Field Experience
The Educator Preparation Field Experience program provides a variety of high quality placements in rural, suburban and urban schools, usually within about 50 miles of River Falls. Here you will find current information about early field experiences. These placements are connected to specific courses and play a vital role in a student's development as a professional educator.
Because of the quality of our programs and our candidates, many schools in Wisconsin and Minnesota welcome the opportunity to provide us with field experience and student teaching placements.
For more information, contact Director of Field Experience Wanda Schlesser at wanda.schlesser@uwrf.edu. Find information about the field hours by course.
Background History Forms
Additional Background Checks
Many districts require additional background checks which they run themselves. Background check forms for the districts we place in are available below. There is up to a 2-3 day wait once a background check is submitted by a district before clearance can be issued to the student. Students need to be aware of this and plan accordingly, as clearance is required before field experience can begin. Some background checks require a fee as well. Please check the 'Notes' column of the placement roster for any information that applies to you in this regard.
- Anoka-Hennepin, ISD 11 - FEE
- Burnsville, ISD 191 - FEE
- North St. Paul | Maplewood | Oakdale, ISE 622 - FEE
- Hastings,
- Mendota Heights, ISD 197 - FEE
- Mounds View, ISD 821 - FEE
- Osseo, ISD 279 - FEE
- Roseville, ISD 623 - FEE
- South St. Paul - FEE
- South Washington, ISD 833 - FEE
- St. Paul Schools - FEE
- Stillwater, ISD 834 - FEE
- White Bear Lake, ISD 624
Frequently Asked Questions
Many of the forms and other necessary information are linked to this website. Forms that are not on this site can be obtained through your instructor.
Undergraduates and some graduate students are not permitted to make their own placements. All placements are made through the Field Experience Office.
We avoid placing students in their hometown. Not only do we want to avoid any potential conflicts of interest, we also want to make sure that every student has the opportunity to experience a variety of placements. (This is a state requirement.) Allowing students to return to their hometown does not provide for that variety. Students have the option of volunteering in any school, and with any teacher, but those hours are not recorded or counted toward the field experience requirements.
Although many principals and teachers welcome us into their schools, we are still guests at their discretion. It is not their responsibility to contact you to make arrangements for classroom visits, so do not expect them to return your call. They may not have even received your message. Simply call the school and ask the secretary about hours of the school day and when the specific teacher has a planning period or lunch. Once you have that information, be sure to call back at the appropriate time.
If you have tried repeatedly to reach the teacher or administrator, please have your UWRF professor contact the Field Experience Office and we will attempt to make contact, or find another placement. If you haven't bothered to try to make arrangements, we will cancel the placement and you can complete the experience during a subsequent semester. (This may mean an "I" for the course and postponing your student teaching semester.)
