School of Education

The School of Education offers undergraduate programs leading to baccalaureate degrees and teacher certification in Early Childhood Education, Elementary Education, and Secondary Education including majors in Biology, Chemistry, English, Mathematics, Physics, and Social Studies. Additional certification endorsements are available in Special Education, English as a Second Language, and Computer Literacy.

At the graduate level, the School of Education has degree programs which include a Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction and Master of Education in Educational Leadership. The Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) accredits all undergraduate and graduate programs in the School of Education.

Vision

The LSU-Shreveport School of Education envisions a future in which the educators we recruit, develop, empower, and support are widely known as exemplary Servant Leaders who are fearlessly committed to the education of the whole child and are committed to the adults and communities who serve those children. We understand fully that what we teach our candidates we teach their students.

Mission

The LSU-Shreveport School of Education engages every day in research, service, teaching, and learning to develop world-class educators who are:

• Impactful and reflective practitioners of best methods in teaching and learning.
• Culturally responsive in both their thinking and methods.
• Committed to equitable access and opportunity for ALL.
• Creative, innovative, and discerning in the deployments of their practice.
• Deeply engaged with their students and the communities served.
• Relentless life-long learners.
• Collaborative influencers and thought leaders in the profession.

Goals

In order to achieve our Vision and realize our Mission, the LSU-Shreveport School of Education will intentionally and relentlessly:

• Conduct, consume, and synthesize research in the practice of teaching and learning, organizational effectiveness, human development, and educational policy.
• Identify, recruit, prepare, and continually support educators with the highest ethical and professional standards.
• Develop practitioners committed to the education of the whole student, attending equally to the intellectual, social, physical, and emotional growth of the learner.
• Evaluate, deploy, and teach the use of the most robust tools available to optimize learning.
• Influence and advocate for policy that promotes the best possible futures for ALL.
• Model and teach a mindset of service to others.
• Consider and more deeply understand the social and historical contexts in which our candidates and their students live and work.
• Effectively use data of many types and origins to affect improvement in both the learning endeavor as well as organizational effectiveness.
• Seek to understand and deploy best practices for personal and organizational health and wellbeing.
• Engage and partner with a wide array of communities, entities, and institutions to advance a mindset of continuous improvement toward the actualization of learning organizations that ensure safe, orderly, and nurturing learning environments.
• Focus on producing future-ready learners who can achieve success in both college and career setting.
• Manifest the resilience necessary to manage and overcome the social, political, emotional, and learning challenges of the 21st century learning environment.
• Provide ongoing professional support and growth opportunities for our candidates and graduates as they move into the myriad roles of the learning endeavor.

Teacher Education Program Admission and Retention (TEPAR)

Selective Teacher Education, Admission, and Retention

The most important responsibility of any profession is service to its clients. Since the clients of the teacher education program are ultimately the children and youth taught by graduates of this program, the School of Education recommends for teacher certification only those students demonstrating the academic preparation, intelligence, emotional stability, and physical stamina required of good teachers. The student may be recommended for a Louisiana teacher’s certificate when the following requirements are met:

*Registration in the School of Education
*Admission to the Teacher Education Program
*Completion of the prescribed courses in a Teacher Education curriculum, including Residency I and II
*Recommendation for a degree by majority vote of the School of Education faculty
*Attainment of appropriate scores on the PRAXIS examinations

Admission to the Teacher Education Program (TEPAR)

The School of Education student who has completed 45 semester hours may apply for formal admission to the Teacher Education Program and may be admitted after meeting the following standards:

1. Credit for 45 semester hours with a GPA of 2.5 or better on all College work attempted
2. Completion of ENGL 105 , ENGL 115 , and COMM 130  (or equivalent courses) with grades of C or better. 
3. Demonstration of the following disposition: Advocacy, Cooperative Attitude, Dependability, Initiative, Oral Expression, Professionalism, Written Expression, Attendance, Critical Thinking, Diversity, Integrity/Ethics, Organization, Reflection

The Teacher Education Program Admissions and Retention (TEPAR) Committee administer the screening program. Application to TEPAR is completed via TaskStream. The applicant must secure a TaskStream account and enroll in TEPAR APPLICATION DRF on TaskStream to complete the application.Students not yet admitted to TEPAR may not enroll in required 300- or 400-level courses in Education.

