Teacher Certification
In compliance with the Maryland Redesign of Teacher Education, the heart of the Washington College Teacher Certification Program is a two semester, 100-day internship. The secondary internship begins with the second semester of the junior year and ends with the completion of the student teaching experience in the fall semester of the senior year. Alternately, students may elect to begin the internship in the spring semester of the senior year and complete student teaching in the fall semester following graduation. The elementary internship begins the first semester of the senior year and ends in the spring semester of the senior year. Special accommodations will be made for non-traditional students. The internship will be completed in one of the ten Professional Development Schools the College has established in three local counties.
Entry Criteria
- Cumulative GPA of 2.8 for both elementary and secondary certification; GPA of 3.0 in specific teaching field for secondary certification (A grade of "D" is not accepted in professional education courses, nor in courses in the teaching field)
- Recommendation from a professor in student's major field of study
- Maryland passing score on Praxis Exam, Part One
- Satisfactory performance in Professional Development School field experiences
- Presentation of a developmental portfolio
- Approval of the Education Department Chair following a formal interview with the Chair and departmental colleagues
Admission Procedures
Secondary
During the fall semester, Junior Year:
- Take the national ETS Praxis I exam. *
- Before final exam week, complete the Application Form for the Teacher Certification Program and submit it to the faculty secretary in Goldstein 114. *
- Obtain a letter of recommendation from a professor in your department.*
- In early December, contact the faculty secretary to schedule an interview with the Education Department Faculty. Interviews usually are held during exam week.* Forms are available in the department secretary's office.
- The interview will include a technology survey.
- A list of technology standards is available in Intern Resources.
Elementary
During the fall semester, Junior Year:
- Take the national ETS Praxis I exam. *
During the spring semester, Junior Year:
- In early February, complete the Application Form for the Teacher Certification Program and submit it to the faculty secretary in Goldstein 114. *
- Obtain a letter of recommendation from a professor in your department.*
- In early March, contact the faculty secretary to schedule an interview with the Education Department Faculty. Interviews usually are held in April.* Forms are available in the department secretary's office.
- The interview will include a content quiz, technology survey, and reading portfolio presentation.
- A list of technology standards is available in Intern Resources.
Professional Portfolios
Each student completing a Maryland approved certification program through the Washington College Teacher Certification Program will prepare a portfolio using the Maryland Essential Dimensions of Teaching as an organizing element. Throughout formal studies and the clinical experiences in Professional Development Schools, each student will develop a working performance portfolio that will serve as a formative assessment instrument. From the artifacts developed and collected throughout the program and assembled in the portfolio, the student will present a showcase or presentation portfolio at the conclusion of the student teaching internship. This event will engage students in a portfolio review process designed to validate application for official certification by the Maryland State Department of Education and to prepare each teacher candidate to utilize a presentation portfolio in the interview process.
Portfolio Assessment
In 2001-2002, the Education Department, together with its PDS partners, adopted a portfolio assessment process for its teacher candidates. Students are trained in the portfolio process in sessions that are open to all education students at the beginning of each fall semester.
Formative assessment begins at the conclusion of the first semester of internship when the students meet individually with the school site coordinator and the college liaison to present their portfolios and explain what they learned during their field experience. At this checkpoint, the portfolios consist mostly of summaries of the students' journals, samples of mini lessons they taught, and a preliminary philosophy of teaching.
During the second semester, students meet frequently with their Education Faculty and Special Methods Instructors to expand their portfolios and to organize them according to The Essential Dimensions of Teaching. They are helped by their supervising teachers in selecting samples of their best daily lesson plans and unit plans, as well as artifacts of any instructional activities they organized during their student teaching.
The culminating activity of the two-semester internship is the public presentation of portfolios. This is a summative performance assessment of the students' teaching competencies. It is organized by the site coordinators and takes place at the assigned schools. All school faculty members and administrators are invited. The attached evaluation forms are used by either the teachers in the audience or the students' supervising teachers as indicated. College faculty later use the third attached form to evaluate each portfolio according to EDoT standards.