The Master of Arts in Teaching program offers a comprehensive student teaching experience in public school classrooms throughout Central Oregon. The student teaching component is a crucial part of teacher formation that offers students unique exposure to a diversity of school districts, policies, administration, staff, cultures, ethnic and economic groups.

Oregon Teacher Standards and Practices Commission

Multiple Subjects (Grades K-8) Endorsement
Offers teacher candidates placement opportunities at two levels throughout the academic year. Upon obtaining Preliminary Teaching Licensure, teacher candidates gain an endorsement to teach Multiple Subjects in self-contained classrooms at the elementary level in grades K-8.

Language Arts, Science, Mathematics, and/or Social Studies Endorsements
Offers teacher candidates placement opportunities in middle school (Grades 6-8) and high school (grades 9-12) classrooms throughout the academic year for endorsement(s) in either Social Studies, Language Arts, Mathematics or Science.

Placement Information for Students*

  • Information related to your placement is collected from you upon acceptance into the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program.
  • You will receive a placement form. This is the information used to initiate your placement in Central Oregon. We work with six school districts: in Deschutes (Bend-La Pine, Redmond, Sisters), Crook (Prineville), and Jefferson (Madras, Culver). Travel outside of Bend for your placement is expected. Please plan accordingly. You may be required to travel to any of these counties for your internship experience regardless of where you live.
  • You will receive a template for a resume and profile. These will be required on the template provided before placement can begin. Your resume and profile will be sent to potential cooperating teachers and principals. Present yourself in the best light possible to facilitate getting your placement confirmed quickly.
  • Teacher candidates may be placed within a 60-mile radius of OSU-Cascades. 
  • Teacher Candidates will not be placed at a school where a relative or member of household of the teacher candidate works or attends. Such information should be disclosed by the teacher candidate at the time of program application. Failure to do so can jeopardize your placement.
  • Distance placements outside of the local radius are considered upon request, but not guaranteed.
  • Since placements are done on an individual basis, the timing for notification varies and is dependent upon multiple circumstances. Turning in the Internship Placement Form and your resume and profile early will give you the best opportunity to have your placement confirmed as soon as possible.

*Please note that upon admission to the MAT program, it is important that you maintain communication with our Placement Coordinator. Failing to do so may affect where and if you are placed. 

Teacher Candidate Placements Policy

  • Oregon State University-Cascades guarantees student teaching placements that meet the minimum placement requirements for each program (outlined below). This guaranteed placement will be in the teacher candidate’s primary endorsement area and will be within a 60-mile radius of the hosting OSU campus (Cascades or Corvallis). Placement in a district that is further than 60 miles from the hosting OSU campus will be considered upon request and must be approved by the program lead and the Director of Licensure.  View the teacher candidate placements policy.

Please contact Erin Feeney, our Placement Coordinator, by email or at 541-322-3189 if you have questions about the Internship Placement processes.

Teacher Candidate Placement Timeline

  • February: The student teaching placement process starts. Once all required admission documentation is received and confirmed, students will receive an email from our Education Placement Internship Coordinator with directions to complete a Placement Information Form that provides general information. Students will receive an email with directions to create a Placement Portfolio that includes a personal background/education profile and a cover letter.
  • March: The placement process continues by connecting with district superintendents and administrators, human resource personnel, and school principals and teachers. Each district has very specific instructions and protocol for placing student teachers. It is very important that students DO NOT make any contact with school district administrators, principals, or teachers concerning their student teaching placement.
  • April – June: The Placement Coordinator will email students about their assigned placement information and directions to initiate a “Meet and Greet” with their Cooperating Teacher(s).
  • June – August: Specific directions for all other placement requirements that include TSPC fingerprinting clearance, SafeSchools online training, National Education Association (NEA) membership, and school district registration will be shared in ED 510.
  • August: Student teaching placement starts with school district in-service meetings and trainings before the actual first day of school. Your placement schedule follows the school district calendar and not the OSU-Cascades academic calendar.

Student Teaching Placement Authorization and Locations

In accordance with Oregon Teacher Standards and Practices Commission, your student teaching placement can only be in an accredited school that is most often a public school.

OSU-Cascades MAT program has education partnerships with schools all over Central Oregon that include six school districts in Deschutes (Bend-La Pine, Redmond, Sisters), Crook (Prineville), and Jefferson (Madras, Culver). Travel outside of Bend for your placement is expected. Please plan accordingly.

Two Placements:

First Placement: Part-time during the fall term.

Second Placement: Part-time during the winter term and full-time during the spring term.

The MAT program offers student teaching placement opportunities throughout the academic year in two different levels per endorsement.

Teaching endorsements include:

Elementary - Multiple Subjects, Social Studies, Language Arts, Mathematics, or Science

*An ESOL Endorsement is an optional endorsement.  For more information please see our ESOL website.

  • Elementary Placement Levels: Kindergarten, 2 and 3 – 5 grade
  • Secondary Placement Levels: Middle School (6 – 8) and High School (9 – 12)
  • Student Teaching placements are arranged and confirmed by OSU-Cascades' Education Placement Internship Coordinator, Erin Feeney (erin.feeney@osucascades.edu) in collaboration with each school district administration.

Fingerprints and Background Checks

The safety of children is always our highest priority and we are vigilant in assuring that the appropriate clearance has been given for each OSU student we place in a K-12 setting.

TSPC Clearance Information

Fingerprint Process

All Teacher Candidates will be required to clear the fingerprint process through Teacher Standards and Practices Commission (TSPC). If you have not already completed this process, please do so six weeks in advance of when your placement is scheduled to begin. Please follow the instructions found at this link:

http://www.oregon.gov/tspc/Pages/Fingerprinting.aspx

  • CHOOSE 1b Applicant for licensure, registration, or certificate NOT 1a
  • Applicant submits an application (which includes a background clearance) and payment through eLicensing
  • Student payment for fingerprints are made to TSPC and Fieldprint 
  • Note: Additional application fees will apply
  • TSPC will email codes and instructions within 5-7 days

In eLicensing, the license category to select for fingerprinting is: "Clinical Practices"

TSPC licensure or candidate questions: Candidates should submit specific questions to TSPC. Here are the various ways to contact the agency:
• Phone 503-378-3586, 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday
• You could also use the "Ask Us a Question" portal or email them but response times vary widely. It's recommended that you call until you reach someone.

NOTES:

Candidate should include his/her name as it is on file with TSPC, birth date, the last four digits of SSN, and a summary of the background and questions.

You will need to provide a copy of your TSPC Clearance Dates to each School District Human Resources Department where you are placed for that school term.

After you have completed your fingerprinting at a Fieldprint location, your clearance date results will be available for you to look up in approximately 2 weeks. Take a screenshot (Snipping Tool is one way to take a screenshot) of this TSPC Fingerprinting Clearance page by going to http://www.tspc.oregon.gov/lookup_application/lookup_query.asp

Snipping Tool Directions:
1. Go to the colored ball Microsoft logo on the bottom screen page
2. In search area type: Snipping Tool
3. Click on Snipping Tool.
4. Click on NEW
5. Use the cursor to outline the area of the document, picture, etc. you want a “snip” of to save.
6. Select File, Save As
7. Save this Capture to your desktop or folder.
NOTE: You will also need to take a screenshot of your TSPC Clearance Dates page to upload this to your OSU-Cascades TaskStream account. This provides documentation to OSU-Cascades that you in fact have completed the TSPC Fingerprinting as required by the school districts and OSU-Cascades.

Enter the Date of Your OSP Clearance

No answer specified

Enter the Date of Your FBI Clearance

No answer specified

You will need to upload a copy of your TSPC fingerprint clearance screen. This can be in .png, .pdf, or .jpg format.

How to Attach

To attach your proof of fingerprint clearance off the TSPC website, you will click on the blue button with the word "Attachments" at the top of your screen.

Questions

Please contact Donna Harris by email or at 541-322-3173 if you have questions about the fingerprinting or background check processes.