What are the criteria for admission?
If you meet the criteria above, you are given an interview. The interview is a significant event in the admissions decision.
You are required to have taken the four education core classes before we recommend you for teacher licensure. These classes are Educational Psychology, Multicultural Issues, Foundation of Education, and Civil Rights. It is recommended that you take these classes before the program begins, but it is not required that you take them in order to be admitted to the program.
You may be admitted to the program with several courses missing from those required on Form B. However, a significant number of missing courses may result in your being denied an interview. Instead, we would recommend that you spend the next year or so working on this missing course work.
Is financial aid available?
Our program offers scholarships to qualified applicants. All scholarships are competitive and are awarded on the basis of a faculty committee review of scholarship applications. Once you are admitted to the program in early March, you receive a scholarship application packet.
Since there are many earlier deadlines for scholarships, you should check these additional sites for possible sources of funding. The Oregon Student Assistance Commission (OSAC) (www.osac.state.or.us) administers more than 150 private scholarship programs established by donors from throughout Oregon. OSAC applications are available by contacting the OSU Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships or checking online at oregonstate.edu/admin/finaid/.
Low-interest loans are also available. Contact the OSU financial aid office.
What tests do I need to take?
You need to take three sections of the California Tests of Basic Skills and the MSAT tests of Content Knowledge and Content Area Exercises. The passing score on the CBEST is 123 with a minimum score of 37 in any one area. The passing score on the MSAT 147 on each test with a total minimum score of 310. You do not need to have passed these tests in order to be admitted to the program. However, you need to have passed these tests before you can do your full-time student teaching (usually in the last quarter of your program).
What do you mean by "cohort"?
The program is managed according to the "cohort-model" concept. This means that all students stay together for the duration of the program, take the same classes at the same time and, in effect, develop a coherent and cohesive learning community.
When do I do my practica and student teaching?
You take practica hours during September, when you spend the first month of public school with a cooperating teacher in your primary school placement. You also take practica hours during fall term, when you work in your practica site approximately two days a week. (For the other three days a week, you are on campus or in Portland, Salem, or Elmira for course work.) In winter and spring, you take student teaching hours, in what has in previous years been called the internship. In winter, you take five hours of student teaching, meaning that you are in the field for approximately six weeks and are taking university course work for four weeks. In spring, you are in the field for the entire quarter.
When will I get my teaching license?
You are eligible to apply for teacher licensure after spring term, once you have fulfilled the requirements for licensure.
When can I get my master's degree?
After you receive initial licensure, you still need to take approximately 15 hours of course work to get your master's degree. The state requires that you complete a master's degree within six years of earning your initial license. Most students in our program opt to complete the master's degree the summer immediately following the licensure program. The master's degree is granted after you defend your professional portfolio to your three-member master's committee. As part of the 15 hours, you take a course, Portfolio Development, supporting your work on the portfolio.
What is the second authorization?
The state has divided teacher licensure into four authorizations:
If you take our program, you will be eligible for an elementary authorization. Most of our students opt to get a second authorization, since it makes them more marketable and gives them more flexibility when they pursue jobs.
A second authorization (see link below) requires that you take nine hours of additional (beyond our program) course work that addresses that authorization level and a 90-hour student teaching stint at that authorization level. The program facilitates your 90-hour student teaching requirement (i.e., three weeks), but we do not facilitate your taking the additional course work. Most of our students take this course work in the summer, either before the program starts or after the program ends.
