How Radford University Simplified Field Placements, Evaluations, and Reporting

At Radford University’s College of Education & Human Development, coordinating field placements once meant keeping track of 19 customized spreadsheets.

And placements were only one part of the challenge. The harder part was keeping everything that followed connected without creating even more administrative work for the people managing the program.

During a recent webinar, Kelly Robinson, Ph.D., Coordinator of Field Experiences at Radford University, joined me to share why the university decided to change field experience platforms, how the team approached implementation, and what has changed since moving to CORE by PeopleGrove.

Want to hear the full conversation? Watch the webinar replay here.

Radford’s educator preparation program includes 19 initial endorsement areas and three advanced degree programs, with field experience requirements varying by program.

For Kelly, two areas created some of the most work: matching candidates with cooperating teachers and making sure cooperating teachers received and completed required assessments. When Radford began evaluating new field experience platforms, the team prioritized bringing more of the work into one place, reducing the manual back-and-forth between people and spreadsheets, and making it easier for cooperating teachers to participate.

Radford ultimately selected CORE for Teacher Education and implemented the platform over the summer, with plans to launch that fall. Since then, those priorities have shown up in practical ways, from how supervisors manage placements to how cooperating teachers complete assessments and how the field experience team keeps track of what still needs attention.

How Radford Approached Field Experience Management Platform Implementation

Kelly started with a planning document that captured Radford’s programs, processes, and requirements so the CORE team understood how the system needed to function.

Over the summer, her team tested those processes using dummy accounts and different user perspectives, from students to cooperating teachers. That helped Radford identify questions, make adjustments with the CORE team, and launch in August with greater confidence.

Kelly’s advice for other programs is practical: document how you work, test the experience for each user, and decide early how programs, terms, and other information should be named and organized. CORE can adapt terminology within the platform to match a program’s language, and establishing those conventions early creates a more intuitive experience for users and more consistent data for tracking and reporting.

Simplifying Field Placement Coordination

One of the first differences Radford saw was in candidate placement coordination. Instead of passing placement spreadsheets among Kelly, faculty, and supervisors, supervisors can now work directly in CORE to match candidates with cooperating teachers.

That was especially valuable when Radford faced a tight turnaround for placements. Supervisors could make thoughtful pairings based on candidate needs and cooperating teacher availability without Kelly managing every exchange of information.

The result: fewer handoffs for Kelly and more direct ownership of placement decisions for supervisors.

Making Field Experience Assessments Easier for Cooperating Teachers

One thing Kelly emphasized in our conversation was how important it was to make the experience easier for cooperating teachers. As she put it, “Why one more login for our cooperating teachers?”

With CORE, cooperating teachers receive an email with a direct link to the assessment they need to complete, without another password to remember or platform to learn.

And Kelly saw the impact pretty quickly. While the first fall came with some expected troubleshooting, by spring she said cooperating teachers needed very little help. They received the email, clicked the link, and completed the assessment.

For me, that’s an important part of Radford’s story: less friction for cooperating teachers also means less troubleshooting for the field experience team.

Simplifying Candidate Progress and Accreditation Reporting

Reporting has also become more repeatable, giving the Radford team a consistent way to monitor candidate progress and prepare for program and accreditation needs.

Instead of rebuilding reports each time, the team can return to the same views to check candidate schedules, assessment completion, and outstanding tasks. A scheduling matrix shows whether candidates are where they need to be, while assessment views help the team identify incomplete work and send reminders directly to candidates, supervisors, or cooperating teachers.

The result is a clearer picture of what needs attention throughout the semester, with the same information organized and accessible when it's needed for reporting.

The Value of Support Beyond Implementation

One thing Kelly didn't expect was how much easier the transition would be. With Radford's previous platform, requests to adjust a process were often met with a “no.” With CORE, she said the team worked with them to find a solution or another way to accomplish what they needed.

That continued after launch. When the field experience team wanted faculty supervisors to manage more of the placement process, their customer success manager created a how-to guide and video to help supervisors get started. According to Kelly, the supervisors then found the process straightforward: “So easy, no problems.”

For a field experience team that once managed placements across 19 customized spreadsheets, the result is fewer handoffs, more shared responsibility, and a clearer view of what needs attention throughout the semester.

Ready to explore what this could look like for your program? Schedule a demo of CORE for Teacher Education to see how your team can manage field placements, assessments, evaluations, and reporting in one place.