■  Fall 2017 Student Teaching Information Sessions: If you are in general education and ESL (everyone except special education) and will complete all required coursework before September 2017, you must attend one of these mandatory information sessions to learn the application process:

• Monday January 23, 6:00-7:30pm in Oren Gateway Center 100
• Saturday January 28, 12:00-1:15pm in Oren Gateway Center 100

If you have a work or class conflict, contact Barbara West immediately to make other arrangements <westb@augsburg.edu>.

■  Film Screening of “1985”: Hmong Women Together and Augsburg Citizen Educators invite all students and faculty to a screening of “1985,” a coming of age story about four Hmong-American youth. The screening will be followed by a conversation with director Kang Vang. More info at: <http://www.1985themovie.com/>. Doors open at 5:30.

■  Study Education and Psychology in Slovenia, May 2017: January 31st Deadline is Fast Approaching! Examine the roots of both educational and psychological practices that shaped European culture in beautiful Ljubljana, Slovenia. As part of this May 2017 travel program, you will also experience Roman ruins in Croatia and the canals of Venice, Italy.

For more information, visit <http://bit.ly/travel-slovenia-2017>
To apply, go to <http://studyabroad.augsburg.edu/?go=PsychAndEduSlovenia>.

More information about the trip may be obtained by contacting professors Joseph Erickson <erickson@augsburg.edu> or Stacy Freiheit at <freiheit@augsburg.edu>.

■ Long-Term Sub Job at STARBASE Minnesota: STARBASE Minnesota is currently seeking an educator (licensed OR currently pursuing a license) to come on as a long term substitute teacher starting January 2017, with the potential of full time employment. Anyone with an elementary education background and/or a secondary education background can apply for this paid, full time (40 hr/week), long term sub position. STARBASE Minnesota is federally funded school-day STEAM enrichment program located at the US Air Force National Guard base at MSP Airport.

For more information, contact: Karee Smith, <ksmith@starbasemn.org>, or 612-713-2353.

■ Internship at Breakthrough Twin Cities: Breakthrough Twin Cities has a paid, teaching internship opportunity. Breakthrough Twin Cities is a nationally rated top-10 internship by the Princeton Review. The Teaching Fellowship is a great avenue to practice teaching skills and build your resume. Early Action Deadline is on January 12th. Students who are interested in applying can learn about our online application process by visiting: <http://www.breakthroughtwincities.org>. Students can also sign up for weekly reminders and information about the program through their electronic mailing list: <http://eepurl.com/cdoCL9>.

■ Several Updates Regarding Minnesota BOT Testing:

• The Minnesota Board of Teaching (BOT) no longer requires the ACT/SAT/GRE/Praxis I scores be taken within the past 10 years.  There is currently no time limit.  Keep in mind that the ACT scores must be the ACT Plus Writing which started around February 2005.

SAT recently changed the way they score their tests.  The new scores (and old) can be found on the link to the MN Board of Teaching website: <http://mn.gov/board-of-teaching/beaneducator/licensureexams/>.

•Minnesota Version of NES Now Available: As of August 30th, candidates are now able to sign up for the MN NES exam directly through the MTLE website by using this link:

<http://www.mtle.nesinc.com/PageView.aspx?f=HTML_FRAG/GENRB_AnnounceBasicSkills.html>

• The passing score for the MN NES is 520 for all three tests (Reading, Writing, and Math):

MN NES EAS Subtest Passing Score (on a 400–600 point scale)

Reading=520

Writing=520

Mathematics=520

The test is exactly the same as the National NES exam, it’s just that MN candidates are given 15 extra minutes of time.  Because of the extra time, the score rating had to be adjusted.  The same number of correct raw scores needed to pass is exactly the same on both tests.  The National NES exam is based on a 100-300 point scale and the MN NES is based on a 400-600 point scale. The MN NES scores will be available to view in Results Analyzer starting with the October 7th reporting date.

NOTE:  If candidates sign up and take the National NES exam after August 30th, they will accept the scores if they met the minimum passing score:

NES EAS Subtest Passing Score (on a 100–300 point scale)

Reading=205

Writing=214

Mathematics=213

Also, if a candidate has taken and passed a portion of the MTLE basic skills, they need to register and complete ONLY the portion they have not passed of that basic skills test through NES.  They do not need to complete the whole series of Reading, Writing and Math over unless they did not pass all portions.

A listing of all licensure exam minimum passing scores can be found on the Board of Teaching website at:

<http://mn.gov/board-of-teaching/beaneducator/licensureexams/>

• Free study materials will be available for all MTLE test. There are also expanded test preparation products available for cost. Additional information can be found on their website using this link:

<http://www.mtle.nesinc.com/PageView.aspx?f=GEN_PreparationMaterials.html>

Pearson has also expanded their customer service hours to M-F 7AM-7PM and Sat from 8AM-4PM.

For questions and more information, please contact: Debby Odell, Educator Licensing, Supervisor <Debby.Odell@state.mn.us> or (651) 582-8522.

Submitting news to Augsburg:

• To the Education Department News: Send your news to Joseph Erickson at C.B. 312 or erickson-AT-augsburg.edu.
• To the Augsburg Now published by the Augsburg College Office of Public Relations and Communication: Send your news to C.B. 145 or now@augsburg.edu.
• To the daily A-Mail electronic newsletter: Go to AugNet Home Page and login. Then click on “Submit News and Announcements” link.

Connecting with Alumni and Friends:

Augsburg College provides several ways to stay connected with Alumni and friends. Here are some links to get you started:

• Alumni Information Update: Submit news and contact information changes to the college’s Alumni Office.
• TC2 New Teachers’ Blog

Other Sources of News for K-12 Teachers:

Here are links to some of the very best online news sources for K-12 teachers:

• Education Week
• Teacher Magazine
• Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (also, subscribe to ASCD SmartBrief, a daily email news resource delivered right to your inbox).