At St. Norbert College, your path to becoming a licensed teacher is structured around three key milestones we call Arches. These checkpoints ensure you are meeting the expectations of both our program and the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (PI 34). Each Arch reflects a stage of your growth as a teacher candidate — moving from admission into the program, to readiness for student teaching, and finally to endorsement for licensure. Along the way, you’ll receive guidance, feedback and support to help you successfully meet each requirement and prepare for your future classroom. For full details about policies, expectations, and procedures, please consult our Teacher Education Student Handbook.

Admission to the Teacher Education Program occurs after the following conditions are met (typically at the end of year 1):

• Complete the Teacher Education Program Admission Application
• Earn a minimum 2.75 overall GPA
• Earn a minimum 2.75 average GPA in the courses below with no single grade lower than a C:
  • EDUC 101: Foundations of Education 1
  • EDUC 102: Foundations of Education 2
  • Or Educ 103 in place of EDUC 101/102¹
• And in at least one of the following courses:
  • Quantitative Reasoning course (K-12 or 4-12 majors) or MATH 120: Numbers and Operations (K- 9 majors) or
  • Expression and Interpretation course or ENGL 150: Introduction to Literary Studies (with writing intensive focus)
• On the First Year rubric, earn a minimum score of 2 (developing) or higher on each individual item on the rubric, with no ratings of 1 (emerging).²

• Pass a criminal background check

Admission to student teaching occurs after the following conditions are met:

• Complete Student Teaching Application
• Earn a minimum 2.75 overall GPA
• Earn a minimum 3.00 GPA in education major courses, with no grade less than C
• Completion of method(s) courses
• Successful Completion of all Pre-Student Teaching Clinical Experiences, as defined by:
  • Sophomore Block rubric, earn a minimum score of 2 (developing) or higher on each individual item on the rubric, with no ratings of 1 (emerging)²
  • Junior Experience rubric, earn a minimum rating of 3 (proficient) for at least 50% of the individual items on the rubric with no ratings of 1 (emerging).²
• Evidence the Wisconsin Foundations of Reading Test (FoRT) has been taken or scheduled by providing a score or confirmation of registration (for k-9 majors only)
• Pass a criminal background check
• Content competency (knowledge and skills relative to the content the candidate will be certified to teach). Content competence varies depending on the certification. In each certification area, content competence can be demonstrated in one of two ways:

Elementary-Middle School License (k-9):

• Option 1: Earn 3.0 GPA in completed courses from the following set of elementary education content courses with no grade less than C:
  • MATH 120 Numbers and Operations
  • MATH 212 Principles of Algebra and Data or MATH 220 Principles of Geometry
  • EDUC 200 Emergent Literacy
  • EDUC 308 Intermediate Literacy
  • EDUC 311 Indigenous Peoples
  • SSCI 301 Environment and Society
• Option 2- Earn a Wisconsin passing score on the Praxis ® Subject Assessment, Middle School Content Knowledge, and achieve a minimum GPA of 2.75 in the course content in Option 1 above

Middle-High School License (4-12); Kindergarten through grade 12 License (k-12):

• Option 1: Earn a 3.0 GPA³ in content courses in major(s)/minor(s) for which the candidate intends to be certified with no grade less than C
• Option 2: Earn a Wisconsin passing score on the Praxis ® Subject Assessment associated with each major/minor for which the candidate intends to be certified and achieve a minimum GPA of 2.75 in the content of each major/minor for which the candidate intends to be certified.
• Note: Some content majors may require Option 1 and Option 2 (discuss with your advisor)

Endorsement for Wisconsin Licensure occurs after the following conditions are met:

• Successful completion of degree requirements
• Earn a minimum 2.75 overall GPA
• Earn a minimum 3.00 GPA in education major courses, with no grade less than C
• On the Final Student Teaching rubric, earn a minimum rating of 3 (proficient) for at least 80% of the individual rubric items, with no ratings of 1 (emerging).²
• Receive a minimum passing score on each of the six sections of the Teacher Work Sample performance-based assessment.
• Evidence of successfully passing the Wisconsin Foundations of Reading Test (for k-9 licensure in Elementary-Middle School)
• Content competency (knowledge and skills relative to the content the candidate will be certified to teach). Content competence varies depending on the certification. In each certification area, content competence can be demonstrated in one of two ways:

Elementary-Middle School License (k-9):

• Option 1: Earn 3.0 GPA in completed courses from the following set of elementary education content courses with no grade less than C:
  • MATH 120 Numbers and Operations
  • MATH 212 Principles of Algebra and Data or MATH 220 Principles of Geometry
  • EDUC 200 Emergent Literacy
  • EDUC 308 Intermediate Literacy
  • EDUC 311 Indigenous Peoples
  • SSCI 301 Environment and Society
• Option 2- Earn a Wisconsin passing score on the Praxis ® Subject Assessment, Middle School Content Knowledge, and achieve a minimum GPA of 2.75 in the course content in Option 1 above

Middle-High School License (4-12); Kindergarten through grade 12 License (k-12):

• Option 1: Earn a 3.0 GPA³ in content courses in major(s)/minor(s) for which the candidate intends to be certified with no grade less than C
• Option 2: Earn a Wisconsin passing score on the Praxis ® Subject Assessment associated with each major/minor for which the candidate intends to be certified and achieve a minimum GPA of 2.75 in the content of each major/minor for which the candidate intends to be certified.
• Note: Some content majors may require Option 1 and Option 2 (discuss with your advisor) 

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¹ EDUC 103 is a hybrid version of EDUC 101 & 102 for candidates entering the program second semester first year or later.

² Note: If students do not meet the required rubric scores in pre-student teaching clinical field experiences, students may be able to demonstrate growth in areas they are deficient through a remediation plan (if discipline approves)

³ Advanced Placement course credit fulfills course based requirements and will be weighted as follows:
Score of a 3=3.0 (B)
Score of a 4=3.5 (AB)
Score of a 5=4 (A)