About Redlands

University of Redlands graduates walking by during the commencement ceremony.
About

Discover more about the University of Redlands.

Bulldog statue standing during a sunset.
History

Founded in 1907, the U of R community celebrates 100+ years of legacy and educational impact.

Graduate raising their diploma in celebration.
Missions and Values

Learn about our mission, vision, and values.

Search Redlands

Featured Resources
Admissions Alumni Events Campus Map

Resources for

Latest News

A Leader for Change and Innovation in Education
A Leader for Change and Innovation in Education

juneteenth-flag-ceremony-at-university-of-redlands-2024---masthead_resized
Past, present, and bright future

Teaser card - Climate change summit
Leading the charge for climate action and justice

More Info
Home
Offices directory
School of Education
Student support
Back to  Teacher Candidate Resources
Early Fieldwork
Media masthead - University Hall North
Home
Offices directory
School of Education
Student support
Back to  Teacher Candidate Resources
Early Fieldwork

Early Fieldwork

Early field experiences are a key component of a teacher candidate's clinical experience.

Teacher candidates will complete early fieldwork in conjunction with their Foundations and Methods courses. These courses are typically taken in the first 2-3 semesters of the program. The instructors for each course will advise candidates on how many hours to complete as well as methods of completing the early fieldwork. Early Fieldwork hours must be tracked using the Early Fieldwork Experience Log for each course and submitted to the course instructor. 

How many hours do I need to complete?

As the number of early fieldwork hours required varies by program and course, please refer to the charts below.

Multiple Subject

Course Name Total Hours
MALT 601/EDUC 501/EDUG 401/EDUT 401 10 hours
MALT 603/EDUC 503/EDUG 403/EDUT 403 5 hours
MALT 605/EDUC 505/EDUG 405/EDUT 405 5 hours
MALT 607/EDUC 507/EDUG 407/EDUT 407 5 hours
MALT 609/EDUC 509/EDUG 409/EDUT 409 5 hours
MALT 611/EDUC 511/EDUG 411/EDUT 411 10 hours

Single Subject

Course Name Total Hours
MALT 601/EDUC 501/EDUG 401 10 hours
MALT 602/EDUC 502/EDUG 402 5 hours
MALT 604/EDUC 504/EDUG 404 5 hours
MALT 606/EDUC 506/EDUG 406 5 hours
MALT 608/EDUC 508/EDUG 408 5 hours
MALT 611/EDUC 511/EDUG 411 10 hours

Dual Credential

Students in the Dual Credential program earning a Multiple Subject or Single Subject Preliminary Teaching Credential and Education Specialist Mild to Moderate Support Needs (MMSN) Preliminary Teaching Credential are required to complete 200 hours of early fieldwork. 

While completing early fieldwork in your general education courses, 60% of the required hours will be completed in a special education setting and 40% of the required hours will be completed in a general education setting. While completing early fieldwork in your education specialist MMSN courses, 80% of the required hours will be completed in a special education setting and 20% of the required hours will be completed in a general education setting. 

Please see the breakdown of required hours by setting and course below.  

Multiple Subject / Education Specialist MMSN

Course Name Hours in a Special Education Setting Hours in a General Education Setting Total Hours
MALT 601/EDUC 501/EDUG 401 30 hours 20 hours 50 hours
MALT 603/EDUC 503/EDUG 403 15 hours 10 hours 25 hours
MALT 607/EDUC 507/EDUG 407 15 hours 10 hours 25 hours
EDSP 610/EDSP 510 20 hours 5 hours 25 hours
EDSP 616/EDSP 516 40 hours 10 hours 50 hours
EDSP 625/EDSP 525 20 hours 5 hours 25 hours

Single Subject / Education Specialist MMSN

Course Name Hours in a Special Education Setting Hours in a General Education Setting Total Hours
MALT 601/EDUC 501/EDUG 401 30 hours 20 hours 50 hours
MALT 602/EDUC 502/EDUG 402 15 hours 10 hours 25 hours
MALT 606/EDUC 506/EDUG 406 15 hours 10 hours 25 hours
EDSP 610/EDSP 510 20 hours 5 hours 25 hours
EDSP 616/EDSP 516 40 hours 10 hours 50 hours
EDSP 625/EDSP 525 20 hours 5 hours 25 hours

Education Specialist - Mild to Moderate Support Needs

Students who started an Education Specialist program in Summer 2022 and after will obtain a Mild to Moderate Support Needs (MMSN) Preliminary Teaching Credential. These students are required to complete 200 hours of early fieldwork.

