Undergraduate Advising

Jamie Aldridge
Certification and Field Experience Officer
820 Van Vleet Oval, Rm 100
Norman, OK 73019-2041
(405) 325-2108
jaldridge@ou.edu

Certification

Students who earn their degrees from the University of Oklahoma and who have satisfactorily completed the program requirements, including success on the two Certification Examinations for Oklahoma Educators (OSAT, and PPAT), will be recommended by the Jeannine Rainbolt College of Education for certification. Upon completing all state requirements, a teaching certificate will be issued by the Oklahoma State Department of Education. The teaching certificate is valid for five years.

Field Experiences

The TE-PLUS program contains three formal field experiences where students are placed in educational environments representing rural, urban, and suburban settings. These field experiences are tied to particular coursework. Students will learn about the expectations and their placements during class. Other, more informal field experiences are affiliated with some of the courses in professional and specialized education courses. These experiences are critical to the student's professional development. Each teacher certification program culminates with the student teaching internship as a 16-week full-time field experience.

Certification

A credential issued by the state of Oklahoma attesting that you are qualified to be a teacher in the state of Oklahoma. The certificate is good for five years.

Certification Exams

The state of Oklahoma requires all teacher candidates to pass three certification exams prior to gaining a license to teach. You will learn more about these tests and when to take them  from your advisor. The two exams are listed below.

• OSAT-Oklahoma Subject Area Test
  
• PPAT-Praxis Performance Assessment for Teachers
  

For information on exam dates, costs and study guides please see: ceoe.nesinc.com

Degree Checksheet

A concise, one-page description of graduation requirements for a specific undergraduate major.

Field Experience

Time outside of your regular class hours where you will use what you are learning in your coursework as you interact with school children in their regular classroom settings. There are four official field experiences that are shared by all majors. They are associated with EDS 4003, EIPT 3483, a field experience associated to a specific methods class, and your student teaching/internship experience. There are also other field experiences and observations that are specific to each individual program areas.

Foreign Language Proficiency

All teacher candidates must demonstrate that they are proficient at the novice-high level in a language other than English. This can be demonstrated by passing the proficiency exam or by successfully completing or placement-testing past the first two college level courses in a classical, modern, Native or  American Sign Language. High school language courses alone do not meet the requirement. They can be valuable in assisting a student in passing the proficiency examination.

Full Admission

Process by which students are officially accepted into a teacher education program. Full admission to a program area is required for students to enroll in Jeannine Rainbolt College of Education courses.

Full Admission Checklist

A tool to assist students in fulfilling all requirements to become fully admitted to their chosen teacher education program.

Full Admit

Education students who have been accepted into their teacher education program. This status allows students to enroll in education classes.

Group Advising

Advising done in a group session. This approach allows the advisor to distribute information efficiently, address questions that may be shared by several students, and demonstrate effective use of the website to enroll and access pertinent forms. All students in the Jeannine Rainbolt College of Education must attend a group advising session before their Internship semester.

Interview

The final step in the full admission process. Students meet with faculty from their chosen program area to discuss personal credentials and attributes as well as program expectations. More information will be available from your adviser.

Pre-admits

Students in the Jeannine Rainbolt College of Education who have not yet completed all of the requirements to be fully admitted to their specialized program area.

Professional Education Classes

Those classes that are shared by all students who are preparing to become teachers.

Professional Portfolio

A requirement of all teacher education candidates in the State of Oklahoma. More information will be available from program area faculty.

Retention/Behavior Contract

A contract between the student and the Jeannine Rainbolt College of Education that specifies exactly what the student must do during the next semester to bring his or her work up to acceptable standards to remain in the College. While on contract, the student does not have early enrollment privileges. The student will be allowed to enroll after the semester grades have been posted and the advisor determines that the conditions of the contract have been met. At that point, the student goes off contract. If the conditions of the contract are not met, the student will be dismissed from the College of Education but may transfer to another college within the university.

Specialized Education Classes

Classes that are specific to your chosen program area (e.g. Elementary Education).

Student Teaching

One semester of full-time work with students in a classroom. For all majors except for Language Arts Education majors, this semester is prior to graduation. For Language Arts Education majors in the Jeannine Rainbolt College of Education, this semester occurs immediately after graduation.