can also be completed through a regional Education Service Center and the UTFA Administrative Associate can help facilitate this.

   3. UTFA will pay for the training, but no other compensation is given.

   4. New as of Sept 2024 TAC Code: Field Supervisors must update TEA required training by 9/1/26 and every 3 years thereafter or maintain valid T-TESS Certification.

Box Access & Correspondence

1. If a Field Supervisor is a current Faculty member or a UT Alumni, then s/he can access a UTMail account through Gmail or Outlook.

2. If the Field Supervisor is NOT a current Faculty member or a UT Alumni UTFA Program Coordinator will obtain a 0% appointment for the Field Supervisor. This will allow the Field Supervisor to sign up for a FERPA protected Business UTMail account through GMAIL.

3. Per FERPA, the secure UTMail account MUST be used for all confidential correspondence and document sharing between Field Supervisors, Cooperating Teachers, Students, Area Coordinators and UTFA Program Coordinator.

4. UTFA Program Coordinator will invite all Field Supervisors to a shared BOX folder for each specific area that contains all necessary documents associated with student teaching. These documents can be accessed and downloaded if need be.

   1. All documents are included in the attached Appendix, Pg 22

5. Field Supervisors will collect ALL documents from the Student Teachers and Cooperating Teachers. They will check that all necessary fields have been completed and that all signatures have been obtained. All documents must be physically signed and dated or completed using DocuSign (must include date/time stamp).

6. Field Supervisors are NOT permitted to UPLOAD documents to the students’ folders in BOX. All documents must be sent to the Area Coordinator, or the Coordinator’s TA, for a second review.

Honorariums (Field Supervisors)

1. Remittance of Honorariums will occur at the halfway point of the semester (end of placement #1 for most) and at the end of the semester (end of placement #2) once all necessary documents have been received and reviewed by the Program Coordinator. Once approved by the Program Coordinator, the Invoice must be signed by the Field Supervisor via DocuSign, reviewed by the UTFA Business Office, and then reviewed by the UT Main Business Office before the Honorarium will be dispersed.

Please allow two to four weeks from the end of document review for remittance of Honorarium.

1. Documents due: March 14th & May 16th

2. The following is the Rate Chart for Field Supervisors: