In the final year of the teacher candidates’ program, the Office of Clinical Experience places candidates in a studio school location to complete their year-long Practicum I and II clinical experience. The studio school partnership allows UMSL’s teacher candidates to fully engage in the school experience. The teacher candidates co-teach, teach independently,  participate in staff meetings, opening of school activities, setting up classrooms, professional development days, IEP meetings, data team meetings, parent/teacher conferences, and field trips.

In order to be accepted into Practicum I, candidates must complete a thorough application process (see the 6-Step Application section of the Practicum Application page). The application carries the candidates through to Practicum II. All supporting documentation must be scanned and uploaded to the COE portal, with the exception of the application, which is completed electronically. Please see Important Dates for application deadlines. 

Choosing Your Practicum Site

After a candidate’s application has been approved by the advising office, the Office of Clinical Experience will send the candidates a Studio Schools Preference Survey  asking them to rank the studio school options by preference. Placements are ultimately selected by factoring in the survey results, available site openings as well as the timeframe in which practicum applications are submitted. Teacher candidates who submit their applications by the required date, making sure that all of the supporting documents are up to date, have a better opportunity at receiving their preferred studio school site. The Office of Clinical Experience will  email candidates with their confirmed studio school site placement and designated consent number for registration. Any questions regarding the practicum process can be directed to the office's Student Support Specialists. 

Choose an option from the menu to the left for information on Inquiry into My Practice (IMP), practicum application (which includes how to obtain a consent number) and handbooks for each certification area that requires practicum experience.

MEES Observation

DESE requires all teacher candidates in the state of Missouri to be evaluated using the MEES Teacher Candidate Assessment Rubric by their university clinical educator as well as by  their K-12 clinical teacher. The university requires clinical teachers and clinical educators evaluate their teacher candidates 4 times per semester: 2 informally and 2 formally. Two formal observations, one formative and one summative, will be collected via MyCOE. Clinical teachers should provide regular feedback to their teacher candidates on their performance. 

Clinical teachers are required to attend an in-person or on-line MEES training prior to evaluating a teacher candidate. Please click here for UMSL's On-Line MEES Training.

Other Useful Information for Teacher Candidates

The Missouri State Teachers Association (MSTA) and the Missouri National Education Association (MNEA) offer a variety of benefits to teachers candidates now and throughout their careers after certification. Just a few of the incentives include:

  • Legal protection and liability insurance (some school districts may require students to have this during practicum)
  • Discounts and deals for hotels, car insurance, wireless companies, banks, stores and more
  • Coaching, mentoring and training for certification
  • Career assistance and Professional Development resources

The College of Education strongly recommends and encourages our practicum candidates to use the following links and learn more about both organizations then select the one that best serves your needs:

The Missouri State Teachers Association (MSTA) - Free to join for students

Missouri National Education Association (MNEA) - $17 for students per school year