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> Northern
Plains Transition to Teaching
Program Summary
Objectives
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The Northern Plains Transition to Teaching (NPTT) program at Montana
State University-Bozeman (MSU) has developed and implemented a
sustainable program to provide highly qualified and competent educators
to meet the hiring needs of secondary rural schools in Montana, Wyoming
and South Dakota (with hopes to expand to serve the other rural states
in our region). To this end, the NPTT has established five overarching
goals:
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to recruit highly qualified professional adults holding
baccalaureate degrees appropriate to the content area at the
secondary level they wish to teach;
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to develop a compressed-format, alternate route to licensure training
program for these professionals to include eight concentrated and rigorous
course offerings, delivered at a distance (with web based technology),
and to enable candidates to enter the field in a supervised year-long
paid internship after the initial qualification phase (i.e.,
after the first nine credits);
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to place new teachers rural schools in NPTT
states, through the development of an annual hiring pool to be brokered
by the NPTT (which includes the following partner organizations: the
Montana Board of Public Education via the Montana Office of Public
Instruction, the Wyoming Professional Teaching Standards Board, the
South Dakota Department of Education, and Troops-to-Teachers);
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to support and retain these new teachers, by providing classroom
mentoring by master teachers; a corps of visiting university faculty,
matched by discipline whenever possible; and regular cohort meetings for
faculty, mentors, and new teachers at state meetings; and
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to develop the distance-delivery infrastructure and partnerships
needed to continue to recruit and support transitioning mid-career
professionals interested in pursuing a new career in teaching beyond
grant funding and, in the process, serve as a national model for other
institutions interested in developing alternate route licensure
programs.
The NPTT builds on a long-standing commitment at MSU to meet the
educational and professional development needs of the state and region’s
rural residents. Because of this commitment, MSU has become
nationally recognized for its distance delivery of advanced degree
granting programs for in-service teachers (e.g., the
Master of Science
in Science Education in standards-based science education), distance
mentoring for rural teachers (e.g., through the Systemic Teacher
Excellence Preparation, or STEP, and other programs), and other
standards-based on-line learning opportunities (e.g., the
National Teachers Enhancement Network). Building on this foundation,
the NPTT is designed to move new teachers into classrooms as quickly as
possible, without sacrificing teacher quality or preparation. In lieu of student teaching, candidates will be supported
through full employment in a salaried internship under alternative or
temporary licensure. After completing the first year of teaching and all
licensure/certification requirements, qualified NPTT teachers will have
the option to take, at their own expense, an additional six credits to
complete the requirements for a master’s degree in education. |
Overview
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This program serves the needs of professional adults such as
career military personnel and civilians holding baccalaureate
degrees, and with a proven career track record (five years
preferred), in content areas and related fields where the standard
university core requirements have been met and most, if not all,
coursework requirements have been satisfied relative to the
state and university standards for secondary teaching in a particular
subject area (please see Teacher Education TEPP forms). This program focuses primarily on providing
teachers in high need subject areas such as mathematics,
science, and music while also looking to develop and place
teachers in districts looking for social
studies, English, health & physical education, technology, and
modern languages as appropriate. Please note that
licensure in the area of elementary education is not possible
through the NPTT program.
The design of the program is more compact than conventional
undergraduate teacher education programs for several reasons.
First, it presupposes satisfaction of the core requirements of a
liberal arts education typical of most university baccalaureate
degree programs, as well as completion of relevant content area
course work. Furthermore, this program design assumes that the
maturation and socialization processes associated with the
conventional undergraduate experience have already been
accomplished, and the necessary study skills and discipline have
already been attained. Admission is selective and dependent upon
a record of prior achievement and readiness. In short, the
concentrated nature of this program assumes and requires a high
level of readiness and self-motivation on the part of teacher
candidates.
