Teacher Preparation Education Requirements

Education requirements beyond the coursework

In addition to the courses that all education majors will take, there are other requirements that apply to all education majors. The purpose of these requirements is to help (1) ensure teaching is a good fit for a candidate as soon as possible, and (2) prepare to qualify for an Idaho teaching license.

1. Maintain GPA of 2.5. - For continuance in the program education students are required to maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.5*.
2. Disposition Ratings - There are important dispositions required of educators that students need to understand and practice. Students will be rated by their instructors in core and selected program classes throughout their program (download rubric). 
3. Praxis Exam — The Praxis is an exam that assesses your knowledge and skills of the areas in which you will be certified to teach. Which Praxis exams are required is associated with each education major and education minor. The required Praxis exams must be taken and passed prior to the semester before student teaching (Student Teaching Exams & Praxis ).
4. Educator Technology certification** - Each student will receive their Google Educator Level 1 Certification prior to the semester before student teaching.
5. Literacy Exams - Teaching candidates must pass the Idaho Comprehensive Literacy assessments associated with their teaching field (Elementary Education, Early Childhood/Special Education, and Special Education K-12 must pass exams associated with standards 1-4, and Secondary Education Teacher candidates must pass the exams for Standards 2 and 4. Candidates must pass the exams with a score of 70% or higher prior to student teaching. These exams will be taken as part of their literacy and/or reading in the content area courses. 
6. Student Teaching Preparation - in preparation for student teaching each student will prepare a resume and cover letter as part of the student teaching preparation process.
7. Background check and fingerprinting - Required for clinical experiences in schools.
8. Proof of Performance: Initial certification to teach is based on the demonstration of the candidate's knowledge, performance, and dispositions as evaluated using the Danielson Framework for Teaching during practicum and student teaching courses.

*some programs may require a higher GPA for continuance - please refer to the catalog for the specifics of your program.

**Some majors will include this requirement in one of their education major classes, but others will require it to be done independently. Double check with programs to verify how the requirement is satisfied for your program.