While completing early fieldwork in your general education courses, 60% of the required hours will be completed in a special education setting and 40% of the required hours will be completed in a general education setting. While completing early fieldwork in your education specialist MMSN courses, 80% of the required hours will be completed in a special education setting and 20% of the required hours will be completed in a general education setting. 

Please see the breakdown of required hours by setting and course below. 

Course Name Hours in a Special Education Setting Hours in a General Education Setting Total Hours
MALT 601/EDUC 501/EDUG 401 30 hours 20 hours 50 hours
MALT 603/EDUC 503/EDUG 403 15 hours 10 hours 25 hours
EDSP 610/EDSP 510 20 hours 5 hours 25 hours
EDSP 616/EDSP 516 40 hours 10 hours 50 hours
MALT 605/EDUC 505/EDUG 405 15 hours 10 hours 25 hours
EDSP 625/EDSP 525 20 hours 5 hours 25 hours

Education Specialist - Mild/Moderate Disabilities

Students who started an Education Specialist program in Spring 2022 or prior will obtain a Mild/Moderate Disabilities (M/M) Preliminary Teaching Credential. These students are required to complete 40 hours of early fieldwork.

Course Name Total Hours
MALT 601/EDUC 501/EDUG 401 10 hours
MALT 603/EDUC 503/EDUG 403 5 hours
EDSP 610/EDSP 510 10 hours
EDSP 616/EDSP 516 5 hours
MALT 605/EDUC 505/EDUG 405 5 hours
EDSP 625/EDSP 525 5 hours

How do I complete early fieldwork?

Course instructors will provide guidance on how to complete early fieldwork hours. Each district has different policies on how to reach out to complete early fieldwork at their school site. Please follow all district policies when at the school site. Some districts have provided information on their Early Fieldwork Opportunities that you can read about here. However, you are not limited to the districts listed in this document. 

Where do I submit early fieldwork? 

Document hours on the Early Fieldwork Experience Log then submit the form to your course instructor.

Fieldwork Activities & Resources

Candidates should discuss their early fieldwork options with their courses instructors as each course has different early fieldwork hour activities and assignments. 

If logging virtual hours on the Early Fieldwork Log, input the following info:

  • "Online" for Site Name
  • "N/A" for District
  • "Your instructor's name/email" for Contact

General Education Courses

Early fieldwork experience hours for this course include the following:

Classroom Observation Choices (visit any one of the following)

  1. Classroom with students from diverse racial, minority, multilingual or LGBTQ backgrounds
  2. Classroom with special needs students, e.g., Autism, learning/speech/hearing disorders
  3. Classroom with economically disadvantaged students, e.g., 80% free reduced lunch
  4. Observe alternative classrooms with approval from Professor

Museum or Organization Visit Choices (visit any one of the following)

  1. Museum of Tolerance
  2. San Diego Museum of Man
  3. Orange County's Bowers Museum
  4. Riverside Office of Homeless Solutions
  5. Riverside Center for Social Justice and Liberties
  6. California African American Museum
  7. Our House Youth Shelter, Redlands
  8. Inland Temporary Homes / Housing Solutions
  9. Visit alternative locations with approval from Professor

Technology-Enabled Alternative Assignments

  • View videos and listen to podcasts related to systemic issues in education, the history of education, and voices from the field - provided in column to the right (equivalent to 10 hours of early fieldwork experience)
  • Assignment: Students will write a paper in which they reflect on what they’ve learned from the videos and podcasts, drawing connections to what they’ve learned in the course. The content of the paper should also address the following:
    • Continuity: Brief history of what has remained the same in education (25 points)
    • Change: Brief history of what has changed in education (25 points)
    • Their perspective of the challenges we face  (25 points)
    • Their perspective on where we should head next (25 points)

Resource Links for Alternative Technology-Enabled Assignments

Early fieldwork experience hours for this course include the following:

Classroom Observation Choices (visit any one or more of the following)

  1. Classroom with students from diverse racial, minority, multilingual or LGBTQ backgrounds
  2. Classroom with special needs students, e.g., Autism, learning/speech/hearing disorders
  3. Classroom with economically disadvantaged students, e.g., 80% free reduced lunch
  4. Observe alternative classrooms with approval from Professor


Technology-Enabled Alternative Assignments

  • View an equivalent to 5 hours of videos, selected from the links provided in column to the right (equivalent to 5 hours of early fieldwork experience).
  • The first five videos (~4 hours) should be viewed by all students. They should select an hours-worth of viewing from remaining videos based on their content area focus.
  • For this assignment, students use new knowledge gained from the videos to develop an emerging plan for classroom management.
  • Students’ emerging plan for classroom management will entail writing a 3-page document that includes specific ideas gathered from the resource links.
  • Students’ 3-page document will specifically refer to the exact resource(s) through which each of their ideas about classroom management have been gained.

