Norda, Inc.

Norda, Inc. - Alternative Certification & Professional Development for Teachers and Administrators

Project Teaching Handbook

Project: Teaching!

Web version 2.41 - Revised August 22, 2011

This handbook describes the rules and procedures for Project Teaching. It supersedes all earlier publications.

Initial Contact

Admissions/Certifying Officer

Instructor

Non-Discrimination Statement

Project Teaching is a program of Norda, Inc. Norda is committed to equal opportunity regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, political affiliation or other protected status.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Mission Statement

It is the mission of Project Teaching to recruit degreed candidates who are uncertified but would like to teach in areas of shortage, train them on-site through a partnership with area school districts and colleges to the standards established by PI 34, and place them in Wisconsin schools as certified or permitted instructors.

Purpose

The purpose of this handbook is to clarify the policies, procedures, and responsibilities of participants, instructors, cooperating teachers, supervising teachers, and staff of Project Teaching

Admission Requirements

 

Two-Year Permit

Certification by Equivalency

Degree Required

Bachelor's degree from regionally accredited college or university in art, computer science, engineering, foreign language, mathematics, music, or science -- GPA of at least 2.75

Bachelor's degree from regionally accredited college or university with a major or its equivalent in a K-12 subject area -- GPA of at least 2.75

Work Experience

5 year minimum in subject area

2 year minimum

Tests Required

Wisconsin passing scores on Praxis I & Praxis II or foreign language test

License/Permit Required

Substitute Teacher or Emergency Permit ($100 fee to Wisconsin DPI)

Participants are conditionally accepted into the program until all requirements are met. This includes Wisconsin passing scores on Praxis I & II tests and possession of a substitute permit.

Waiver of Admission Requirements: Only the following waivers of these requirements will be considered in response to your written request for a waiver.

Alternative Assessment Policy for Satisfaction of Praxis I Requirement

 Applicant must:

The number of alternative assessment requests is restricted to a maximum of 10% of the total aggregate cohort group of students currently enrolled in the program. If the number of requests exceeds 10%, the Program Coordinator will use the following criteria for approval:

Applicant must pass the appropriate alternative assessment(s) prescribed by this policy:

Program Requirements

 

Two-Year Permit

Certification by Equivalency

Program of Study

Monthly classes, web-based assignments, 20 hours of classroom teaching

Additional Coursework

Completion of additional subject area coursework (if identified in admission process).

Portfolio 1

Evaluated based on 10 Wisconsin Teaching Standards completed before required teaching

Required Teaching

Two years of supervised teaching

*One full semester of student teaching

Portfolio 2

Evaluated based on 10 Wisconsin Teaching Standards completed after required teaching

* You must complete student teaching within two years of your initial semester.

20 Hours of Classroom Teaching

Participants are required to substitute, tutor, or team-teach for at least 20 hours as part of the program of study. Please note the following:

Portfolio 1 – Before Required Teaching

As a result of your work in both semesters you will develop a professional portfolio (rubric for portfolio 1) to show your knowledge, skills, and dispositions to teach. If you intend to student teach in the fall semester (August to January) this portfolio is due by July 31st. It is due November 30th for student teaching in the spring (January to June). Submit your portfolio as an electronic file.

A Checklist for Student Teaching

This checklist is designed to provide you with a checklist of items that must be completed prior to your application for student teaching. Please use it to plan ahead for a positive student teaching experience (pdf file of this checklist).

___ Official transcripts sent and received by the Project Teaching office.

___ Additional subject area courses, if any, identified on the admission agreement.

___ Evidence of a DPI Substitute Permit sent to Project Teaching office.

___ Praxis I & II tests taken. Passing scores received at Project Teaching.

You must prove your competencies to teach in Wisconsin, which means you cannot become licensed unless you have passed all sections of Praxis I and your Praxis II exam in area(s) of desired certification. **Use recipient code #1390 for Norda , Inc.

___ Course fees must be paid in full. (Student Teaching fees will be billed after placement is confirmed)

___ 20 hours pre-student teaching verified and included in portfolio. Pre-student Teaching Portfolio must be completed and evaluated with a score of 30 or higher. All coursework and assignments completed.

