CRITERIA FOR PROGRESSION TO THE INTERNSHIP* 

Requirements for Progression to the Internship  
Procedures for Decisions and Notification
Professional Standards for the Internship 

I. Requirements for Progression to the Internship

To progress to the internship a teacher candidate must: A) meet the Academic Requirements listed below, B) pass the required State of Michigan certification tests for elementary teaching or the appropriate major and minor subject area tests for secondary teaching, C) submit a complete Criminal Disclosure Form, and D) meet the Professional Criteria set forth below.

	A. Academic Requirements

	Before beginning the internship, teacher candidates must have:

        	(1) completed all teaching major and/or teaching minor(s) requirements as well as all teacher 	certification coursework and other courses required for teacher certification;

        	(2) been awarded the bachelor’s degree; (Note: Music Education Students complete MUS 495, 	"Directed Teaching", as part of their baccalaureate degree.)

        	(3) earned a Grade Point Average of 2.5 or above in each of the following:  University overall 	cumulative Grade Point Average, teaching major, and/or teaching minor(s):[1]

        	(4) earned a Grade Point Average of 2.5 or above for pre-internship, professional education 	courses required for teacher certification,[2] with no individual grade below 2.0,[3]

	(5) passed all three components of the Michigan Test for Teacher Certification Basic Skills test 		(reading, writing, and math); and, 

       	(6) completed the Michigan State Department of Education technology requirement. 

	___________________________________________________

      	Note:

        	[1]  This requirement applies to teacher candidates who applied to Teacher Education during and after the 	1994-95 academic year and who sought admission for Fall, 1995 or later terms. 

        	[2]  Pre-internship Professional education courses required for teacher certification including the following:

               	• TE 150, CEP 240/TE 250, TE 301, TE 401-2
               	• TE 842/3 (for Music and ASC majors)
               	• STA 481-2 (for Art majors),
              		• ASC 483 (for Audiology and Speech Science majors).

        	[3]  This requirement applies to teacher candidates accepted into Teacher Education after January 1, 1999.

	B. Pass the required State of Michigan certification tests for elementary 		teaching or the appropriate major and minor subject area tests for secondary 	teaching

        	For those seeking elementary certification, including special education and early childhood 	education, students must take and pass the MTTC in elementary education (test #83) as a 	condition for progression to the internship (TE 501).

For elementary education students, passing the elementary education test is a requirement for completion of the teacher certification program and is the minimal requirement of the State of Michigan in order to receive certification to teach in grades K-5.  If you additionally wish to teach in grades 6-8, you must pass tests in subject matter areas where you wish to receive endorsements 	(you must have completed majors or minors in these areas). Students in special education or early childhood must pass tests in their respective area (e.g., HI, EI, LD, VI or early childhood education) in order to be endorsed in those areas and eligible to teach in those areas. Passing these subject matter tests, however, is not required for program completion. 

        	For those seeking secondary certification, including Music, Audiology and Speech Sciences, and 	Art, students must take and pass the MTTC in both their major and minor as a condition for 	progression to the internship (TE 501, ASC 894A, MUS 495). For secondary education students, 	passing separate content area tests (e.g., major and minor) is a requirement for being certified to 	teach these specialty areas and is a requirement for completing MSU's teacher education 	program. 

        	C. Criminal Disclosure Form

        	It is important that prospective interns be appropriate candidates for teacher education. In 	Michigan, the State Board of Education may refuse to grant, or may impose conditions upon, a 	teaching certificate for an individual who is convicted as an adult of a felony involving moral 	turpitude or who is convicted of an act of immoral conduct contributing to the delinquency of a 	child. Conviction of these crimes may, therefore, preclude the teacher candidate from 	participating in the internship. To be eligible for an internship, the teacher candidate must 	complete, sign, and submit to the Teacher Education Department the Criminal Disclosure Form. 	Concealment or misrepresentation of information required to be disclosed in the Criminal 	Disclosure Form may result in denial of admission to the internship year or in denial of 	recommendation for teacher certification.

