Teacher Education General Information

Admittance to Teacher Education

Requirements for admission into the professional education program can be found in the Teacher Education Handbook.

Teacher Education Guidance Committee

This committee considers those professional education students who have deficiencies which are so serious that their success in the field of teaching would be in jeopardy. Such deficiencies may or may not relate to quantitative criteria.

The guidance committee is an ad hoc subcommittee of the Council on Teacher Education. Although the Council on Teacher Education has overall reviewing authority, this subcommittee, known as the Teacher Education Guidance Committee, develops and implements the necessary procedures. Committee members may include the assistant director of Teacher Education, field experiences representative, chairperson or director of the student’s major studies area, the student’s advisor, and faculty who have taught the student. These committee members are included since they possess relevant information about the student.

Any University faculty member may refer a student to the Teacher Education Guidance Committee. The chairperson of the Council on Teacher Education will then structure the ad hoc committee and arrange a meeting to which the student may be called to appear. The chairperson will then report the decision of the committee to the student.

The committee will take one of four courses of action in regard to a student in question:

1. No action; the student would continue in the Teacher Education Program.
2. Recommend remedial actions that the student must take, to be followed by further screening.
3. Recommend remedial action and suspension from the Teacher Education Program until the student has met said requirements of the committee.
4. Recommend that the student be terminated from the Teacher Education Program, in which case he or she would not be permitted to complete any program from this University leading to educator certification.

All students will have the right to appeal in person regarding decisions rendered by the Teacher Education Guidance Committee. The purpose of the appeal is not to provide a secondary hearing of a case already heard by the committee, but rather to insure that students have been able to present all information pertaining to their case and that proper protocols have been followed. Students should provide a basis for their appeal by submitting either new information pertaining to their case, or evidence of error or bias on the part of the previous committee. The students must initiate the appeals process by contacting the Office of the Dean of the School of Education.

Directed Teaching

Prospective student teachers must attend an orientation session and make application for student teaching with the Director of Educational Field Experiences in the trimester immediately prior to the trimester in which student teaching is to be completed. The Director of Educational Field Experiences will establish a specific date for application each trimester. At the time of application, the student must secure the approval of the following persons: Registrar, major advisor (and minor advisor when appropriate), and TESS coordinator. The application form containing the approval route can be found in Tk20. An overall GPA and official admittance to the teacher education program are required (see “Admittance to Teacher Education” above). A minimum GPA is also required for all courses taken at Northwest, all courses taken in each of the applicant’s subject areas and all courses in the professional education sequence. Reference minimum GPA in the Professional Education Handbook.

Secondary and elementary-secondary program majors are required to successfully complete EDCI 62353; EDUC 61520, and EDUC 61461 in order to maintain eligibility to student teach. Elementary, middle school, secondary, and special education majors student teach an entire trimester. Students may not have a choice of time or location for the directed teaching experience. Students may suggest a location, however, final placement resides with the Director of Field Experiences.

Graduation Requirements

Students completing a teacher education program must complete as a part of their program a field experience in a diverse setting for a minimum of thirty (30) clock hours.

Teacher Education candidates must demonstrate their competence across the state’s MoSPE standards for teacher educators. This is accomplished through authentic assessments designated in the Professional Education Unit (PEU) assessment system.

Certification Exit Requirements

In addition to satisfying the respective program requirements, each candidate seeking initial certification must achieve the minimum GPA requirement set by the State Board of Education to include: A minimum overall GPA; a minimum GPA in each of the certificate subject areas; and a minimum overall GPA and no grade lower than a “C” in professional education courses, i.e., those courses defined as foundations for teaching, teaching methods and techniques, and clinical experiences. Each candidate must also achieve a satisfactory score on the appropriate Pearson Content Exam. Reference minimum GPA in the Professional Education Handbook.

Certification

Students admitted to the Professional Education Program are subject to all prevailing academic and social regulations and policies of the University in addition to those specified for the various certificate program sequences. The Teacher Education candidate is also subject to any Missouri legislative action or State Board of Education policy that may become effective during the lifetime of this catalog. The candidate is responsible for meeting the requirements of endorsement area(s) at the time of application for an initial Missouri teaching certificate. In addition to the certificate requirements, the student must satisfy the degree requirements of the major department. The teacher education advisor in each department will guide the student in meeting all requirements. Additional information about certification is in the Professional Education Handbook and on the Northwest website at http://www.nwmissouri.edu/education/peu/certification/index.htm. For specific information regarding teacher certification, contact the Teacher Certification Officer.

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education-Office of Educator Quality is working with a representative stakeholder group to redesign the standards for educator preparation including certification requirements. These changes and the implementation schedule will be communicated to students through individual advising sessions, meetings, and/or other university communications. If there are any questions or concerns, please contact the Missouri Department of Educator Preparation in the Office of Educator Quality (eqprep@dese.mo.gov).

Post-Degree Certification

Individuals who hold baccalaureate degrees from regionally-accredited institutions may elect to pursue their initial teaching certificate by completing our teacher preparation program. Candidates are subject to the requirements as provided in this catalog. Candidates are required to fulfill all the general education requirements for certification as designated by the state of Missouri.

Title II Reporting

Northwest annually reports to the United States Department of Education on the performance of its Teacher Education graduates. The report is public information and is contained in its entirety on the following website: http://www.nwmissouri.edu/education/peu/reports.htm.