The rules for teaching with a two-year permit are different. If you believe you are eligible to teach with a two-year permit contact the Placement Officer at Project Teaching

Required Teaching

Two types of required teaching are possible: Student Teaching and Teaching with a Two-year Permit.

Student Teaching: Candidates who have successfully completed the Certification by Equivalency program must complete student teaching – full days for a full semester following the daily schedule and semester calendar of the cooperating school (Wis. Stats. 118.19(3)(a)). If you are currently teaching fulltime under an Emergency Permit you will be evaluated as a student teacher.

Two-year Teaching Permit: Candidates who hold degrees in teaching fields related to these degrees are considered shortage areas (visual arts, computer science, engineering, foreign language, mathematics, music, or science) and who have five years of professional work experience and successfully complete the 100-hour program may be eligible for a two-year permit to teach for two years under supervision. It is important to note that during these two years you must meet all the credit and course requirements for teaching majors to achieve Certification by Equivalency.

 Placement for Student Teaching

Placement assignments reflect the content field(s) and building level(s) of your certification areas. It is not uncommon for these placements to be in different classrooms with different cooperating teachers when multiple certifications are sought.

The placement process is managed by the Placement Officer who often tries to accommodate your choices, but does not fully control the process. Preliminary placements are often made early in the process, but no placement is finalized before all student teaching requirements are met and districts have given their formal placement approval. Districts may require a placement contract.

In some cases, fees are assessed by the district and/or stipends are paid for cooperating teachers. You must pay these fees and stipends as an additional cost of student teaching. The Placement Officer will notify you of any additional fees.

The sooner you complete the portfolio requirements for required teaching, the sooner you can be placed. Because school districts require considerable advanced notice for placement, our due dates for requesting placement are:

In some cases, even these dates do not give districts enough time to make student teaching placements. Your placement as a student teacher cannot be guaranteed even if you meet the cut-off dates.

Once placement is finalized, you will receive notification from Project Teaching

Placement for Teaching with a Two-year Permit

These permits are not emergency licenses: holders may compete with other candidates for jobs. The “no other qualified candidate” rule which applies to emergency licenses does not apply to these permitted teachers.

Teaching requirements are met “on the job,” even though these are paid positions. The assignment, whether full or part time, is monitored over the course of two years. Supervising and cooperating teachers extend their required observations over the two year period, with supervising teachers usually completing four evaluations in the first semester and one each subsequent semester. Cooperating teachers complete two evaluations in the first semester and one each subsequent semester.

All requirements and performance standards are the same as student teaching. It is important to note that during these two years you must meet all the credit and course requirements for teaching majors to achieve Certification by Equivalency.

Roles and Responsibilities in Required Teaching

We ask each cooperating teacher, student teacher, and principal to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (pdf file).

Student Teacher or Teacher under Two-year Permit

Under Wisconsin Statute 118.25, a school district may require you to undergo a physical examination, including a chest X-ray or tuberculin test, as a condition of student teaching.

Your primary role during student teaching is to demonstrate knowledge, skills, and dispositions essential to successful practice. This is a developmental process which requires you to pay close attention to the 10 Wisconsin Teaching Standards . Your performance is observed and evaluated by a team of educators which includes one or more cooperating teachers from the school(s) in which you teach and a supervising teacher designated by Project Teaching Team conferences are held periodically.

Like all teachers in your building, you are supervised by your building principal and must follow the established administrative procedures for reporting incidents, concerns, and complaints. Feel free to ask your administrators for advice, particularly when you feel you may not have handled a situation appropriately. Contact your administrator immediately if you have had an altercation with a student, parent, or other staff member – or when anyone says to you, “I am going to report this to the principal [or other administrator].” Remember, the school district is potentially liable for everything that occurs on school property. This includes any action you may have taken as a student teacher!

It is your responsibility to comply with the policies and procedures described in the student teaching agreement and memorandum of understanding signed by you and a district representative before you begin required teaching. All school rules and procedures applicable to certified teachers in your placement schools must be followed by you as well, including but not limited to: complying with dress codes, enforcing school discipline codes, submitting lesson plans, filing mandated reports, etc.