        	D. Professional Criteria

The internship involves the intern in extensive co-planning and co-teaching with an experienced mentor teacher and requires the intern gradually to assume responsibility for all aspects of learning and teaching in the classroom. To be eligible for an internship, the teacher candidate must have demonstrated a readiness to work in accordance with the Professional Standards in part III below and an appropriate disposition for the profession of teaching. Therefore, a teacher candidate who meets the Academic Requirements listed above may be denied the opportunity to do an internship if, in the judgment of the Teacher Education Department, the teacher candidate has failed to meet any of the following Professional Criteria. The Professional Criteria are related to the Professional Standards used to evaluate interns’ progress during the internship year (see part III below).

	(1) Reliability and Responsibility

Teacher candidates must generally have been present and on time for professional commitments, including classes and field experiences. Teacher candidates must have regularly communicated about necessary absences or lateness according to the guidelines in the Professional Conduct Policy.  Teacher candidates must have a record of meeting deadlines for course assignments and program requirements. A pattern of repeated absences, lateness, and failure to meet deadlines in courses or fieldwork is not acceptable.  Any form of dishonesty (lying, plagiarism, forged signatures, etc.) about these and other requirements is not acceptable.

        	(2) Communication Skills and Social Relationships

        	Teacher candidates must have demonstrated the ability to express their viewpoints and negotiate difficulties appropriately, without behaving unprofessionally with instructors, peers, or students. Teacher candidates must have shown that they are ready to accept constructive feedback in a professional manner.  Teacher candidates must have demonstrated an awareness of appropriate social boundaries between students and teachers and have shown that they are ready and able to observe those boundaries.  Extreme forms of behavior (such as outbursts in class, sexual or other harassment, threats of suicide or of harm to others) are not acceptable.

        	(3) Comfort with and Concern for the Learning of all Children

        	Teacher candidates must be able to engage in informal conversations with children and keep 	their attention in such conversations. Teacher candidates must interact courteously, fairly, and 	professionally with people from diverse racial, cultural, and social backgrounds and of different 	genders or sexual preferences. Racial and other slurs are not acceptable, nor is conduct that 	violates the University’s Anti-Discrimination Policy or that would violate the Anti-Discrimination 	Policy if it were directed at a member of the University community.

II. Procedures for Decisions and Notification

   	A. Academic Requirements and Criminal Disclosure Form

      	The Student Affairs Office will have primary responsibility for confirming that a teacher 	candidate has met all Academic Requirements and submitted the Criminal Disclosure Form.

        	If a teacher candidate’s records are not complete or if a student has failed to meet one or more 	Academic Requirements or to submit the Criminal Disclosure Form, the Student Affairs Office will 	notify the teacher candidate and the Teacher Education Department (usually the teacher 	candidate’s Team) before May 30 prior to the beginning of the teacher candidate’s internship. If 	the deficiencies are not remedied before the end of the summer term, the Student Affairs Office 	will so notify the Teacher Education Department (the teacher candidate’s Team), and the 	beginning of the teacher candidate’s internship will be delayed until the beginning of the next 	internship after the deficiencies have been remedied.

      	B. Professional Criteria

        	The Department of Teacher Education and its representatives, including course instructors and 	mentor teachers, have primary responsibility for evaluating whether teacher candidates have met 	the required Professional Criteria. The following procedures will be used to assure that teacher 	candidates are systematically evaluated according to the Professional Criteria and that potential 	problems are investigated:
•	All mentor teachers working with students taking TE 401 and TE 402 will be asked to fill out a questionnaire concerning the students’ performance in the field, including their performance with respect to the Professional Criteria. Any classroom teacher indicating concerns about a student’s performance or professionalism will be contacted by the course instructor or another Team representative, and the Team will investigate the concerns.  
•	The Teams will request that course instructors teaching TE 301, TE 401, and TE 402 identify students who may not be meeting the Professional Criteria and provide information about their possible failure to comply with the Professional Criteria. The Teams will investigate any such concerns expressed by other course instructors. 
•	Teams will investigate concerns expressed by other course instructors, including instructors in other departments, which might involve a student’s failure to meet any of the Professional Criteria. 

