Professional Education Sequence: Elementary Education

Admitted students complete a five-semester sequence of professional courses after admission to the program. The professional methods courses and clinical experiences must be followed sequentially and taken in consecutive semesters. Class schedules for the professional sequence courses are determined in advance. Courses below are Department of Curriculum and Instruction (Curric) unless otherwise indicated.

First Semester of Sequence, 6-9 credits
• 364 Introduction to Education: Preschool through Middle School, 3
• 425 Concerns and Constraints in Teaching Young Children, 3 (EC-MC option only)
• 340 Elementary Teaching Practicum I, 3

Second Semester of Sequence, 15 credits
• 368 The Teaching of Reading, 3
• 369 The Teaching of Language Arts, 3
• 422 The Teaching of Children's Literature, 3 (not met by LIS 354)
• 506 Strategies for Inclusive Schooling, 3
• 367 Elementary Teaching Practicum II, 3

Third Semester of Sequence, 9 credits
• 370 Teaching Mathematics, 3 (prereq: Math 130 and Math 131)
• Art Ed/Curric 322 Teaching Art, 3
• 373 Elementary Teaching Practicum III, 3

Fourth Semester of Sequence, 15 credits
• 371 Teaching Social Studies, 3
• 372 Teaching Science, 3
• Music/Curric 354 Teaching Music, 3
• Kines 323 Physical Education for Elementary School Children, 3
• 440 Elementary Teaching Practicum IV, 3

Fifth Semester of Sequence, 12 credits
• 463 Seminar in Kindergarten through Middle School Teaching, 2
• Student Teaching, 10. Complete one: 465 Student Teaching in the Kindergarten; 464 Student Teaching in the Elementary School; OR 498 Student Teaching in the Middle School

Practicum experiences provide a school-based setting for students to develop their professional and classroom skills. These experiences generally begin a few weeks after the start of the semester and are approximately nine weeks in length. Students will usually spend three half-days at their assigned schools. Concurrent registration in the methods courses provides students with an opportunity to learn about, and then apply, teaching techniques in a classroom.

The full-semester student teaching assignment is the capstone experience of the professional sequence. Through it students expand upon the activities, responsibilities and expectations encountered during the practicum experiences. Student teachers will function as regular staff members in their assigned schools and also attend a seminar on campus one afternoon each week. Student teachers are required to follow the school day, school calendar, vacation days and policies of the school where they work. For more information about the field experience portions of the program, see the “Elementary Education Student Teaching Handbook.”

Grade Level Distribution Requirements. Students should be aware of the grade level distribution requirements that apply to the three practica and student teaching experience (367 Literacy, 373 Math/Art, 440 Social Studies/Science practica, and 464/465/498 student teaching). It is required that students earning an EC-MC certification have experience working with three of the following levels: PreK, K, 1-2, and 3-6. Similarly, it is required that students earning a MC-EA certification have experience working with the following grade levels: 3-5 and 6-8. MC-EA students may be placed in grade levels 1-2 for their practica but will only be able to student teach in grade levels 3-5 and 6-8.

Diversity Requirement. To help insure that program graduates are prepared to teach all students, at least one of the field-based experiences in the professional sequence (excluding the first semester) must be completed in a school that has demographic characteristics qualifying it as "culturally diverse." Diverse schools are designated by the school district as having numbers of children at or above the average percent of children in the district who are racially/ethnically diverse and/or who qualify for free/reduced lunch. Of the four semesters students are in the school for the Curric 367 Literacy practicum, 373 Math/Art practicum, 440 Social Studies/Science practicum, and 464/465/498 student teaching experience, at least one must be in a diverse school. A list of schools that qualify as culturally diverse is available in the elementary student teaching offices in 556 or 574 Teacher Education Building.

Multicultural and Human Relations Requirement

This requirement consists of courses, workshops and experiences that broaden understanding of diversity as it relates to the practice of teaching and the field of education. Students meet this requirement in a variety of ways depending on the particular program. Elementary Education students meet this requirement as part of their professional program. Consult program advisors and the Multicultural Education and Human Relations website for more information. The required Multicultural Education and Human Relations content areas include:

• The history, culture, and tribal sovereignty of American Indian tribes and bands located in Wisconsin
• The history, culture and contributions of women and various racial, cultural, language and economic groups in the United States.
• The philosophical and psychological bases of attitude development and change.
• The psychological and social implications of discrimination, especially racism and sexism in the American society.
• Evaluating and assessing the forces of discrimination, especially racism and sexism on faculty, students, curriculum, instruction, and assessment in the school program.
• Minority group relations through direct involvement with various racial, cultural, language and economic groups in the United States (formerly Code Point 5 of the Human Relations program).

Conflict Resolution Requirement

All students pursuing teacher certification must have formal training in conflict resolution. Elementary Education includes conflict resolution training within its required course work. Students must demonstrate through performance-based assessment that they have successfully met the Conflict Resolution requirement. Students must demonstrate competency in:

• Resolving conflicts between pupils and between pupils and school staff.
• Assisting pupils in learning methods of resolving conflicts between pupils and between pupils and school staff, including training in the use of peer mediation to resolve conflicts between pupils.
• Dealing with crises, including violent, disruptive, potentially violent or potentially disruptive situations that may arise in school or activities supervised by school staff as a result of conflicts between pupils or between pupils and other persons.

Phonics Requirement

As of July 1, 1998, the State of Wisconsin requires that all persons seeking initial and renewal licenses to teach reading or language arts in grades Pre-Kindergarten to Grade 6 (PK-6) must have completed instruction in teaching reading and language arts using appropriate instructional methods, including phonics. This requirement applies to students completing Elementary Education and Special Education (elementary and elementary/secondary options) certification programs. UW-Madison students fulfill this requirement through the successful completion of Curric 305, 368, or 500. One of these courses is already required in each program area; no additional course work will be needed to complete this requirement.

Study Abroad

Students wishing to study abroad must plan to go prior to beginning the professional program sequence. Accommodations will be made for students to go abroad during the fall semester immediately after acceptance into the program; these students will be assigned to start the professional sequence in the spring semester. The Elementary Education program cannot defer the start of the professional sequence for an entire year.

Comments or Problems: easinfo@education.wisc.edu.
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