You must be in attendance during school hours as established by the district. You may be absent in the event of illness, injury, or personal emergency, but absence of more than five days may have to be made up during the following semester, if the Placement Officer requires it. You must contact your cooperating teacher to report absences prior to the beginning of the school day; if the district requires, you must also contact your administrator or designee in a timely manner.

You should attend all functions required of contracted professional staff such as staff meetings, parent-teacher conferences, in-service sessions, and team meetings.

Permission to be absent from student teaching for job interviews must be obtained in advance from the Placement Officer and reported to school representatives the same as for illness.

You are required to maintain a log of your student teaching experience which will include lesson plans in the format required by your district, goal setting worksheet, and reflections on practice. This log must be made available to your cooperating or supervising teachers upon request.

Cooperating Teacher

Your district and Placement Officer have worked together in assigning your cooperating teacher. The cooperating teacher’s role is to help to connect you to your school and school staff. He/she will introduce you to administrators and other teachers. They will help you to become informed as to your specific building principals, school guidance counselors, central office staff, department chairs, school liaison officers, instructional aides, special education teachers, and other personnel in your area. Take advantage of your cooperating teacher’s expertise. Watch their techniques and ask to observe others in your area.

Your cooperating teacher plays a key role in your student teaching experience. Remember that this is an experienced teacher and you are a guest in their classroom. As you and your cooperating teacher work together try to establish a good working rapport.

The cooperating teacher will be supportive but hold high expectations in regard to your performance. He/she will share with you the approach they will take to evaluate the 10 teaching standards used in the evaluation rubric (student teaching evaluation). Student teachers must score a 35 or higher on at least one of the two cooperating teacher’s evaluations, with no score lower than a 3.

At the beginning of your placement you and your cooperating teacher will set a timeline for the semester/quarter. You should establish a comfort level for your transition to full time teaching responsibilities. This could happen in the first couple of weeks.

You will be responsible for setting up at least two conferences between you, your supervising teacher and the cooperating teacher during the semester. During these conferences you may be presented with ideas and suggestions for improvement as well as an evaluation. Ask questions and look for suggestions regarding your mastery of the 10 standards.

By the end of the student teaching experience your cooperating teacher should feel comfortable writing a recommendation for you that is fair and accurate. Should problems or concerns arise between you and your cooperating teacher, please feel free to contact your supervising teacher or the Placement Officer for assistance.

Building Administrator

Establish a rapport with your building principal or administrator. Ask to be introduced or introduce yourself early in your placement. He/she is trained to provide guidance in developing teachers. This is the individual that has the overall responsibility for the day-to-day operation of the school district or building. They have a different perspective and responsibility in dealing with the “big picture.” Learn what his/her role is and how you will interact with the administrator during your student teaching experience.

As you attend new teacher orientations at the beginning of the year, pay particular attention to the rules, expectations, paperwork, chain-of-command, etc. discussed by the administration. Your administrator may choose to talk with you to let you know his/her teaching expectations regarding curriculum and classroom management. The administrator or other designee may also walk you through the process for turning in lesson plans, reporting absences and tardiness, making student referrals, contacting parents, following the school code of conduct and the implementation of safety and emergency plans.

In order to assure that the quality of the instructional program is being maintained, the administrator may choose to observe your classroom and participate in your conferences with the cooperating and supervising teacher. Invite the administrator to stop by your classroom and give you feedback during your student teaching experience. New teachers are often uncomfortable with the role of the administrator dropping in for a visit. Understand that the administrator is a part of the team. His/her role is to help you develop the skills necessary for successful completion of your student teaching experience.

Supervising Teacher

All student teachers will be assigned a supervising teacher. Their role is to provide evaluation from a higher education perspective. It is also to ensure that the legal requirements for student teaching defined primarily in Wis. Stats. 118 and administrative rule PI34 are being met.

The supervising teacher will be making formal observations of your student teaching classroom performance. They are seasoned teachers and administrators who are familiar with the requirements set forth by Project Teaching and the State of Wisconsin. You will be formally observed four times.

