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Fifth Year Nontraditional Graduates

Preadmission Requirements

File an Intent to Apply for Admission to the Teacher Education Program (TEP) with the Certification Officer as soon as a decision is made to seek graduate level certification and apply for a Program of Study (POS) with the college advisor. In addition, students must meet the following requirements:
  1. Meet UAH requirements for unconditional admission to the University and the major department as stated in the UAH Graduate Catalog.
  2. Completion of undergraduate major in teaching field or, if an academic major is not on the transcript, 32 semester hours in the teaching field including at least 19 hours of upper division courses.
  3. Completion of undergraduate general education courses, including work in humanities, social science, science, and humanities.*
  4. Minimum GPA of 3.0 or higher in undergraduate teaching field courses.
  5. Completion of CM 113 or comparable public speaking course with grade of “C” or better.
  6. Enroll in Pre-Admission Course: ED 301
  7. Submit fingerprints for background check by ABI and FBI

Admission to the Teacher Education Program

Admission to the university does not guarantee admission to the Teacher Education Program. Students must have an Application for Admission to the Teacher Education Program on file with the Certification Officer and must verify that an approved Program of Study (POS) is on file in the UAH Department of Education before or during the first semester of education courses. In addition, students must meet the following requirements:
  1. Successfully complete ED 301.
  2. Minimum 3.0 GPA in first semester of graduate education and teaching field courses with no grade lower than C.
  3. Satisfactory completion of specified writing and field assignments in all education courses
  4. Satisfactory ratings on Interview Process, Dispositions Ratings and Application Essay.
  5. Satisfactory External Faculty Letter of Recommendation

Continuing the Teacher Education Program

Requirements include:
  1. Minimum 3.0 GPA in Education and teaching field courses with no grade lower than C.
  2. Satisfactory completion of all Field Experiences.
  3. Satisfactory ratings on Dispositions Ratings by education faculty, teaching field faculty, and field experience cooperating teachers.
  4. Passing Score on the Alabama Prospective Teacher Test (APTT) and Praxis II.
  5. Passing score on written comprehensive exam.
  6. If the above requirements are not met, a Personalized Professional Development Plan the candidate will be dismissed from Teacher Education Program.

Graduate Internship

In addition to the satisfactory completion of required coursework and satisfactory completion of minimum of 150 hours of field experience in diverse settings, candidates seeking initial certification Class A must meet the following requirements:
  1. Minimum 3.0 GPA in Education and teaching field courses with no grade lower than C.
  2. Satisfactory dispositions reports and field experience evaluations
  3. Satisfactory External Faculty Letter of Recommendation
  4. Applications for internship and graduate on file.
Application dates: January 31 for the following Fall Semester and June 30 for the following Spring Semester. Internships must be taken during the last semester before graduation. All internship placements are coordinated by the Department of Education faculty. At UAH, the internship is a full-time, full semester assignment of 15 weeks. Candidates should not expect to enroll in other courses during the internship semester.
  1. Secondary education candidates seeking initial certification must complete a middle and high school assignment.
  2. Candidates adding the Collaborative Teacher-Special Education certification will complete an additional internship in a special education setting.
  3. Candidates seeking a master’s degree or adding an endorsement in a teaching field different from their Class B certificate, must complete an internship in the new field. This includes, but is not limited to ESL, Reading Specialist, and special education.

Graduate Certification

Alabama teaching certificates are the legal responsibility of the Alabama State Department of Education. Colleges and universities cannot issue professional teaching certificates. In order to be recommended for certification, candidates must complete a state approved program. Approved graduate certification programs offered by the UAH Department of Education are designed to prepare candidates for professional Class A certification with a master’s degree.

Initial Certification
It is the candidate’s responsibility to initiate the application for the initial certificate. To be recommended for an initial certificate, nontraditional fifth year candidates must:
  1. Satisfactory completion of all UAH and department requirements
  2. Satisfactory completion of all teaching field and education courses, including the internship with a “C” or better.
  3. Grade point average in overall coursework (2.5); teaching field (2.5); in Education (2.75)
  4. Satisfactory intern evaluations by cooperating teachers and university supervisor.
  5. Satisfactory Exit Portfolio Review
  6. Individuals who hold a valid Alabama substitute teacher’s license must submit to the certification officer a copy of the substitute license along with all certification application paperwork.
  7. Candidates who expect to teach in states other than Alabama are responsible for knowledge of the licensure requirements of those states. Such candidates should inform the certification officer of their intentions.
Certificate Renewal
  1. The Class A certificate is valid for five years. This certification may be renewed upon verification of successful teaching for three years and completion of an approved professional development program or additional graduate level credits in the certification area.
  2. Individuals who allow their certificates to lapse for more than 6 months will also be required to renew their certificates and to obtain another background clearance for the issuance of a renewed certificate or license. The UAH Department of Education in accordance with the Alabama State Board of Education provides courses for persons who hold expired certificates and wish to reinstate them.

Graduate Warranty

For a period of two years of the valid date of the Professional Educator certificate, the University of Alabama in Huntsville, through the Department of Education, shall warranty and provide remediation at no cost to students who are evaluated to be unsatisfactory or deficient in any area of preparation. Remediation in professional education and/or teaching field departments will be based upon recommendations from the performance evaluations conducted by public school administrators who use the Alabama Professional Education Personnel Evaluation (PEPE) or comparable evaluations recognized and approved by the State Board of Education. A description of New Teacher Mentoring Program is available on the department Web site.

Field Experiences

The Alabama State Department of Education requires that all candidates seeking initial certification complete a minimum of 200 hours of field experiences in diverse settings prior to the internship. To meet this requirement, candidates will systematically be placed in area schools for approximately 50 hours of experience each semester. Field experience requirements will be individualized for teachers who hold valid teaching certificates in the same field they are seeking advanced, graduate level certification.
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