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The Transition to Teaching: Secondary Education Program helps mid-career professionals and other college graduates with extensive coursework in mathematics, science, language arts, or music gain the skills and earn the credentials they need to teach mathematics, science, language arts and music in Illinois high need schools.The program offers participants the opportunity to earn teacher certification in only 14 months, and as an option, a master of arts in teaching by completing an additional two months of studies. Participants may be eligible for student loans and other financial assistance.
Informational Sessions
During the 08-09 academic year, McKendree will host informational sessions about the Transitions to Teaching program on the following dates:
- Thursday, November 6, 2008
- Thursday, November 13, 2008
- Thursday, December 11, 2008
Sessions will be held from 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm. To RSVP to one of the sessions or for additional information, please contact:
Spring One – 6 semester hours
Teacher candidates will begin the program in late March or early April with a program induction workshop/ seminar that will focus on program orientation, including uses of educational technology and development of the standards-based portfolio. During this initial eight-week spring semester, candidates will take two three-credit courses, Advanced Educational Psychology and Teaching Exceptional Children.
In late May, at the end of the opening semester, candidates will participate in an evaluative workshop to integrate the Spring courses with school observations and applications and review progress on their program portfolios.
Summer One – 12 semester hours
The eight-week summer term will begin in June. Candidates will complete an integrated block of classroom and field experiences. They will be instructed using a team approach that will address a block of subjects including curriculum, assessment, management, and methods of teaching subject areas in secondary schools. The block of subjects will focus on Illinois goals and content area standards. After an intensive week of classroom preparation, in Week 2 candidates will be placed in summer schools for six weeks of half-time field observation and teaching experiences from 9:00 am until noon Monday through Thursday.
During Weeks 2-7 after observing and teaching in the mornings, candidates will meet with their mentors in the afternoon and meet three (3) nights per week with a team of professors for formal course work after the mentor meetings. Each instructor will be responsible for on-site school candidate observation visits as well as providing instruction in the block. This approach is designed to assure that instructors have first-hand awareness of candidate experiences and needs. By structuring the curriculum to link theory and practice directly, interns will benefit from the mentorship of the course instructor as well as the mentor. In this model, courses will be held in a high school that has a partnership agreement with the lead college in order to reinforce the school-based and intern character of the program. On Fridays, candidates will meet in the mornings with their mentors. The proposed schedule for Weeks 2 – 7 is:
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Time
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Monday
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Tuesday
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Wednesday
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Thursday
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Friday
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8:30 – 12:00
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Classroom
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Classroom
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Classroom
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Classroom
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With mentor
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12:00 – 2:00
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Coursework
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Coursework
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TBA
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2:00 – 5:30
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Coursework
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Coursework
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TBA
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4:00 – 7:30
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Coursework
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TBA
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In mid-July teacher candidates will prepare for a portfolio checkpoint as a prelude to application for a provisional alternative teaching certificate, necessary for the school year internship. The final week of the summer term, following the six-week summer classroom teaching experience, will be used to synthesize learning in the classroom and field, address specific intern needs, complete the summer portion of the portfolio, and complete interviews with school officials for school-year intern employment at a beginning teacher salary.
Fall One – 7 semester hours
At this time candidates will begin their school internship year as full-time first-year teachers. For the internship year, candidates will earn a total of eight semester hours, four each semester. During the first year of this program, interns will assume the responsibilities of a language arts, math, music or science teacher under the close supervision of an onsite school supervisor, with the mentorship of a “master teacher” mentor, and the supervision of the lead-college faculty program coordinator. The latter two will each observe the intern at least twice-monthly. The mentor will spend a fourth to half of a day in observation during each visit, coupled with extensive consultation with the intern.
Throughout the first year, the school districts will work closely with the collaborating college to identify high need schools where the interns will be able to learn effectively and to complete program requirements. During the prior summer, candidates will have applied for intern positions in the high schools participating in the project. In teaching the content area of their specialization under the mentorship of mentors and supervision of the program coordinator, a schedule of observations and meetings with the mentor and the college supervisor will be developed that will accommodate each intern’s responsibilities and schedule.
