2018-2019 Academic Catalog

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Teacher Education Policies

Acceptance into the Teacher Education Program

Admission to Carroll College does not automatically qualify a student for acceptance into the Teacher Education Program. All students pursuing academic programs that lead to teacher licensure must submit a Program admission application to the Department of Education, by the end of their sophomore year (not later than April 1). It is the student’s responsibility to seek admission to the program.

Students must meet the following criteria for acceptance:

  1. Core Academic Skills for Educators Test minimum scores of 156 in reading, 162 in writing, and 150 in mathematics
  2. Grade of “C-” or better in CO 101
  3. Grade of “C-” or better in ENWR 102
  4. A minimum of 2.50 cumulative grade point average (at the time of application)
  5. An interview that has met program standards
  6. A Teacher Development Portfolio that has met program standards

    In addition, students will be assessed based on the following:

  7. Faculty recommendations
  8. Background check
  9. Previous K-12 field experiences

The candidate’s status will be evaluated by the Department’s admissions committee based on the above criteria. The student will be accepted into the program, accepted on a provisional basis, or denied acceptance.

Students will be accepted on a provisional basis when they meet the following criteria:

  1. Participated in an interview but may not have met program standards
  2. Portfolio has been evaluated but may not have met program standards
  3. All other areas have met program standards.

Those who are not directly accepted into the program will be informed of their deficiency and may be given further opportunity for acceptance following counseling and/or academic assistance. Students who have been accepted into the Teacher Education Program, but have not been enrolled in Carroll College for one semester or more, must seek readmission into the program. Transfer students at the junior level are accepted to the program conditionally for one semester. One month prior to the close of that semester, junior transfer students must submit an application for acceptance into the Teacher Education Program. Transfer candidates will be reviewed in the same manner as sophomore students.

All candidates will be informed of their status no later than June 30 of the admission year.

Teacher Development Portfolio

All teaching candidates in K-8, K-12, and 5-12 programs are required to maintain a Teacher Development Portfolio. The purpose of this requirement is two-fold:

  1. The portfolio you present to your instructors at various times in your program provides them with authentic assessment information about how well you are progressing toward specific program goals in your effort to become a teacher.
  2. Creating the portfolio offers you a valuable learning experience by providing you with the opportunity to set personal educational goals, to evaluate your efforts toward these goals, and to see how your personal professional goals match the goals of Carroll’s Teacher Education Program.

The Teacher Development Portfolio is a collection of materials assembled to demonstrate to others what you have done and/or are able to do. From years of experience and extensive research efforts, the Interstate Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (InTASC), the Montana Board of Public Education, the Carroll College Teacher Education Program faculty, and the Education Advisory Board have identified a set of teaching skills and abilities that prospective teachers must possess in order to be successful as beginning teachers. Your portfolio is a collection of documents (lesson plans, statements, letters, pictures, records, etc.) that document your acquisition of these abilities beyond the letter grade you have earned in a specific course. Students are introduced to the Teacher Development Portfolio and the specifics of the portfolio process in ED 102, Foundations of Education. The booklet, Teacher Development Portfolio: Collect, Select, Reflect contains the Teacher Development Portfolio requirements.

Admission to Student Teaching

Acceptance into the Teacher Education Program at the end of the sophomore year does not automatically permit one to pursue student teaching as a senior student. However, students who have not been admitted to the Teacher Education Program by March 15 of their junior year will not be considered for student teaching. All teaching candidates in K-8, K-12, and 5-12 programs must apply for admission to student teaching.

Students must meet the following criteria:

  1. Receive a rating of “3” on the appropriate ETS Praxis Subject Knowledge Test on the Montana Assessment of Content Knowledge Assessment. The minimum rating of “3” is the same rating required of out-of-state applicants for a teaching license.
  2. A minimum 2.65 grade point average (GPA) in Major Program Requirements and in Other Program Requirements, and a minimum 2.65 GPA in Professional Education Requirements.  A minimum 2.65 GPA in Minor Program Requirements and in Other Program Requirements, and a minimum 2.65 GPA in Professional Education Requirements in each 5-12 or K-12 minor area. Elementary Education (K-8) candidates must have a minimum 2.65 GPA in Elementary Education Content Coursework GPA on the Montana Assessment for Content Knowledge Verification.
  3. All Major and Minor Program Requirements, Professional Education Requirements and Other Program Requirements must be completed, with a grade of “C-” or better.  (Students should note that if a majority of coursework in these areas have grades of C-, they will not likely meet the 2.65 GPA requirements addressed above.)
  4. A Portfolio that has met program standards (see Teacher Development Portfolio)

    In addition, students will be assessed based on the following:

  5. Application to student teaching
  6. Recommendations
  7. Previous K-12 field experience

Application must be made to the Department of Education no later than March 15 of the junior year. Failure to do so will cancel the student’s opportunity to student teach during the fall and spring semesters of the following school year. It is the student’s responsibility to seek admission to the student teaching program.

Student Teaching Placement

Candidates admitted to student teaching cannot be guaranteed a particular school district, building, or master teacher. The decision for placement is the responsibility of the Director of Student Teaching, department faculty, and school district personnel.