        	Generally, the Team Coordinator and/or Team Leader will review situations which may involve a 	teacher candidate’s failure to meet any of the Professional Criteria. If the likelihood of failure to 	comply with the Professional Criteria is serious enough to jeopardize the teacher candidate’s 	progress to the internship, the Team Leadership will review the case.

        	If the Team Leadership concludes that the situation involves a failure to comply with one or more 	of the Professional Criteria that is so serious that the Team recommends that the teacher 	candidate not be allowed to progress to the internship because of it, the Team Leader will inform 	the teacher candidate and the Assistant Chair/Coordinator of the Teacher Preparation Programs 	of the recommendation and of the basis for it. The Assistant Chair/Coordinator will be responsible 	for reviewing the recommendation and determining that the teacher candidate may, upon 	meeting certain conditions, proceed to the internship, or that the teacher candidate will not be 	allowed to proceed to the internship. The Assistant Chair/Coordinator will contact, and preferably, 	meet with the teacher candidate prior to making this determination.

        	If the Team Leadership concludes that the teacher candidate has failed to comply with one or more of the Professional Criteria, but that the failure is not, by itself, serious enough to prevent the teacher candidate from progressing to the internship, the teacher candidate will be notified of the failure and of the teacher candidate’s need to comply with the Professional Criteria in the future. If the teacher candidate again fails to comply with any of the Professional Criteria, the Team Leadership will again review the case. If, because of the teacher candidate’s repeated failure to comply with one or more of the Professional Criteria, the Team Leadership recommends that the teacher candidate will not be allowed to progress to the internship, the Team Leader will inform the teacher candidate and the Assistant Chair/Coordinator of the recommendation and the basis for it. The Assistant Chair/Coordinator will be responsible for reviewing the recommendation and determining that the teacher candidate may proceed to the internship upon meeting certain conditions or that the teacher candidate will not be allowed to proceed to the internship.  The Assistant Chair/Coordinator will contact and, preferably, meet with the teacher candidate prior to making this determination.

        	The teacher candidate may appeal the decision to the Associate Dean of the College of 	Education.

III. Professional Standards for the Internship

        	The Teacher Education Program has adopted the following Professional Standards which 
	are used to evaluate interns' performance and make decisions about recommendations for 	certification.

        	Standard 1:  Knowing subject matters and how to teach them

•	The intern understands the subject matter(s) as needed to teach it (them).

•	The intern links subject matter and students, creating a responsive curriculum.

•	The intern plans and implements a curriculum of understanding.

•	The intern uses appropriate assessment strategies and links them to planning and teaching.

        	Standard 2:  Working with students

•	The intern respects and cares for all students in his/her charge.

•	The intern promotes active learning and thoughtfulness.

•	The intern builds on students' different interests, strengths, and cultural backgrounds.

•	The intern treats all students as capable of learning.

        	Standard 3:  Creating and managing a classroom learning community

•	The intern creates a safe, caring, productive environment in the classroom.

•	The intern makes the classroom an inclusive community.

•	The intern helps students develop personal and social responsibility.

	Standard 4:  Working and learning in a school and profession

•	The intern works well as a teacher in a school community.

•	The intern works productively with his/her MSU field instructor, mentor teacher, and seminar instructors in ways that support his/her learning to teach.

•	The intern reflects on his or her experience and seeks opportunities for continued learning and improvement.

•	The intern is open to alternatives and constructive feedback.

        * Approved by the Teacher Education Council: Spring 1999 and October 1999.
        * Approved by the University Committee on Academic Policy: September 30, 1999 and October 28, 1999.