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Student-Teacher Placement Requests

Online Placement Request Form 

Placement Request Guiding Principles, Roles and Responsibilities

The Mead School District is committed to ensuring the development of each profession supported in the public school setting, including the placement of college and university students in our system. The initial experiences of individuals new to a profession are critically important in maintaining that profession’s quality and reducing attrition. We understand the benefits of supporting college students as potential future employees and of having a consistent process in place for all impacted parties, including principals, cooperating staff members, and the candidates themselves. Providing all of our schools in the district equal access to student candidates from local universities also ensures that district principals, teachers, and other staff have a shared obligation and opportunity to assist in the growth and development of the next generation of educators and public school employees.

All placement assignments, including Student Teaching, Observations/Fieldwork, Practicums, and Internships are processed through the Mead School District Human Resources Department. Students must work through their college or school of education to request placement within the Mead School District. MSD will work directly with colleges and universities to ensure proper placement. Requests received at the building level will be referred to the Human Resources Department and will need to follow the appropriate process outlined below. Please note that there must be a partnership agreement (Memorandum of Understanding) in place between Mead School District and the college or university for the specific department/school of study that the student is enrolled in. Through the course of this document, the term “Student/Pre-Service Teacher” will be applied to any higher-education students seeking placement in the Mead School District.

SELECTION PROCEDURE
All placements will be made based on the following criteria: availability of qualified staff/potential mentor(s) in requested areas, the willingness of schools/departments to take a student, and the outcome of the student interview between the principal/administrator, student, and cooperating mentor staff. Student placements in school buildings are also dependent upon classroom size, student count, and physical distancing requirements set forth by the Regional Health District.

Colleges and universities may initiate placement requests for preliminary and continuing education The District will make every effort to place students at their requested location or with the requested staff member. Please note the following caveats to placement requests:

  • Current employees will not be placed in the same school building in which they are currently employed or have resigned from in the past school year.
  • We also avoid placing Mead graduates in the same high school from which they have graduated
  • We will place the parents of current students in buildings where their children do not attend.

Each high school will run on rotating schedules opposite of each other. For example, each high school will accept student teachers placed in Art, ELA, History, and CTE one year and then student teachers placed in PE/Health, Math, Spec Ed, and Science the next year.

If a request cannot be met, we will process the request in all remaining areas that are accepting placements in the subject/level/field of study, unless requested otherwise. Reasonable effort will be made to equalize the distribution of placements within the District, and across the spectrum of submitting colleges/universities.

Colleges and universities may initiate placement requests for preliminary and continuing education experiences, from entry-level observations/fieldwork to student teaching/internships in the Mead School District, by completing the online Placement Request Form. Requests are processed according to the number of cooperating staff available and placements may be limited. Requests for Fall Semester are preferred to be received no later than May 1 and Spring Semester no later than November 1, although requests made after the preferred date will be taken into consideration. Please note that no new placement requests will be processed during the months of August and September due to the increased workload that accompanies “back-to-school” activities within the school district.

The placement application materials will be shared with building/department administrators and the potential cooperating mentor staff. Interviews with candidates may be conducted by the building administrator and/or the potential cooperating staff member. Upon agreement between the Human Resources Department, building administrator, and cooperating staff member, the Human Resources Department will confirm (or deny) the placement request directly with the university placement official. Reasonable effort will be made to equalize the distribution of student teachers within the District, and across the spectrum of submitting colleges/universities.