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COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

Shirley Jacob, Interim Dean

 

The College of Education administratively is composed of the Departments of Educational Leadership and Technology; Teaching and Learning; and the Office of Performance Assessment. In addition, students in the Departments of Biological Sciences, Chemistry and Physics, English, Fine and Performing Arts, Language and Communication, History and Political Science, Kinesiology and Health Studies, and Mathematics, who are preparing to become teachers in elementary and secondary schools are enrolled in the College of Education.

 

Selective Admission and Retention In Teacher Education Policies and Procedures

The teaching profession is highly demanding and remarkably complex. A person desiring to become a teacher must maintain academic standards and demonstrate qualifications for successful teaching including satisfactory performance in field experiences. Therefore, the College of Education at Southeastern Louisiana University reserves the right to recruit, admit, and retain in the Professional Program in Teacher Education only those students who show evidence of being capable of performing in an acceptable professional manner. Enrollment in the Professional Program does not guarantee that a student will receive the degree or certification sought simply because he/she completes a number of courses or is in the field the required number of hours.

Certification requirements are specified by the State Legislature, and/or the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and coordinated by the State Department of Education. These requirements are subject to periodic modification, which may not occur at times appropriate for inclusion in the annual publication of the University Catalog. It is the responsibility of the students to make periodic checks for such changes with their academic advisors and/or department heads.

Students are required to submit an application for admission to the Professional Program in Teacher Education. Each candidate's application must be reviewed for compliance with the standards of Selective Admission and Retention in Teacher Education (SARTE) and by the Dean of the College of Education.

  1.  Admission Procedures

      • A. Students in the College of Education and other colleges that have approved teacher education programs must make application for admission to the Professional Program in Teacher Education at least four weeks prior to the end of any given semester in order to have their applications duly processed by the beginning of the following semester. The schedule for applying is the following:
          • Students in the College of Education and other colleges that have approved teacher education programs will normally be required to make application for admission as students in Education 201 or 203.
          • All students must have formally filed an application before enrolling in any professional courses other than Education 201 or 203.
      • Students who make proper application will be screened and placed in one of the three categories described below:
        • FULL STATUS: Indicates all screening components have been met and the candidate is eligible to schedule remaining professional education courses (EDUC, EPSY, ECE, and SPED prefix courses). Criteria for Full Status are:
            • Minimum 2.5 cumulative or degree grade point average (based on a minimum of 30 credit hours.
            • Maintain a cumulative or degree grade point average of 2.5 or better.
            • Achieve a passing score of PRAXIS I PPST-Reading, Writing, and Mathematics. (Refer to the Louisiana Department of Education website for current passing scores.)
            • Achieve a grade of "C" or better in English 102.
            • Achieve a grade of "B" or better in Education 201 and 211 or 203 and 212.
            • Have never been convicted of a felony.
      • PROVISIONAL STATUS: May be granted to a student who has a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.5 or above and a "B" or better in Education 201 and 211 or 202 or 203 and 212 depending upon degree program, but who is deficient in one or more of the remaining components. Provisional status students may not schedule any professional education courses beyond EDUC 204. However, students in provisional status may schedule EPSY 301 or 311 as required by the individual's curriculum.
      • INELIGIBLE: Indicates a student does not meet or maintain criteria for either full or provisional status.

  2. Retention ProceduresAppeal Procedures

      • Ongoing screening of each student utilizing the standards of the Professional Program in Teacher Education will occur each semester of a student's enrollment.
        • Students will be permitted to enroll in any EDUC, ECE, EPSY, and SPED course only twice.
        • Students will be permitted to repeat only two EDUC, ECE, EPSY, and SPED courses.
      • Students demonstrating behaviors or characteristics that make it questionable whether they can succeed in the teaching profession will be referred for Professional Performance Review. A review may result in:
        • No action being taken but further observations.
        • Recommendation of a Professional Improvement Plan (monitored by the Coordinator of the Teacher Development Program).
        • Referral to SARTE which may recommend:
          • Probation with specified conditions.
          • Temporary suspension from the Teacher Education program with specified conditions.
          • Expulsion from the Teacher Education program.

  3. Students who wish to appeal decisions of the SARTE Committee may do so in writing to the Dean of the College of Education.

 

Policy for Student Portfolios 
College of Education

As part of the College of Education focus on performance-based outcomes, portfolios will be incorporated into the assessment system for students enrolled in an approved Teacher Education Program. Students are required to submit portfolios through PASSPORT, a web-based system that provides candidates, faculty, and administrative staff a system to gather, demonstrate, and evaluate performance data. Candidates will be charged a one-time non-refundable fee for licensure to use the system for seven years. This fee will automatically be charged the first time a candidate registers for a course offered through the College of Education (EDUC, EPSY, EDL, ETEC, ECE, EDF, and LSED prefixes).

The portfolio will (1) allow the student to demonstrate, through reflections, his/her understanding of how the artifacts contained in the portfolio meet the program outcomes; (2) provide a process by which a student can become a reflective practitioner to foster continuous improvement; and (3) document a student's growth from the Introductory Level (novice stage) to a level of competence as an educator, the Competency Level. Through the portfolio process, evaluators will have an opportunity to identify areas for improvement at each level of assessment and develop a plan for remediation when necessary. By completing and submitting a portfolio, students will gain an understanding that they are ultimately responsible for acquiring the knowledge and skills necessary for being an effective classroom teacher.