Resource Links for Alternative Technology-Enabled Assignments

Early fieldwork experience hours for this course may include the following options:

  • Classroom observations
  • Facilitate a lesson or learning session in an after-school program
  • One-to-one or group tutoring in mathematics, science, or other STEM related subject area
  • Substitute teaching in a class addressing at least one of the STEM subjects
  • Visiting a STEM or STEAM event geared toward the learning and/or teaching of STEM or STEAM
  • Visiting STEM charter schools or after-school programs
  • Visiting classrooms or an after-school program that contains students from diverse backgrounds (e.g., special needs,multilingual, 80% free-reduced lunch, Title I, race, LGTBQ) in at least one of the STEM subjects
  • Visit additional locations and/or events approved by your professor

Technology-Enabled Alternative Assignments

  • View all videos provided in column to the right (equivalent to 5 hours of early fieldwork experience)
  • Curriculum Development/Delivery:
    • Using knowledge acquired from the Curriculum Assessment assignment and video observations (from links in the column to the right), students will develop a lesson that includes evidence-based strategies for differentiation of STEM instruction for diverse students including culture/race, ability/disability, gender, age, socioeconomic status.
    • Students will include instructional strategies that infuse problem-solving, rigorous and relevant questions, systems thinking, problem identification, formulation and solution into instruction and develop strategies to overcome the challenge of meeting the needs of every student.
    • Students will demonstrate an understanding of the STEM learning processes of modeling, inquiry, and engineering design used in teaching mathematics and science.

Resource Links for Alternative Technology-Enabled Assignments

Elementary STEM classroom teachers facilitating STEM-related lessons:

STEM learning environments and lesson planning:

Early fieldwork experience hours for this course include one or more of the following:

  • Micro-teaching in a classroom, an after-school program, or a resources center
  • Observations in a K-12 public school setting that contain students from diverse backgrounds (e.g., special needs, multilingual, 80% free-reduced lunch, Title I, race, LGTBQ)
  • One-to-one or small group tutoring/mentoring
  • Community-Inquiry Project (This could be a version of the case-study where students pose inquiry into a community and its assets.)
  • Case-study: Students will conduct an in-depth exploration of the classroom context(s) and research-based instructional strategies used to teach at risk learners by documenting an individual’s reading, writing, small group engagements, and discussions of one particular secondary student in a subject area. The final project should be 10-12 pages in length. The sources of the information presented in this project should come from fieldwork, classroom observations, an interview with the student, Gibbons’ book, and any additional relevant texts or material used throughout the course.

Technology-Enabled Alternative Assignments

  • Case Study: Via observation (of videos in the column to the right), students will conduct an in-depth exploration of the classroom context(s) and research-based instructional strategies used to teach various learners. The final project should be 10-12 pages in length. The sources of the information presented in this project should come from video observations, prior classroom observations, Gibbons’ book, and any additional relevant texts or material used throughout the course.

Resource Links for Alternative Technology-Enabled Assignments

Early fieldwork experience hours for this course include the following options:

  • Visiting schools, including charter schools, and doing micro-teaching in a classroom, an after-school program, or a resource center
  • Visiting classrooms that contain students from diverse backgrounds (e.g., special needs, multilingual, 80% free-reduced lunch, Title I, race, LGTBQ)
  • Facilitate a lesson in an after-school program
  • One-to-one tutoring in reading/language arts
  • Visit additional locations and/or events approved by your professor
  • Reading with students (reading-aloud or shared reading) in small groups in local schools

Technology-Enabled Alternative Assignments

  • Teacher candidates will develop a deep understanding of ELA lesson delivery based upon videos viewed in the column to the right  (equivalent to 5 hours of early fieldwork experience).
  • The case study will draw on data observed in videos.
  • Case study (7-10 pages)
    • Teacher candidates should identify successes and challenges (e.g. challenges in meeting the needs of all students in the classroom) and offer two to three specific and realistic solutions/recommendations informed by classroom readings and instruction.

