College of Education

Teacher Education Retention and Progression Policy for Initial Teacher Licensure

Developing professional dispositions is a critical element to preparing students to work in education or community agencies. The College of Education expects students to progressively grow and develop in their professional dispositions as they matriculate through their coursework and field experiences embedded within our programs. Students should reach a level of performance acceptable for a beginning professional if enrolled in an initial preparation program or exhibit advanced professional dispositions if enrolled in a graduate program designed to train individuals for specific roles and responsibilities (e.g., leadership, teacher at an advanced level, counselor).

If a student exhibits dispositional challenges within a course and/or field experience, faculty should immediately address the challenge by providing support and guidance to the student through conversation, a support plan, or other appropriate approach. If the dispositional challenge does not improve during the semester, the faculty member should note the issue at the end of the semester using the COE dispositional tool.

In order to ensure the success of students enrolled in our initial teacher licensure preparation programs and implement supports when needed, program faculty will review disposition ratings and performance in coursework for all teacher candidates at the conclusion of the first semester after being admitted to teacher education, at the end of the semester prior to Residency I, and again at the end of the semester prior to Residency II. For initial licensure programs that do not include Residency I and/or Residency II, after admission to teacher education, disposition ratings and performance in coursework will be monitored every other semester until completion of coursework.

As a result of this review:

If a student receives unsatisfactory on one or more disposition indicators on the adopted COE dispositional tool as rated by one or more faculty:

At least two program faculty (one each from COE and Content Area if secondary) and/or COE advisor will meet with the student to discuss the rating and develop a Support Plan for improving in skills related to the indicator(s). The support plan will include specific goal(s), targeted activities to complete to support with achieving the goal, and timelines for achievement.
A follow up meeting will occur at the conclusion of the following full-term semester to review current disposition ratings and discuss the progress on the support plan. Candidates identified at the end of the semester prior to Residency I or at the end of the semester prior to Residency II also will have a mid-semester check-in to ensure adequate progress is being made.

If a student has a GPA of less than a 2.75:

At least two program faculty (one each from COE and Content Area if secondary) and/or advisor will meet with the student to discuss the student’s progress in the program and develop a support plan for improving. The support plan will include specific goal(s), targeted activities to complete to support with achieving the goal, and timelines for achievement.
A follow up meeting will occur at the conclusion of the following full-term semester to review GPA and progress in courses and discuss the progress on the support plan. Candidates identified at the end of the semester prior to Residency I will also have a mid-semester check-in to ensure adequate progress is being made.

For secondary minors, if a student earns less than a B in one of the YOED courses:

At least two program faculty (one each from COE and Content Area if secondary) will meet with the student to discuss the student’s progress in the program and develop a support plan for improving. The support plan will include specific goal(s), targeted activities to complete to support with achieving the goal, and timelines for achievement.
A follow up meeting will occur at the conclusion of the following full-term semester to review GPA and progress in courses and discuss the progress on the support plan. Candidates identified at the end of the semester prior to Residency I will also have a mid-semester check-in to ensure adequate progress is being made.

If progress is not met in the area(s) identified after one full semester (fall or spring), the support plan will be modified to provide additional supports or activities for another semester if possible (based on amount of time the student has remaining in the program).

Total time period for a support plan will be no longer than one academic year (fall, spring, summer).

If after no more than one academic year of enrollment (or equivalent; including fall, spring, summer), progress is still not achieved with the disposition or course progression; OR

If at any point during the program, a faculty member or the director of the Office of Educator Preparation and Licensure (OEPL) identifies a professionalism or ethical issue that places PK-12 students at risk, program faculty will meet with the student within two days of identifying the issue to discuss the unethical or unprofessional issue. Then, the following actions will be taken:

The course instructor or program faculty will notify the department chair of the issue.
The department chair will collect all documentation about the issue from all parties (e.g., student, instructor, mentor teacher) and submit the documentation within two weeks from the incident or the end of the semester.
The COE Student Support Committee (newly formed committee that includes associate dean, OEPL director, two tenure-track/tenured faculty from each department*) will review the documentation of the issue from all parties (e.g., student, instructor, mentor teacher) and hold separate meetings with the student and program faculty and will forward a recommendation for dismissal/non-dismissal to the chair with an explanation of the reasons for the decision.
The student will be notified in writing by the COE Support Committee chair of the decision.

*If there is a conflict of interest with a member of the COE Student Support Committee and the student, the committee member will not participate in the review. A substitute member will be identified.

*NOTE: If a student has specific issues with a faculty member, the chair of the department for the faculty member is available to discuss concerns. The chair offices are located in COE 314.

College of Education PLA Experiences

In accordance with MTSU Graduate Transfer Policy, Master’s students may transfer up to 12.0 credit hours of which up to 9.0 may be obtained through prior learning assessment (PLA) experiences.

Requested consideration of PLA experiences undergo careful review and must meet the alignment of course outcomes and standards. PLA evidence must be submitted before a final decision can be arrived at with regard to the acceptance and transfer to meet degree requirements.

Any candidate wishing to transfer PLA experiences to one of the targeted graduate degrees must also meet Graduate Studies and program-specific requirements for admission to the university and selected program. Any Master’s student wishing to request PLA experience credit MUST follow the procedures listed below. Any PLA experiences will be rigorously evaluated to ensure hours are awarded only when the nature of the PLA experiences are directly related to the student’s program of study. The approval process will require approval from each of the following: appropriate faculty, graduate program director, chairperson, and dean.

College of Education Guidelines for PLA Approval:

Meet with graduate program director to determine which courses can be considered for PLA experience credit, and how many credits are allowed (up to 9.0 credit hours) in that program of study.
Master’s students develop a portfolio documenting PLA experiences that meet all course competencies. The course sheet that lists course competencies is to be the first page(s) of the portfolio. Portfolio must include relevant examples and artifacts (e.g., training certificates, videos, licenses, work products, etc.) that attest to the rigor of the PLAs and how they directly map to the course requirements and standards.
Master’s student portfolio is submitted to graduate program director.
Graduate program director assigns review of portfolio to the designated faculty member with expertise in the course for which PLA experience credit is being requested.
Reviewer determines if course competencies are met and returns portfolio and decision to the appropriate graduate program director.
The program director will then forward a decision to the department chairperson for approval.
Once candidate materials have been carefully reviewed and approved by the appropriate faculty, program director, and chairperson, the department representative will submit individual student PLA credit requests to the dean of the College of Graduate Studies for final approval based upon the departmental procedures approved by Graduate Council.
Master’s student is notified if PLA experience credit is earned.