Retention

The TEPAR Committee is charged with ensuring only properly trained and qualified professionals are granted teaching certificates. Once a student is admitted to TEPAR, retention in the program is not automatic. The committee will monitor each candidate’s progress in the following areas: academics, professional behavior, and overall commitment, ethical standards, personal qualities necessary for effective classroom interaction, and interpersonal skills needed to work with parents, administrators, and other professionals. Any candidate who does not appear to be progressing satisfactorily will be notified in writing, and when appropriate, given the opportunity to correct deficiencies identified by the committee. Should the student be unable or unwilling to do so to the satisfaction of the committee, he/she will be removed from TEPAR.

Clinical Preparation in Education

The capstone of all good teacher education programs is clinical preparation. Only through interactions with children and youth in a real-world classroom can an education major learn to apply successfully those concepts and skills taught in University courses.

Clinical Experiences

The School of Education makes provisions for early and ongoing clinical preparation beginning with the first education course taken by candidates and culminating with the year-long residency. Department faculty work with district partners to design clinical experiences of sufficient depth, breadth, coherence, and duration to ensure that candidates demonstrate their developing effectiveness and positive impact on all students’ learning and development. TEPAR courses and clinical experiences, including technology-enhanced learning opportunities, are structured to have multiple performance-based assessments at key points within the program to demonstrate candidates’ development of the knowledge, skills, and professional dispositions that are associated with a positive impact on the learning and development of all P-12 students.

Clinical Practice (Residency)

Students majoring in Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education must complete a year-long teacher residency in the final year of their degree program. Application for residency is submitted prior to enrollment in ED 411  or ED 421 . Requirements for admission to residency include:

1. Senior standing in a teacher education curriculum,
2. Completion of all courses in a curriculum titled “Methods and Materials in…”,
3. Completion of ED 411  or ED 421 ,
4. A GPA of 2.5 or better on all College work attempted,
5. Grades (last grades in the case of repeats) of C or higher in each required Education course. Grades (last grades in the case of repeats) of C or higher in the subject field or, in the case of the secondary education teacher, fields of certification, and
6. Passing scores for both of the appropriate Praxis II Content Knowledge and Principles of Teaching exams.
   Exception to the above requirements will not be made.

Residents are placed in state-approved P-12 public schools in parishes where contractual agreements are in place. Considerations for placement of a resident in schools in the parishes include accessibility of the site for supervision of the resident, availability of state-credentials mentor teachers, consideration of a teaching schedule that meets a resident’s certification requirements, and recommendations from parish school administrators. 

Semester I of Residency

Residents spend a minimum of 60 clock hours observing and supporting classroom instruction under the supervision of a state-approved mentor teacher in their assigned placement. First-semester residents may also have additional clinical experience requirements from methods courses typically taken with ED 411 or ED 421. Residents may spend additional time onsite to complete these experiences.

Semester II of Residency

Residents are required to spend 16 weeks co-teaching with a state-certified mentor in select public schools classrooms. Second-semester residents are provided a supportive team of mentors, university supervisors, and School of Education staff that share the responsibility of providing the resident with a quality experience. Because of the heavy demands of the final semester of residency, the resident may take no more than one additional course outside of ED 422  (Clinical Practice) and ED 412  (Elementary Classroom Management) or ED 414  (Secondary Classroom Management).

Degree Completion

Recommendation for Degree and Teacher’s Certificate

Transfer credits apply to the degree only if they represent courses in the curricula of the School of Education. After completing all requirements for a degree in Teacher Education and for a Louisiana teacher’s certificate, a student will be recommended for the degree if a majority of the Education and Human Development faculty vote for said recommendation. The Louisiana Legislatures requires that all applicants for initial teaching certificates take the PRAXIS Examinations and qualify at or above the scores required by the State Superintendent of Education. It is the responsibility of the student to apply for and take the PRAXIS so that the scores can be attached to the application for a teaching certificate.

Requirements for Graduation

Baccalaureate degrees in Teacher Education Programs are conferred when the student has fulfilled the following requirements:

• Completion of all general degree requirements
• Grades (last grades in the case of repeats) of C or higher in each required education course
• Completion of the curriculum administered by the School of Education with a GPA of 2.5 or better on all College work attempted
• Completion of all requirements for certification as specified by the state of Louisiana, and 
• Affirmative majority vote of the School of Education faculty recommending a baccalaureate degree

Education