Resource Links for Alternative Technology-Enabled Assignments

Early fieldwork experience hours for this course include five of the following:

  • Gather information on one focus student who is an ELL
  • Gather information on classroom management routines (attendance, distributing assignments, collecting work, grading, and assessment)
  • Gather information on one focus student with special needs
  • Gather information on UDL, the curriculum being taught to the whole class, including as many details as you can on content, differentiation strategies, procedures, assessments, and general demographics of the class
  • Assess the extent to which inquiry (Estes Chapter 11) is used as an instructional strategy
  • Describe aspects of social justice integrated into the learning

Technology-Enabled Alternative Assignments

  • Early Fieldwork Paper: Evidence of knowledge of one or more of the following will be documented by completing five one-page single spaced synthesis of the information in the videos (linked in the column to the right).
  • Gather information on one focus student who is an ELL.
  • Gather information on classroom management routines (attendance, distributing assignments, collecting work, grading, assessment).
  • Gather information on one focus student with special needs.
  • Gather information on UDL - the curriculum being taught to the whole class including as many details as you can on content, differentiation strategies, procedures, assessments, and general demographics on the class as a whole.
  • Assess the extent to which inquiry (chapter 11 Estes) is used as an instructional strategy.
  • Describe aspects of social justice integrated into the learning.

Resource Links for Alternative Technology-Enabled Assignments

Early fieldwork experience hours for this course include one of more of the following:

  • Visit public schools, charter schools, or after-school programs to experience (through observation or participation) social studies lessons, activities, or events (e.g., historical celebrations)
  • Visit classrooms that contain students from diverse backgrounds (e.g., special needs, multilingual, 80% free-reduced lunch, Title I, ethnicity, LGBTQ)
  • Visit additional locations and/or events approved by your professor

Technology-Enabled Alternative Assignments

  • Early Fieldwork Multi-Media Project
  • Candidates will demonstrate lessons learned from early fieldwork experiences (in this instance, from the viewing of relevant videos). The multi-media project will include photos, videos, and narratives representing their key learnings across these experiences and the course. Citations from course readings should be included in APA format.

Resource Links for Alternative Technology-Enabled Assignments

Early fieldwork experience hours for this course include the following:

Observations in a secondary-level classroom setting under the candidate's single subject area expertise. This classroom setting will need to ensure the candidate is able to focus on:

  • Lesson and curricular design principles by teachers in the candidate’s content area
  • Subject specific content literacy strategies
  • Formative and summative assessments
  • The teacher’s goals and objectives across a two to four-week curricular implementation

Technology-Enabled Alternative Assignments

  • Five 1-page narratives which reflect insights gained from the viewing videos (from the column to the right). These narratives should focus on lesson and curricular design principles that are implemented by the teachers viewed in the videos, giving particular attention to the content literacy strategies that are employed by classroom teachers. Specific formative and summative assessments should be noted and references to the course readings should be included in APA format.

Resource Links for Alternative Technology-Enabled Assignments

Early fieldwork experience hours for this course may include the following options:

  • Visiting schools, including charter schools, and doing micro-teaching with assessment of performance in a classroom, an after-school program, or a resource center
  • Visiting classrooms that contain students from diverse backgrounds (e.g., special needs, multilingual, 80% free-reduced lunch, Title I, race, LGTBQ)
  • Facilitate a lesson with focus on literacy assessment in an after-school program
  • One-to-one tutoring in reading/language arts and diagnosing reading performance
  • Visit additional locations and/or events approved by your professor
  • Reading with students (reading-aloud or shared reading) in small groups in local schools
  • Assessing students’ performance in the following literacy competencies: phonemic awareness, vocabulary, concepts of print, comprehension, etc.

Technology-Enabled Alternative Assignments

  • Complete 5 one-page narratives which discuss one or more of the following, as viewed in the videos: 1) developing equity-centered curricula, 2) assessing diverse learners, 3) interpreting assessment data, 4) prescribing literacy instruction, 5) aligning student needs with appropriate materials and teaching strategies, and 6) evaluating various types of assessment instruments.

