Education Department Newsletter, January 27, 2017

Posted on Categories Newsletter

New■  Fall 2017 Student Teaching Information Session: 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. The remaining session will be held tomorrow:

  • 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>.

New  Fall 2017 Student Teaching for Special Education Information Meeting: If you are planning on student teaching in Fall 2017 you must attend one of the following sessions:

  • Monday, February 27 in Lindell Library room 202 from 5:30 – 7pm or
  • Wednesday, March 1 in Riverside Room in Christensen Center from 5:30 – 7pm

Questions? Contact Gretchen Guenter at <guenter@augsburg.edu>.

New  Free NES Essential Skills Prep: The EAST Program along with the Education Department will be providing FREE overview sessions to prepare for the essential skills exam in math, reading, and writing. There is no fee for the sessions, but registration is required. The sessions are open to all teacher candidates. Teacher candidates of color and Native American teacher candidates are strongly encouraged to attend. 

Math Test Sessions, dates, times and location (attend all)

Saturday, January 28

9 a.m. to noon

Old Main Building 104

Saturday, February 4

9 a.m. to noon

Old Main Building 104

Saturday, February 11

9 a.m. to noon

Old Main Building 104

Saturday, February 18

9 a.m. to noon

Old Main Building 104

Saturday, February 25

9 a.m. to noon

Old Main Building 104

Saturday, March 4

9 a.m. to noon

Old Main Building 104

Saturday, March 11

9 a.m. to noon

Old Main Building 104

Saturday, March 25

9 a.m. to noon

Old Main Building 104

Register Here:https://goo.gl/PzC8fd

Reading and Writing Test Sessions, dates, times and location (attend all)

Intensive Reading

Saturday, April 1

9 a.m. to noon

Old Main Building 104

Intensive Writing

Saturday, April 8

9 a.m. to noon

Old Main Building 104

Register Here: https://goo.gl/xb4MVO

New  ACE Social: The Augsburg Citizen Educators student organization would like to invite you to join them for a social hour with cider and cookies on Tuesday, February 7, 4 to 5:30 pm  in the lower level of Sverdrup Hall in the Education Department offices.

New  American Swedish Institute Workshop: The ASI in Minneapolis, is hosting a workshop for teachers titled “Scandinavia during World War II and the Holocaust.”  This workshop is geared towards Social Studies and English/Comm Arts pre-service teachers and is sponsored by the US Holocaust Museum, Tolerance MN, and the American Swedish Institute. Registration costs $35 and participants will receive lunch and a number of DVDs, CDs, books and teaching strategies from the sponsoring organizations. Registration can be found at <https://www.eventbrite.com/e/scandinavia-during-world-war-ii-and-the-holocaust-tickets-31257767825>.

NewUnited Educators Scholarships Available: United Educators Foundation will grant one $2,000 Educator Award, one $1,500 Education Major Award, three $1,000 Student Awards, and two $500 Trade/Technical/Vocational Student awards. The deadline for these awards is Friday, February 3, 2017. All applications are available the website: <http://www.uecu.coop>.

  Last Few Days to Sign Up for European Study Abroad Trip! Study Education and Psychology in Slovenia, May 2017: 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>.

■ 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).