MSUM's Education Programs
Elementary Inclusive Education
Early Childhood Education
Early Childhood Education Non-Licensure
Special Education
Secondary Teaching in Social Studies, Communication Arts & Literature, Sciences, Mathematics, and Health
K-12 Teaching in TESL, Physical Education, Art, Music, and Spanish

Program specific information is available at HERE.

Teacher Education Requirements
To be eligible for graduation in any MSUM teacher education major, students must fulfill the following requirements:

• Admission to teacher education (SARTE) and retention in good standing.
• Completion of an education sequence of courses as established by the chosen program.
• Successful completion of all field experiences and student teaching.
• Take the Minnesota basic skills exams (MTLE) or submit eligible ACT + Writing scores or eligible SAT scores.

Students are also strongly encouraged to take the Minnesota content and pedagogy exams before graduation. Testing information can be found HERE.

Selective Admission and Retention in Teacher Education (SARTE)
Formal admittance to Teacher Education (SARTE) is required before enrolling in 300 and 400 level courses with the prefixes ED, EECE, SPED, and STL.

To be admitted to Teacher Education, certain requirements must be met.

Students must earn a minimum GPA of 2.8 (Elementary Inclusive and Early Childhood, and Special Education) or GPA of 2.5 (Secondary/K-12 Education) in order to be admitted into Teacher Education. All students must take SPED 225, ED 205, and ED 294, earning at least a grade of C in each course. There are also dispositions, personal initiative, and testing requirements. For more information, please see the SARTE page.

Retention in Teacher Education
Once a student has been admitted to Teacher Education, there are 3 points at which a student's progress is reviewed.

Retention Point I

Early Childhood Education and Elementary Inclusive Education

At the time of advising, the student and advisor will review GPA, course grades in the major, and dispositions concerns. The advisor will be able to check eligible to continue or not eligible to continue in Diary.

Secondary/K-12

Semester after taking ED 310: During advising, the student and advisor will review GPA, course grades in major, and dispositions concerns. The advisor will be able to check eligible to continue or not eligible to continue in Diary.

Retention Point II

All Majors

Application for Student Teaching: During advising, the student and advisor will review GPA, course grades in the major, dispositions concerns, MTLE scores, and that all courses in the major have been or will be completed before student teaching begins. The one exception is ED 443S, which is the Classroom Management course taken by secondary and K-12 education students during student teaching. The advisor will be able to check eligible for student teaching or not eligible for student teaching in Diary.

Retention Point III

Completion of Student Teaching: Students must meet all of the requirements for student teaching to be eligible for graduation.

Dismissal from Teacher Education
A student may be dismissed from Teacher Education if remediation of knowledge, skilss, and/or dispositions has been unsuccessful. A student may also be dismissed for a violation of The Code of Teacher Ethics as put forth by the Minnesota Board of Teaching. The Code of Ethics can be found in the MSUM Student Teaching Handbook and on the Minnesota Board of Teaching website.

Student Teaching

Student teaching is the culminating experience for all education majors. Required courses in the major must be completed before student teaching. The Student Teaching Handbook gives a detailed description of the requirements and expectations for student teaching.

The online Student Teaching Application can be found in DIARY. A paper copy of the checklist must be submitted to the Field Experience Office, Lommen 211G.

Student Teaching Application Deadlines: For spring, applications are due September 15; for fall, applications are due February 15.

Students who would like to student teach outside a 60-mile radius of the Fargo/Moorhead area must talk to the Director of Field Experiences a year before the student teaching semester.

Evidence of Standards Assignment

The state of Minnesota requires all teacher candidates demonstrate their knowledge of and ability to perform the skills addressed in each of the 10 Standards of Effective Practice. Your Evidence of Standards document will provide you an opportunity to demonstrate your knowledge and skills for these standards. This document is required as a part of your student teaching application. Specifics about the assignment can be found HERE.

Minnesota Teacher Licensure Requirements

MSUM will recommend you for licensure to the state of Minnesota when you have completed all requirements. Licensure information can be found HERE.

The application for Minnesota licensure must be submitted online HERE.

Minnesota State University Moorhead prepares students for Minnesota teacher licensure. A student interested in licensure from other states (including North Dakota) should contact departments of teacher licensure in those states for specific information, as it is the student’s responsibility to meet individual states’ requirements for licensure.