Resource Links for Alternative Technology-Enabled Assignments

Early Fieldwork Experience Hours and Assignment

  • Complete ten one-page narratives that discuss one or more of the following:
    • What support is offered for students' reading comprehension and general engagement in texts?
    • What guidance and support are forthcoming for students' writing?
    • What are the general expectations for students' reading and writing?
    • To what extent are oral language practices implemented?
    • Is the classroom teacher centered or student centered?
    • Are there supportive practices in place that facilitate students' involvement in the various texts they are assigned to read?
    • Do your fieldwork hours align with any of the values explored and practiced throughout this course?
    • What paradigms are in place in your fieldwork settings?
  • Includes observations in a classroom related to your subject area expertise

Technology-Enabled Alternative Assignments

  • Ten 1-page narratives that address one or more of the following questions, as viewed in the videos in the column to the right. Students will all watch the first seven videos (~4 hours) and will select 6 hours’ worth of remaining videos aligned with MS (K-5) or SS (6+):
    • What support is offered for students' reading comprehension and general engagement in texts?
    • What guidance and support is forthcoming for students' writing?
    • What are the general challenges and expectations for students' reading and writing?
    • What is the value of oral language?
    • What is the danger of a single story?
    • What are the supportive practices that facilitate students' engagement with various texts?

Resource Links for Alternative Technology-Enabled Assignments

Education Specialist Courses

Early fieldwork experience hours for this course may include the following options:

  • Classrooms that include students with IEP's, or other settings such as a resource room or pull-out
  • 1:1 observations with any special education service providers
  • Before or after school observations

Technology-Enabled Alternative Assignments

  • View an equivalent to 5 hours of videos, selected from the links provided in column to the right (equivalent to 5 hours of early fieldwork experience).
  • Develop an emerging template for how to structure SMART IEP goals after reading the following article: https://www.wrightslaw.com/bks/feta2/ch12.ieps.pdf
  • Develop a Universally designed lesson plan after watching videos about Universal Design for Learning; You are encouraged to use the lesson plan template: UDL Template
  • For this assignment, students use new knowledge gained from the videos about the social model of dis/ability to develop an emerging plan for classroom management.
    • Think about the messages that are implicitly communicated to students and families through your classroom management systems
    • Consider how you would later the language you use when referring to students
    • Consider how you would group students
  • Students’ emerging plan for classroom management will entail writing a 3-page document that includes specific ideas gathered from the resource links.
  • Students’ 3-page document will specifically refer to the exact resource(s) through which each of their ideas about classroom management have been gained.

Resource Links for Alternative Technology-Enabled Assignments

Early fieldwork experience hours for this course may include the following options:

  • Classrooms that include students with IEP's, or other settings such as a resource room or pull-out
  • 1:1 observations with any special education service providers
  • Before or after school observations

Technology-Enabled Alternative Assignments                          

  • Identify a struggling student or group of students (ELLs, students with dis/abilities, student with SST) and develop a Response to Intervention (RtI) plan for these students
    • Determine what RTI strategy will be implemented
  • Create a Behavior Support Plans (BSP) for a student you identify as struggling. Make sure to include WHY you have identified and labeled this student as “struggling.”
    • Identify the inappropriate behaviors in the classroom.
      • What do these behaviors look like?
      • How are they disrupting learning for students or other students?
    • Develop a Behavior Support Plan (BSP) to correct inappropriate behaviors
    • Positive Behavior Interventions (PBI)
    • Develop an IEP goal that targets the students inappropriate behavior

Resource Links for Alternative Technology-Enabled Assignments

Early fieldwork experience hours for this course may include the following options:

  • Observe the administration of the Woodcock Johnson Literacy Assessment.
  • Observe the administration of the Weschler Individual Achievement Assessment
  • Observe a triannual meeting
  • Observe an annual IEP meeting (key in on Language and Literacy goals and discussions)
  • Observe the administration of any language and literacy assessment (i.e. DIBLES)

Technology-Enabled Alternative Assignments

  • Early Fieldwork Paper: Evidence of knowledge of one or more of the following will be documented by completing five one-page single spaced synthesis of the information in the videos (linked in the column to the right).
    • Gather information on one focus student who is an ELL.
    • Gather information on classroom management routines (attendance, distributing assignments, collecting work, grading, assessment).
    • Gather information on one focus student with dis/abilities.
    • Gather information on UDL - the curriculum being taught to the whole class including as many details as you can on content, differentiation strategies, procedures, assessments, and general demographics on the class as a whole.
    • Assess the extent to which inquiry (chapter 11 Estes) is used as an instructional strategy.
    • Describe aspects of social justice integrated into the learning.
  • Complete 5 one-page narratives, which discuss one or more of the following, as viewed in the videos: 1) developing equity-centered curricula, 2) assessing diverse learners, 3) interpreting assessment data, 4) prescribing literacy instruction, 5) aligning student needs with appropriate materials and teaching strategies, and 6) evaluating various types of assessment instruments.

Resource Links for Alternative Technology-Enabled Assignments