Apprentice Teacher Materials

ELIGIBILITY

In order to be eligible to apprentice teach, students must maintain the minimum UT GPA for their teaching field, as well as their UT overall GPA. Students must also have at least a grade of 'C' or better in courses in the major and prerequisite courses. If this requirement is not met or if any Professional Development Sequence (PDS) courses are not passed, the student will be dropped from the program until these requirements are fulfilled. All prerequisite courses must have been transferred to UT and must show a passing grade. Students with an 'X' in any prerequisite course must have that grade changed to a passing grade no later than the first day of class.

Admission to and progression within the PDS also requires the maintenance of a minimum 2.5 cumulative university GPA and a minimum grade of 'C' in each of the PDS courses. Students who do not maintain the minimum GPA or make at least a 'C' in each PDS course are not allowed to progress within the sequence. Any course in the PDS in which a grade of 'C' is not earned must be repeated and a minimum 'C' grade obtained before the student can further progress in the PDS.

SUBSTITUTE TEACHING

If an unusual situation arises, apprentice teachers may be permitted to substitute for their cooperating teacher for a few days. This usually occurs after the mid-term point. Permission to substitute for any other classroom teachers is granted after the final class day of the semester.

AISD will only be taking substitute applications for the fall semester for the 2009-2010 school year from AISD student/apprentice teachers.  Students must attend the Mandatory AISD Apprentice Teacher Orientation in order to apply.  Please see the Apprentice Teacher Calendar below for date and time.  You do not need to provide any documentation prior to attending.  All materials and information will be provided at the orientation. Please note that there is no make-up for the substitute teaching portion of the orientation.  You must attend in order to sign up for substitute teaching.

AISD will not allow students to substitute if they have any misdemeanor within 5 years or any felony conviction at all. Pending charges must be cleared in order to substitute teach. Request for changes should be made in person at the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Other districts have their own substitute application, orientation, criminal background check, and requirements. Please see the HR department for any district in which you are interested in substitute teaching. 

ANTICIPATION LETTER

An anticipation letter indicates the date that students anticipate completing degree and/or certification requirements. In the absence of a teaching certificate, many school districts ask for an anticipation letter when students submit an application for a teaching position or during an interview. It takes 10 to 14 working days to send a letter to students. Students can request a letter of anticipation from Laura Mecanick, in SZB 216 or at 512-471-3485 in the last semester of course work. To prepare this letter, the Dean's Office needs the student's name, EID, address, and teaching field. If at all possible, students should not wait until the week they are interviewing or sending applications to request this letter.

TExES AND ExCET TESTING

Prospective teachers are required to take at least two TExES or ExCET exams (except for secondary Russian) before being certified. Exams can only be taken in the last semester of course work or after all course work for certification has been completed. Recruiters encourage students to take the early-semester rather than the late-semester exams so that test scores are posted for interviewing and hiring purposes.

• Online registration is available once all the apprentice teacher names are put into the eligibility database. The Dean’s Office (SZB 216) will e-mail all apprentice teachers when this has been completed. Test registration instructions will be attached to this e-mail.

TEXAS ORAL PROFICIENCY TEST (TOPT)

Secondary: All secondary Spanish and French certification seekers must take the TOPT in order to be certified in that field. If students are seeking a single field of Spanish or French and do not take or pass the TOPT, they are ineligible for any certification.

Elementary: All EC-4/ EC-6 Bilingual Generalist students must take the TOPT to have Bilingual on their certificate. If students choose not to take the TOPT, their certificate will read only EC-4/ EC-6 Generalist.

• Students seeking secondary Spanish or Bilingual Generalist certification must take and pass the Spanish Screening Procedure (SPP) exit exam. This is an exam given by the College of Education. Its purpose is to determine a student's readiness to take the Spanish TOPT.
• Registration for the TOPT involves the same process as the TExES/ExCET test registration. The only difference will be that students will look for the test names "Spanish Oral Proficiency Test" or "French Oral Proficiency Test" when they look under available tests.
• Students should be sure to save test results. After five years, the testing agency purges its records and students will no longer be able to get a copy of their scores. Even if teachers do not plan to teach in Texas, it is strongly advised that they take the tests. If students apply for a certificate in another state, based on their Texas certification, they will need to complete the Texas certification tests.
• For any additional questions about the TExES, ExCET, or TOPT exams, call Laura Mecanick at 512-471-3485.

HOW TO APPLY FOR A TEACHING CERTIFICATE

It can take up to 10 to 14 working days to process an application.

• To be recommended, students must have all course work completed with grades and degree (if applicable) posted on the UT Mainframe, and they must have passed all required tests.
• Pick up the application information for certification in SZB 216 near the end of the apprentice teaching semester.
• Complete the Teacher Certification Information card and the official online SBEC application. The application can be found at www.sbec.state.tx.us by clicking on the "SBEC for Online Educators" link at the top of the home page. You will be prompted to log in or create a new account. Once logged in, apply for "Standard Certification." The application fee is $77.00. Once students have completed the online application, they should turn in the Teacher Certification Information card to SZB 216. 
• Fingerprinting is now required by the state for all people receiving an initial teaching certificate. During the certification application process, students will find more information about the digital fingerprinting process. There will be a list of fingerprinting office locations and a fingerprinting form to complete. The fingerprinting offices will send the completed digital fingerprinting forms to SBEC. There is a $47.00 fee required for SBEC to send your information to the DPS and the FBI for processing.
• After applying for certification, potential employers are able to verify , on the SBEC Web site, that students have been recommended for certification by the University.

TUBERCULIN SCREENING

Tuberculin screening is required by some districts before students enter the schools.

 

 

* Several documents below are in PDF format.  To download Adobe Reader, please click here.

POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

• EC-4/ EC-6 Interns and Apprentice Teachers (Word Doc)
• UTLA Secondary Interns and Apprentice Teachers (Word Doc)
  
• All-Level Interns and Apprentice Teachers - (Word Doc)
  
• All-Level Special Education Interns and Apprentice Teachers (Word Doc)

HANDBOOKS

• Apprentice Teacher Handbook (Word Doc)
  
• Guiding Apprentice Teachers (a manual for supervising apprentice teachers) (Word Doc)

FORMS AND TEMPLATES

• Criminal History Record Information Authorization (PDF)
• Name Badges with Black University Seal (Word Doc)
• Name Badges with Orange University Seal (Word Doc)

TAPING AGREEMENTS

• Lesson Taping Agreement Form - UT Student (Word Doc)
• Lesson Taping Permission Form - Parents / English (Word Doc)
• Lesson Taping Permission Form - Parents / Spanish (Word Doc)
• Recording Agreement - Interview (Word Doc)

EVALUATION FORMS

• Anecdotal Record - with lines (PDF)
• Anecdotal Record - with lines (Word Doc)
• Anecdotal Record - without lines (PDF)
• Anecdotal Record - without lines (Word Doc)
• Formative Assessment (PDF)
• Formative Assessment (Word Doc)
• Summative Assessment (PDF)
• Summative Assessment (Word Doc)