Northwest Missouri State University

2024-2025 Undergraduate Catalog

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Teacher Education General Information

Admittance to Teacher Education

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

Completion of this curriculum, other University requirements, and an overall grade point average identified in the Professional Education Handbook on a 4.00 scale qualifies the student to receive a Bachelor of Science in Education degree.

The number of hours in the major, minor, and elective categories may vary depending on the major and minor selected. Care should be exercised in choosing courses to assure a minimum of 40 semester hours of senior college work in courses numbered above 300.

All degrees in education are subject to state requirements which may change at any time due to action of the State Board of Education.

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 a standing 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 and is responsible for issues affecting teacher candidates after admission to the Professional Education Program. Committee members include the Assistant Director of Teacher Education, Clinical Field Experience Coordinator, Assistant Coordinator of Clinical Field Experiences, Education Compliance Specialist/Certification Officer, TESS Coordinator, Undergraduate Coordinator Representative, Chair of the Council on Teacher Education (COTE), and a member designated by the Director of Teacher Education. The candidate's academic advisor will be invited to attend meetings in a non-voting role to serve as an advocate and to provide support for the candidate.

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 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 ensure 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 semester immediately prior to the semester in which student teaching is to be completed. The Director of Educational Field Experiences will establish a specific date for application each semester. 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.  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, Elementary-Secondary, and Middle school program majors are required to successfully complete EDUC 61430 or EDUC 61431 in order to maintain eligibility to student teach. Elementary and Special Education majors will participate in a residency practicum semester followed by a student teaching semester. Secondary, Elementary/Secondary, and Middle school majors will student teach for one semester.  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

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 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.