Step 1 -Getting Started
Before Entering the Teacher Education Program
Beginning with Foundation Courses, Heritage, PPST, and the Portfolio
To enter into the program, students take the education foundation courses: EDUC 101-Education and Society, EDUC 105-Characteristics of Exceptional Children, and/or EDUC 201-Educational Psychology and Assessment. Additionally, the Heritage Seminars taken during the freshman year are part of the initial program entry requirements.
Students interested in seeking a career in teaching should register for, take, and pass all parts of the basic skills Pre-Professional Skills Test (PPST) in their freshman year. Information about the PPST can be obtained in the Education Office.
During the education foundation course work, beginning with Education and Society, EDUC 101, students will begin preparation of their portfolios and learn more about the process in EDUC 222. Students will be required to purchase the portfolio kit during their freshman year.
Policy on Learning Disability and Standardized Testing
Students with disabilities who have been admitted to the college have been admitted through the same admissions process as other students. The student must be "otherwise qualified" to attend the college.
Reasonable Accommodations for a Disability
Accommodating students with disabilities does not mean setting different academic standards. It may mean, however, varying the performance measures that allow students an opportunity to demonstrate what they know in a mode that removes barriers for their particular disability: adapting classroom presentations, assignments, class activities and administrative procedures to ensure an accessible educational environment; or allowing the use of adaptive equipment such as tape recorders, spellers or word processing software.
Accommodations for Standardized Test Administration
The Education Division believes that teachers must possess certain basic skills in order to be effective in the classroom and in order to positively represent the education profession to the public. Chief among these skills are: (1) the ability to independently read and comprehend text at an appropriate level of difficulty, (2) the ability to compose and transcribe (mechanics, spelling, punctuation, sentence structure, etc.) both extemporaneously and with thought, and (3) the ability to understand basic mathematical concepts and perform related mathematical functions.
The importance of the above is predicated on the need of teachers to do the following:
1. Maintain and increase their professional knowledge base through reading.
2. Read and comprehend professional literature, school and district text, parent communications, etc.
3. Communicate in writing to parents extemporaneously as needed.
4. Communicate in writing to parents explaining such things as homework policies, grading policies, discipline plans, etc.
5. Write extemporaneously on the board or overhead transparency for students.
6. Successfully deal with classroom mathematical operations.
Because of the above, the Education Division requires passing scores on all three subtests of the basic skills PRAXIS I-Pre-Professional Skills Test (PPST) and on the PRAXIS II-Subject Assessment(s) No waivers will be granted. Students with documented disabilities can request testing accommodations through the Educational Testing Service (ETS) which provides the testing for Wisconsin. Reasonable testing accommodations must be requested by the student at the time of test registration.
ETS provides accommodations to allow candidates with documented disabilities an opportunity to demonstrate their skills and knowledge. Examples of accommodations that may be provided are:
· Extended testing time
· Additional rest breaks
· Selectable background and foreground colors (computer based testing)
· Reader
· Recorder/writer
· Sign language interpreter
· Braille or audio cassette formats
· Kensington Trackball mouse (computer based testing)
· HeadMaster Plus mouse (computer based testing)
· Intellikeys keyboard (computer based testing)
· Enlarged print