Student Teacher Placement Options

Option 1: Local area (no additional costs/fees)

A strength of the Carroll College Teacher Education Program is field experiences in local schools supervised by program faculty members throughout students’ four years of study. Because of our smaller size (typically about 20 student teachers each semester) and our close relationships with local schools, the Teacher Education Program at Carroll College is nearly always able to find excellent student teaching placements in the neighboring Helena, East Helena, and Montana City schools. This benefits local-area student teachers in three ways: 1) they return to campus each Monday afternoon during the student teaching semester to discuss with their student teaching colleagues and the Director of Student Teaching the challenges and successes of the previous week; 2) they interact weekly with guest professionals in Education Seminar, learning what needs to be done to win their first teaching jobs and discussing other topics vitally important to new teachers about to enter the profession; and 3) their student teaching is supervised weekly by Carroll College Teacher Education Program faculty members who are experts in the supervision norms and assessment methods of the program. Because of the benefits of a local-area student teaching placement, it is the strongly preferred model for Carroll College Teacher Education students.

Option 2: Out-of-area (may require additional costs/fees)

Student teaching placements outside the Helena area are not recommended for Carroll College Teacher Education students because: 1) they make impossible the valuable face-to-face interactions that occur in local-area student teaching placements with student teaching colleagues, the Director of Student Teaching, and other Carroll College Teacher Education faculty members; 2) they make difficult during student teaching the weekly consideration of matters vital to beginning teachers that occur on Monday evenings on the Carroll campus in Education Seminar; and 3) they make it very unlikely that the student teachers will have their placements supervised by Carroll College Teacher Education Program faculty members who are experts in the supervision norms and assessment methods of the program.

Student teaching placements outside of the Helena area will be considered on an individual basis.  Student teacher candidates requesting student teaching assignments outside Option 1 placement areas must have a strong and legitimate reason for doing so.

Out-of-area placements in other communities or settings will be made when:

  1. Helena school districts (see Option 1) cannot provide an appropriate placement in the student’s area of licensing.
  2. A placement in the Helena area will impose an extreme hardship and prevent the student from completing the student teaching experience.
  3. Students have a GPA of 3.25 or better.
  4. For any out-of-area request to be approved, the faculty members of the Department of Education must judge that there is very low probability that the student will require intervention of department faculty members during his/her student teaching experience.

All out-of-area student teaching placements must be approved by the faculty members of the Department of Education prior to student teaching assignments. A student seeking an out-of-area student teaching placement must submit a written request to the Director of Teacher Education documenting the extreme hardship that will be imposed by placement in the Helena area.  Appropriate documentation supporting the request should be attached. The written request for out-of-area student teaching should be submitted not later than March 15 of the spring semester prior to the year of student teaching.  Requests received after March 15 will not be accepted. Faculty members of the Department of Education will review the request and other documentation to determine if the request meets the criteria mentioned above and will either approve or disapprove the request.

If an out-of-area teaching placement request is approved, the Director of Student Teaching will determine the best possible supervision model, either with Carroll College supervisors, with contracted supervision by another college/university, or with another qualified individual. If the student’s request is approved, all cost for supervision that would exceed those incurred during a Helena placement, must be borne by the student teaching candidate. This may include salary of the college supervisor and all expenses associated with travel, lodging, and meals.

If the out-of-teaching placement request is disapproved, the Director of Student Teaching will place the student teacher candidate in a Helena area school in accordance with Option 1 listed above.

Content Knowledge Requirement

In order to be recommended for a Montana teaching license, a student seeking a K-8 license must receive a score of at least “7” on the Montana Assessment of Content Knowledge Verification. This worksheet is based on three indicators of knowledge: 1) grade point average of 11 specified content area courses, 2) content knowledge as demonstrated during student teaching, and 3) the score obtained on the PRAXIS II Elementary Content Knowledge test.

In order to be recommended for a Montana teaching license, students seeking a 5-12 license or a K-12 license without a K-8 license in a major and/ or minor area of study must receive a score of at least “7” on the Montana Assessment of Content Knowledge Verification. This worksheet is based on three indicators of knowledge: (1) student’s grade point average of content area courses, (2) content knowledge as demonstrated during student teaching, and (3) score obtained on the PRAXIS II content knowledge test for area of licensure, if OPI (Office of Public Instruction) has named the test to be used.

The Montana Assessment of Content Knowledge Verification is a part of the Application to Student Teaching packet or a copy may be obtained in 120 O’Connell Hall.

Note: A course taken for Pass/Fail at Carroll College is equivalent to a “D” or one point. See the Education Department Chair for the handling of Advanced Placement courses.

Competency Requirement: All Education Options

In the event that a student in a student teaching or internship placement is not making growth toward competency, supervisory personnel of the Department of Education and the placement setting may decide to withdraw a student from student teaching or the internship program. If such a scenario occurs, every effort will be made to provide alternative routes to graduation.

Education Advisory Board

In striving to provide quality education for Carroll College’s elementary and secondary preservice and in-service teachers, the Department of Education solicits input from people involved in the educational community. The Education Advisory Board is a group of recognized educational professionals and students who gather as needed to discuss and document ideas. The Board consists of members who represent diverse geographic areas and interest groups.

Transportation

Transportation is not provided to or from classes, including those held off campus.