Your supervising teacher will contact you visa phone or email, prior to making any formal observations. At this time, you should be prepared to review with the supervising teacher the following: school calendar, school handbooks, your schedule of classes, types of students you are working with and any other pertinent information. He/she will help verify that the practicum meets requirements for certification in all desired areas and grade levels. At this time it would be important to introduce your supervisor to your cooperating teacher.

You and your cooperating teacher will determine the time line and inform the supervisor as to when you will be taking over the classroom responsibilities. At that time the supervisor will set up your formal evaluation. Please understand that your supervisor may be traveling a distance and you should report any changes in time immediately. (You should check the school activity calendar prior to scheduling.) Each visit will last an hour or more. The supervisor may wish to utilize a prep time for follow-up discussion so keep this in mind when scheduling.

The supervisor will request that you prepare a goal setting worksheet on which you have highlighted at least two standards for the supervising teacher to evaluate. You will also be asked to provide a copy of the lesson plan or other materials you will be using during the observation. The supervisor will also look at your log to make sure you are following through with the requirements. It is important that you maintain communication with your supervisor and provide the requested documentation in a timely fashion. Remember they are evaluating you based on all 10 Wisconsin Teaching Standards (supervising teacher evaluation form).

In the post conference, your supervisor and cooperating teacher may discuss what went on in the classroom during the formal observation. They will talk about how things are going in general. The supervisor will then write a formal evaluation for you to have and sign. Signatures must be obtained on all documents and originals must be on file in the Project Teaching office. These documents will then become part of your Portfolio II.

Look at the post conference as a constructive way to grow and develop as a teacher. It is important for you to ask for advice and assistance when needed. We all began where you are and grew through our experiences.

Your final exit interview is generally a nice closing event which celebrates your completion of this phase of your teaching career.

Placement Officer

The primary role of the Placement Officer is to facilitate the process of student teaching. Your student teaching process requires the Placement Officer to coordinate with school district officials, cooperating teachers, and supervising teachers to assure that you have a positive experience.

The Placement Officer’s major responsibility is to ensure that the statutory requirements for the training of teachers are being met.

When you have completed the requirements needed to begin Required Teaching you must notify the Project Teaching office that you are ready for placement. The Placement Officer verifies that all items are in place for student teaching.

The Placement Officer will contact you to determine schools of interest. Advance notice is required. It takes many weeks to contact school districts to finalize a placement. Please note that during the process you may not gain placement in the district of your choice.

Once you have been notified that placement has been finalized, the Placement Officer assigns your supervising teacher. The Placement Officer will receive your evaluations as they are completed by the cooperating teacher and supervising teacher. The Placement Officer will also be available to answer your inquiries as you move through the student teaching experience.

An additional responsibility is to respond to all complaints raised by those connected to the pre-student and student teaching field experiences. The Placement Officer will personally attend to any complaints at the school district level and if at all possible be on-site within five school days to respond and document findings in a Placement Officer Report.

Applying for an Initial Educator’s License

Portfolio 2 – After Required Teaching

After teaching for a semester or two years, you develop a second portfolio to show how you have affected your students' learning – how your knowledge, skills, and dispositions have grown. Successful completion of this portfolio and all course and credit requirements leads to your initial educator's license. Note that most of the evidence is to be based on work you do as part of required teaching. Make sure to include in Standards 2, 3, 4, and 8 examples of student learning. An evaluation rubric is on the following page and our web site.

License Application

Once you successfully complete this portfolio and all courses and credits required for your certification by equivalency you are eligible to apply for an initial educator’s license. This application can be found online via our web site. The application must be sent to us. Our certification officer will verify that you have met all requirements, sign the application certifying this, and forward the application with official transcripts and full payment to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.

You can expect it to take up to four months to receive your license. We will issue a certificate of completion that you can use in your job search to show you are eligible for a teaching license.

Notification of Complaint Procedures to Project Teaching Participants

Those wishing to file complaints about the Project Teaching may do so by contacting officials identified in this pdf file.