The first phase that students have to complete to fulfill the class requirements for teaching is undergraduate education program requirements. This phase includes the basic courses that must be complete before going to the next phase, such as the following: Basic English composition, math, social science, humanity, and fine art courses. In Mississippi, the core classes take up 45 hours of the total course hours necessary to obtain the degree, a requisite 2.5 grade point average in the classes, and successful passage of the PPST (Pre-Professional Skills Test). The PPST consists of a basic reading, mathematics, and writing section which determines if successful completion of the teaching degree program is realistic. Completion of Phase I allows the student to advance to the second phase.
Phase II is often referred to as the Professional Education Core. This is where the prospective student will garner the classes that are necessary for their content area. For example, in Mississippi, a prospective Secondary English Education teacher is required to obtain 36 course hours in English alone. The classes must be a combination of English literature, linguistics, grammar, and electives to ensure that the student obtains a well-rounded course load. In addition to the content area coursework, Phase II is where the student takes the major professional education courses, such as the following: educational psychology, introduction to special education, principles of education, and human development. Upon completion of Phase II, to student is allowed to continue to the final phase: student teaching.
The final phase, student teaching, is critical to the curriculum because this is where the student must apply all of the theories learned in real life situations. Before enrolling in the final phase, in most situations the student is not allowed to receive a grade of less than a “C” in any of the courses in the previous Phase. The final phase likely goes as follows: the student is deemed a student teacher, and is assigned to a specific classroom within a school under the supervision of a licensed teacher. The student spends a certain number of hours observing the experienced teacher, while brainstorming ideas on how to construct a unique lesson plan. Once the observation is completed, the student is required to spend time presenting the lesson plan to the class, and essentially teach with minimal instruction from the supervisor. The student is then observed by a professor within the school’s educational program and evaluated. Successful completion deems the student a graduate of the program, allows sitting for the teaching exam, and leads to a licensed teacher.