University of Michigan - Flint

Student Teaching is the culmination of the special education graduate program.  It is the time for you to demonstrate your knowledge of subject matter and learning theories, as well as a variety of teaching methods.  You are ready to use this advanced knowledge and skills, and under the guidance of both a master teacher/school supervisor and a university supervisor you will continue developing your professional skills as a special education teacher.

Online Application Period:  July 13th - July 27th, 2009

After this date, the online application will be closed and no further applications will be accepted.

It is mandatory that you read through the following application instructions so that you have the materials and information at hand that you need to complete the application process.  Any required, missing information within the online application process will cause your application to be denied. 

Once you have completed reading the application instructions, a link at the bottom of this web page will direct you to the online student teaching application.

Application Assistance - For specific questions regarding the requirements and application fields of the online application form, contact the Education Department at (810) 762-3260. 

You will be required to upload an electronic version of your resume in the first section of the online student teaching application.  You will not be able to continue through the online application if this requirement is not completed.

In addition, before your application is considered complete, you must submit one (1) typed error-free copy (resume, autobiographical statement and coursework) to the Education Department NO LATER THAN 5:00 p.m on July 27th, 2009.

The Department of Education provides both a resume example and guidelines for the submission of your resume which is forwarded to the placement school district.

• Resume Example (pdf format - if you don't have MS Office installed on your personal computer)
• Resume Example (MS Word format - if you would like to use the example as a template)
• Resume Guidelines (pdf format)

It is mandatory that you review the example and guidelines and appropriately format your resume for efficient placement prior to submission as the format also includes an autobiographical statement (example is included) and coursework information in addition to typical resume information.

The last pages of the resume will be a form listing all undergraduate and graduate coursework completed in special education.  If you have transfer credit from another University that applies to your endorsement, please include that on the course form.  Please include the course number, course title, semester taken, and grade.  If a course(s) is in progress or being taken prior to student teaching, indicate course number, course title and semester course will be taken.    You may come into the Graduate Office in the Education Department and look at transcripts from previous schools.

Visit the Career Development Center if you need more assistance in completing your resume.

When uploading your resume within the online application, please name your electronic resume file using:  your"lastname""firstinitial".doc  format   (example smithj.doc).  This allows us to uniquely identify your resume in the database.  Uploading your resume with any other file name nomenclature will cause a delay in your placement process.

If you have a question about your grade point, see the information below on Grade Point Calculation to assist you in calculating your grade points.  A thorough assessment of your transcript and course requirements to determine student teaching eligibility will be completed by the Director of Educational Field Experiences.

 
Your student teaching eligibility will be sent to you electronically via your University student email account by the end of August.  Only students who are fully and conditionally eligible will be considered for student teaching placements.  If you are deemed ineligible, you will not be considered for a student teaching placement.  

Learning Disabilities

• Overall GPA of 5.0 (B) on a 9 point scale at the time of application
• Completion or equivalent of EDU 508/EDN 500, 509/EDN 501, 511/EDN 541, 513/EDN 540, 514/EDN 502, 533/EDN 544, 580/EDR 645, 600/EDN 600, 601/EDN 640 (with a grade of 4.0 (B-) on a 9 point scale or better). 
• NOTE:  601/EDN 640 may be taken concurrently with Student Teaching
• No holds from course instructors
• No unresolved “I” in coursework
• New prefix and course numbers are indicated in blue.

Cognitive Impairments

• Overall GPA of 5.0 (B) on a 9 point scale, with no grade below B- in any required course, at the time of application
• Completion or equivalent of EDU 508/EDN 500, 509/EDN 501, 511/EDN 541, 513/EDN 540, 514/EDN 502, 533/EDN 544, 580/EDR 645, 602/EDN 601, 603/EDN 641 (with a grade of 4.0 (B-) on a 9 point scale or better). 
• NOTE:  603/EDN 641 may be taken concurrently with Student Teaching
• No holds from course instructors
• No unresolved “I” in coursework
• New prefix and coursework numbers are indicated in blue.

