Information and Frequently Asked Questions about the Secondary Education Programs at Western Connecticut State University.
For more information go to the department of Education and Educational Psychology
The professional semester is the semester of coursework that you will take prior to student teaching. This semester is an intense immersion in education theory and methods. The courses are:
EPY 405 - Introduction to Special Education
ED 385 - Methods of Teaching in Secondary Schools
ED 386 - Secondary Professional Development School Experience
ED 440 - Integrating Language
One course from the following list (depending on major)
You must obtain an application form and return it, along with all required materials, to the supervisor in your major department by April 1, 2005. All materials must be submitted by this date.
You may obtain an application in the Education and Educational Psychology office WS 249.
Alternately you can obtain a waiver if your SAT score is 1100 or higher. The waiver application is available at http://www.sde.ct.gov/sde/lib/sde/PDF/Cert/certform/ed_192.pdf
Applications are turned in to the supervisor in your major area. Applications are due April 1. All items listed in the previous question are due at that time.
The supervisors in Fall 2005 are:
All Science - Dr. Theodora Pinou. HA 109. 837-8793
English - Dr. Maureen Maguire. BR 210c. 837-8833
History and Social Studies - Dr. Thomas Godward, WA 207. 837-8450 or Dr. Alex Standish, 837-8454
Mathematics - Dr. David Burns. HI 018F. 837-9346
Spanish - Dr. Alba Skar. BR 223. 837-8485
Your advisor is your major advisor in you content area. Often this is the supervisor listed above, but it may be another professor. If you don't know you can look up your advisor by checking your student information in "Banner."
You wait. The supervisor will schedule an interview.
Once you have applied for the professional semester you will be interviewed by faculty in you major department. Interviews vary in length but may be about 30 minutes. You will be asked questions about your aspirations to become a teacher, interests, hobbies, previous experience with children and other types of questions the will help the interviewers understand your disposition for teaching.
At the interview present yourself professionally and respond honestly.
After your interview the supervisor in your major area will either recommend or not recommend you for admission to the professional semester. If you are recommended the chair of the ED&EPY department (in Spring 2005, Dr Kay Campbell) will be notified by forwarding your application. The final approval is given after Dr. Campbell has reviewed your application.
When you are approved, you will receive a letter from the chair of the ED&EPY department. In this letter you will be given instructions for registration. You do not register for the professional semester during the normal fall registration process. The number of sections of each professional semester course offered is determined by the number of approved applicants. The courses are not completely determined until the summer when all applicants have been reviewed. Once you are approved your are guaranteed a seat in a class.
The Praxis I exam should be taken well before you apply for the professional semester. The summer before, or fall of, your junior year is a good time. Be sure to leave yourself enough time to re-take the exam if necessary. Also, you can only take it once in any 30-day period.
The Praxis I waiver application is available at http://www.sde.ct.gov/sde/lib/sde/PDF/Cert/certform/ed_192.pdf
The Praxis II exam can be taken any time after you have completed you major coursework. Many students take this exam sometime during student teaching. Please note that Praxis II is not a graduation requirement but it is a certification requirement.
The three Praxis I exams are 10710, 20720 and 10730.
The Praxis II exam you take depends on your major.
A brief summary of the tests required in each certification area follows:
- Biology - 20235
- Chemistry - 20245 and 30242
- Earth Science - 20571
- English (both options) - 10041 and 20042
- Mathematics - 10061
- History and Social Studies - 10081
For more information about Praxis II please visit http://www.ets.org/praxis/prxct.html.
Spanish Education majors must take the ACTFL Writing Proficiency Exam and the ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview instead of Praxis II. For more information about the ACTFL tests please visit http://www.languagetesting.com/acad_ct1.cfm.
When you apply for the professional semester you also need to fill out a placement packet for the student teacher placement coordinator. This packet may be obtained from the ED&EPY office in WS 2498 or the student teacher placement coordinator (in Spring 2007 this is Dr. Virginia King, .) Return the packet to Dr. King as quickly as possible. Placement is competitive because there are several colleges and universities that place students in this region. The student teaching placement coordinator will contact the schools to make a placement. As tempting as it may be to try to speed up the process, please do not try to contact schools on your own. Students do not arrange their own placement.
You may request any school you like. There are some binding conditions.
Student teachers in Secondary Education are supervised by the list of supervisors given above. If there are a large number of student teachers in a particular area, the department will hire adjunct faculty to supervise as well. Most Secondary Education supervisors teach courses in the content area and will be known to you well before you student teach.