During the Fall semester the candidates will take just one course, Learning and Literacy for Diverse Learners, beginning in October in order to enable the interns’ focus to be on a successful beginning as a classroom teacher. This course will emphasize standards related to diversity, literacy, ethnicity, class, and other topics associated with the academic needs of diverse learners. Candidates will meet one evening a week for four hours beginning in October for this course. There will be four sessions in October, three sessions in November, and two sessions in December. There will be another portfolio checkpoint in early December near the end of the Fall semester.
Spring Two – 11 semester hours
Teacher candidates will continue their internship as a full-time beginning teacher, earning four semester hours for the Spring. The regular schedule of observations and meetings with the mentor and college program supervisor will continue as in the Fall, as well as several contacts with the on-site supervisor each week. During this semester, the teacher candidate will take two courses two nights each week. The two courses will include a course in Foundations of Education (three semester hours) and Ethics in Educational Leadership (also three semester hours). These courses are designed to meet designated Illinois certification standards, and the curriculum as a whole has been constructed to satisfy all of the standards.
The portfolio will be submitted and defended near the end of the Spring semester for evaluation by the program faculty committee. Recommendation for standard certification will depend on satisfactory completion and defense of the portfolio. Teacher candidates will earn one semester hour for the development of the portfolio.
Teacher candidates seeking to earn a master’s degree in education may choose to complete a three credit course in Educational Research Methods from the entitling institution during the Summer following Spring completion of the internship, successful portfolio evaluation, and recommendation for initial statewide alternative teaching certificate.
The following table illustrates the schedule of cohort courses, totaling 36 semester hours for the certification portion of the program and 39 for award of the master’s degree.
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Semester
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Credit hours
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Spring I: Late March- Late May
Course: EDU 650 Advanced Educational Psychology
Course: EDU 606 Teaching Exceptional Children
Focus on professional standards
Induction seminar introduction to portfolio, educational technology
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6
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Summer: Mid June – Mid August
Block course: EDU 607 Curriculum, assessment, management, and content pedagogical
methods.
6 weeks of half-time field experience.
Mid-July: Portfolio checkpoint and provisional certification application
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12
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Fall: Internship
Course: EDU 608 Learning and Literacy for Diverse Learners
End of semester: Portfolio checkpoint.
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4
3
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Spring 2: Internship
Course: EDU 604 Foundations of Education
Course: EDU 650 Ethics of Educational Leadership
End of semester: EDU 601 Sp Top: Portfolio submission, defense, and evaluation;
Recommendation for initial alternative teaching certification.
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4
3
3
1
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Summer 2: Optional course leading to MA: EDU 646 Research in Education
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3
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TOTAL
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36-39
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Field and Clinical Experience Requirements
Field Experiences
Field experiences are integrated throughout the Spring I and Summer portions of this alternative certification program. In Spring I, the educational psychology course and the special education course will require 4 – 5 days of field experiences that focus on the application of the content in these courses. During the Summer session, candidates will work under the direct supervision of a classroom teacher for four (4) hours per day, four (4) days per week for six (6) weeks, resulting in a total of 90+ hours of closely supervised field experiences.
Clinical Experiences
Candidates in the Transitions to Teaching program will be hired as classroom teachers on a provisional alternative teaching certificate (Type 25) for an entire academic year. Depending upon the preferred process by a district,candidates will be placed into intern sites through one of two processes. The first process that may be used is for the district to select the appropriate internship sites with site supervisors and assign candidates to these schools. The second route for candidates to secure an internship site is through a job fair. The school districts not directly assigning candidates to a classroom and participating in this program will host a job fair. Candidates will be interviewed and receive a guaranteed paid internship position in a high need school for one academic year. During this year, they will be mentored and supervised by:
1. An onsite supervisor
2. A mentor
3. A college supervisor
Teaching Certificate Requirements
McKendree offers the TTT program only on the Lebanon campus.
Class Format
Courses are offered in a combination of daytime and evening classes to accommodate field experiences, observations, student teaching, and clinical experiences.
For more information contact:
Dr. Rick Acuncius, Program Coordinator
Transition to Teaching Program
McKendree
618-537-6549
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