It is the sole responsibility of the University of Michigan-Flint to place you in a school district.  If you wish to be considered for placement in your current teaching assignment, the Director of Field Experiences and the school district will determine if the placement meets the endorsement requirements.  If the student’s current teaching assignment does not meet the endorsement requirements, the student will not be allowed to do their student teaching in that classroom.  Keep in mind that the most important consideration is the opportunity to work with a “qualified” cooperating teacher.  Cooperating teachers must have a minimum of three years teaching experience and most school districts require cooperating teachers to have tenure status.

You are not to take on the task of finding your own placement or inquiring directly with any school administrators or teachers regarding a placement for you.  This kind of behavior is unacceptable with both the schools and the University.  Involvement in this process will automatically make you INELIGIBLE for student teaching in the semester you are applying for and could delay placement in subsequent semesters.From time to time, school administrators, principals, and teachers have contacted the Director of Educational Field Experiences to request a specific student.  These requests must come through the school district- NOT the student teacher. If such a request is received, every effort will be made to accommodate the request; however, extenuating circumstances may prohibit fulfilling the request.

We want to provide all students with a positive, objective student teaching experience; therefore, a student teacher will not be placed in a School District where his/her children, spouse, parent, sibling, niece, nephew, grandparent, in-laws or other family members work or attend. This will not apply for students using their own classroom for one of the student teaching placements and summer placements.   Failure to disclose relatives in a school district will result in a student being ineligible for the current student teaching application semester. 

The University's obligation is to locate a classroom in your area of endorsement.  Students could be required to drive up to one hour, one way for their student teaching placement.

Winter 2010 student teaching placements will begin to be posted on Blackboard in the gradebook on October 23, 2009.   Instructions will be posted on Blackboard to assist you in locating your placement.  It is each prospective student teacher’s responsibility to check this site.  The site will be updated daily. 

You will be contacted should any problems occur in your placement status.  Placements often take longer than we would prefer, but there are numerous extenuating circumstances within the school districts that may cause a delay in placement.  Please do not worry, every effort will be made to place you for student teaching.

Once your student teaching placement has been determined, contact your cooperating teacher and arrange a meeting to begin planning for your student teaching semester.  Some questions that may be helpful to ask would be:

• Starting date
• Lesson Planning
• Curriculum
• Type of special ed setting, i.e., inclusion, resource room, cross categorical, basic classroom
• Range of disabilities served in classroom
• Ancillary services for students in classroom
• Collaboration with support personnel
• IEP information
• Classroom management strategies
• Recordkeeping, attendance, grades, etc.
• Schedule for increasing student teaching responsibilities
• School hours
• Professional development opportunities
• Weekly reflection sessions 

The student teaching seminars will cover important information regarding your student teaching experience. 

Special education student teachers will register for an appropriate section of the practicum in their endorsement area.  The Director of Field Experiences will send an email in late October to your UM-Flint student email account with specific course numbers.   EDU 601/EDN 640 (LD) or EDU 603/EDN 641 (CI) is a prerequisite or co-requisite for student teaching. If you are co-registering for EDU 601/EDN 640 or 603/EDN 641 during student teaching, register as early as possible. These courses have a cap and you will not be permitted to do student teaching if EDU 601/EDN 640 or 603/EDN 641 hasn’t been taken or is not concurrent with student teaching.

EXAMPLE:  If you receive an A in EDU 508 and a B- in EDU 513 your grade point average would be computed as follows:

EDU 508:  3 credits x 8.0 honor points = 24 honor points

EDU 513:  3 credits x 4.0. honor points = 12 honor points

6 credits                                36.0 honor points

36 honor points divided by 6 credits (36/6) = 6.0 grade point 

You may now begin the Special Education Student Teaching Application for Winter 2010.

Application Assistance - For specific questions regarding the requirements and application fields of the online application form, contact the Education Department at (810) 762-3260. 

If technical assistance with the applicatoin is needed, contact Janel Depew at jdepew@umflint.edu.