The portfolio will consist of artifacts, documents, and evidence, which demonstrate that the knowledge, skills, and dispositions as indicated in the Louisiana Components of Effective Teaching and the Program's Conceptual Framework have been met. Students will be required to submit an Introductory Level Portfolio as a prerequisite to their first methods class (EDUC 321, 323, 326, 328, 485, or 490 or KIN 460), a Developing Level Portfolio as a requirement for student teaching, and a Competency Level Portfolio as a requirement for graduation. Students are to refer to the Teacher Preparation Portfolio Handbook for timelines and content requirements. The Teacher Preparation Portfolio Handbook will be approved each spring by the Council for Teacher Education for the next catalog year.

 

Additional College of Education Graduation Requirements

Students in the College of Education must meet the following requirements in addition to the general University requirements listed elsewhere:

 

Teacher Certification Programs (programs leading to a degree in teacher education and state certification).

        • Earn a cumulative or degree grade point average of 2.5 and a 2.5 cumulative or degree grade point average in work completed at Southeastern.*
        • Have no grade lower than a "B" in Education 203 and 212 and have no grade lower than a "C" in other professional courses (Education, Early Childhood Education, and Educational Psychology) and in each teaching field.
        • Complete 270 hours in all-day, all-semester student teaching with a minimum of 180 clock hours in actual teaching.
        • Successfully compete either three semester hours in Reading (secondary curricula) or nine semester hours in Reading (elementary curricula).
        • Have completed an approved Competency Level Portfolio.
        • The College of Education defines computer literacy in the following ways:
      • The ability to instruct using computers to aid in learning, solving problems, and managing information.
      • Knowledge of function, applications, capabilities, limitations, and related technology.

*See Scholastic Ratings, this catalog, for explanation of calculation of grade point averages.

 

 Degrees Conferred

The degree of Bachelor of Arts is conferred upon the completion of the curricula in the following fields:

English Education
Social Studies Education

The degree of Bachelor of Science is conferred upon the completion of the curricula in the following fields:

Early Childhood Education Grades PK-3
Elementary Education Grades 1-5
Health and Physical Education Teacher Education
Middle School Education Grades 4-8
General Special Education Mild/Moderate for Elementary Education Grades 1-5
General Special Education Mild/Moderate for Middle School Grades 4-8

 

Honors Diploma in the Discipline

The college also offers upper-division honors curricula allowing students to earn an honors diploma in a certain discipline at graduation. For information about requirements and honors courses in your major, please contact the department in which you are majoring.

 

Alternative Teacher Certification Programs

The College of Education offers two alternative teacher programs: (1) Master of Arts in Teaching, and (2) Certification-Only Alternative Teacher Certification. Post-Baccalaureate Certificates may also be awarded to students completing the Certification-Only and Add-On certification programs. A complete description of these programs is located in the Graduate Studies section of this catalog.

 

Departmental Curricula

English

English Education

Kinesiology and Health Studies

Health and Physical Education Teacher Education

History and Political Science
Social Studies Education

Teaching and Learning

Early Childhood Education Grades PK-3
Elementary Education Grades 1-5
Middle School Education Grades 4-8
Special Education Mild/Moderate for Elementary Education Grades 1-5
Special Education Mild/Moderate for Middle School Education Grades 4-8

 

Requirements for Student Teaching

The State Department of Education regulations for certification of teachers require that students do their student teaching under the control and supervision of the institution from which they expect to be graduated. To be eligible for student teaching, students must:

  1. Be seniors. (They must have at least ninety hours of credit.)

  2. Have been registered in the College of Education for at least three semesters.

  3. Pass all parts of PRAXIS I PPST in Reading, Writing, and Mathematics.

  4. Have a cumulative or degree grade point average of 2.5 and a 2.5 cumulative or degree grade point average in work completed at Southeastern.

  5. Have completed and earned a grade of "C" or better in all required professional courses: Education and Education Psychology.

  6. Have completed and earned a grade of "C" or better in all required courses in their first teaching fields. These courses are identified with a single dagger on the curriculum sheets.

  7. Pass PRAXIS II examinations in Principles of Learning and Teaching and Content Specialty Area Tests.

  8. Have completed Education 201 and 211 or 203 and 212 with a grade of "B" or better.

  9. Have completed the final methods course (ECE 422, EDUC 415, EDUC 484, EDUC 490) at Southeastern with a grade of "C" or better.

  10. Have completed an approved Developing Level portfolio.

  11. Apply for student teaching one semester prior to the semester during which the applicant plans to student teach. Applications are accepted during the Fall and Spring semesters, but not during the Summer. The Director of Students Teaching will assign the grade or subject and the supervising teachers under whom the students will work.

  12. Have approval of the Director of Student Teaching.

  13. Have a statement from their Department Head certifying that they are competent in the subject material in which they are seeking certification.

 

Student Teaching Semester

Student teaching is an all-day (approximately eight hours), all-semester activity. The student teacher will be required to spend the full public school day, plus any additional conference or seminar time, in this experience.

The majority of student teachers will be assigned to do their student teaching away from the campus community; therefore, student teachers must expect that they may be asked to make arrangements to be away from the campus for the student teaching semester. The Director of Student Teaching will make the assignments for each student teacher.

Under special circumstances a student may request permission from the Director of Student Teaching to schedule one course with student teaching. Any course scheduled in addition to student teaching must not conflict with student teaching. The hours involved in student teaching will be approximately 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.

In order to remain in student teaching, students are expected to meet and maintain desirable professional, physical, and moral standards consistent with their positions in the public schools.

A student who fails or is directed to withdraw from student teaching or the Practicum for Alternative Certification must complete a Professional Improvement Plan (Monitored by the Coordinator of the Teacher Development Program) prior to a second teaching experience. A student may not attempt student teaching a third time.

Nine semester hours are awarded for student teaching. Grades for all students are on the Pass-Fail basis (Students should remember that they must have a cumulative or degree grade point average of 2.5 to be graduated in one of the teacher education curricula.).