All state and national standards are satisfied by the program
design. Additionally, the program produces a respectable corps
of professional teachers because of the high quality of
candidates selected and the concentrated and rigorous quality of
the course offerings. Each course is a graduate level,
research-based, current course grounded in a balance of the
theoretical and the practical. This ensures both conceptual
rigor and high levels of performance in the skills, knowledge
and dispositions required of professional educators’ intent on
meeting the needs of their students. |
Program Structure
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This program is designed to get new teachers into the
secondary classroom as quickly as possible without sacrificing the
preparedness that parents, the profession, and
communities expect of their teachers. The program
consists of eight concentrated course offerings, at three
credits per course, delivered over an 18 month to two year
timeframe. Candidates are able to enter the field in a
year-long, paid internship after completing the
qualification phase (i.e. first nine credits of
the program, considered the first year of the program). In lieu of the classic “student teaching”
experience, NPTT participants enter into a contracted,
salaried teaching position under alternative or
temporary licensure. This year-long “internship” is
based on a resident teaching model that includes
mentoring from an on-site master teacher under contract
to assist the candidate, an itinerant university
supervisor who makes periodic visits, and a sustained
connection and help-line to the program allowing for the
effective and discrete address of questions and
problems.
The total program consists of eighteen course credits
plus six credits of resident teaching internship, for a
total of twenty-four credits. Upon completion, this
twenty-four credit program leads to recommendation for
permanent licensure in Montana, South Dakota or Wyoming,
a license that is convertible by reciprocity agreement
with most other states in the U.S. with little or no
additional coursework. |
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COURSE WORK (18 credits total) |
FIELD EXPERIENCES |
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Qualification Courses |
EDCI 552
(3 credits)
Human
Development & the Psychology of Learning |
Includes
structured observation in 6 or 7 settings
covering a variety of age groups. |
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EDCI 553
(3 credits)
Diversity,
Special Needs, and Classroom Discipline |
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EDCI 554
(3 credits)
Curriculum
Design, Pedagogy, and Assessment |
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Candidates
are eligible to begin contract teaching
after these first three qualifying courses |
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In-Service Internship / Courses |
EDCI 558
(3 credits)
Internship I
Methods of
Teaching |
EDCI 558 will be taken during the Fall
semester of the “internship” year. EDCI 559
will start towards the end of the Fall
semester and conclude towards the middle of
the Spring semester of the "internship"
year. EDCI 555 will occupy the remainder of
the Spring semester. |
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EDCI 559
(3 credits)
Internship II
Equity,
Special Needs, Diversity |
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EDCI 555
(3 credits)
Technology,
Instructional Design, and Learner Success |
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Continuing
preparation courses below will be offered
the summer following the first year of
teaching so as not to overload new teachers
during their first year. |
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Continuing Preparation Courses |
EDCI 556
(3 credits)
The Legal,
Social, and Practical Basis of Schooling |
Summer
courses, no field experiences available. |
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EDCI 557
(3 credits)
Brain Science,
Educational Research, and Teaching |
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Candidates
are eligible for full licensure after
completion of all six courses and all
requirements of the year- long Internship,
including capstone portfolio review and
submission of Praxis II scores. |
Coursework (18 credits) + Internship (6 credits) = 24
Credits |
Induction & Mentorship
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This program will continue to provide mentorship
and professional resources and follow-up to all
candidates even after they have successfully
completed the 24 credit certification program
and have entered into professional practice. As
a practical matter we recognize the need to
document program success as determined by
candidate performance in the profession, and to
analyze areas of effectiveness and weakness as
an ongoing function of program excellence.
In addition, for those candidates who desire it
and are academically qualified, an additional
sequence of six credits (typically two courses)
in professional development beyond the structure
of this certification program is offered which
will complete requirements for a
master’s degree in education (Curriculum &
Instruction option). While this offering is
not part of this grant-funded project it
is mentioned here as an indication of the effort
to ensure a coherent pathway of professional
development from the point of induction to the
attainment of sustained professional engagement.
Compressed certification programs that fail to
provide adequate follow-up tend historically to
experience higher rates of attrition in recent
graduates. This program has been designed to
ensure low rates of attrition, a full complement
of support services, and engaging pathways to
professional development, need-specific
workshops and supplemental course offerings. |
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