There are different levels of standards and outcomes to which teacher candidates must attend. Teacher candidates must be able to design their lessons to meet K-12 content standards. Additionally, teacher candidates must demonstrate the knowledge and skills outlined in the Minnesota Standards of Effective Practice (Standards 1-10).
St. Olaf College’s Education Department has established Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) for the students who complete the education program and receive licensure. Additionally, the Education Studies concentration has ILOs as well. These outcomes were generated from the department’s guiding document, the Conceptual Framework.
K-12 Content Standards
MN Standards
To access the MN K-12 content-area standards, visit the MN Department of Education website (Academic Excellence: Academic Standards).
ESL standards: ESL WIDA Standards
Common Core Standards
The Common Core State Standards Initiative is a state-led effort coordinated by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). These standards define the knowledge and skills students should have within their K-12 education careers so that they will graduate high school able to succeed in entry-level, credit-bearing academic college courses and in workforce training programs (from www.corestandards.org).”
Minnesota has adopted the English Language Arts standards from the Common Core, but not the Mathematics standards.
Teacher Education Standards
In order to be licensed, St. Olaf and Carleton teacher candidates must demonstrate mastery of the Minnesota teaching standards in content and pedagogy. Using Tk20, teacher candidates will upload key assessments that demonstrate these competencies. Additionally, the spring prior to student teaching, teacher candidates will complete a Candidate Presentation outlining their level of preparation for student teaching based on how well they met Minnesota Standards of Effective Practice (Standards 2-10).
- SEP Pedagogy standards (Standards 2-10; see the first two tabs) are met through education classes, field experiences, and student teaching. Students demonstrate their mastery of the standards through key assessments uploaded to Tk20 and their Candidate Presentation, which occurs the spring prior to student teaching.
- Standards of Effective Practice content area criteria (Standard 1) are met in teaching methods and major studies classes; content matrices (scroll at the bottom of the spreadsheet to see tabs for each content area) outline the standards that must be met by teacher candidates in every teaching area. The Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes lists all the content standards (Standard 1) for licensing in Minnesota.