Undergraduate Education for Licensure Programs

Undergraduate teacher candidates apply to Gateway 1, the Teacher Certification Program (TCP) during their sophomore year. TCP applications are accepted on a rolling basis; however, it is recommended that students apply for TCP one month before registration opens for the subsequent semester when the student will need to enroll in 300 or 400-level major courses. For undergraduate students who transfer to SNHU after their sophomore year, the TCP application should be submitted prior to the onset of the second semester of enrollment.

Criteria for TCP Status

Following a review of the TCP application in Anthology Portfolio, students will receive a letter of the decision from the Office of Educator Preparation with the advisor copied. Decisions regarding TCP acceptance status are issued as follows:

• Full Acceptance: For full acceptance into the Teacher Certification Program (TCP), students must score a "4" in all of the criteria as indicated by the rubric.
• Probational Acceptance*: *: Students who do not meet all criteria for full acceptance into the TCP may be considered for TCP probation. To be granted TCP probation, students may only score a "3" in one of the rubric criteria. All other criteria must receive a score of "4" as indicated by the rubric. If granted TCP probation at the undergraduate level, students may not register for courses with prefixes of ECE/EDU/DEV/SPED at the 300 or 400 level until the end of the registration period assigned to students.
  *TCP Probation is valid for one semester only.
• Denial: • Any student who does not meet the criteria for either full acceptance or probational acceptance will be denied admission to the TCP. Students may reapply once they have met the criteria. Students who wish to appeal the decision may do so following the appeal process.

Process for Notification of TCP Status

The Office of Educator Preparation evaluates TCP applications based on the published criteria and notifies candidates of the decision, copying the student’s advisor, within fifteen (15) business days. The exception to this process is during the period of May 15 through August 15, during which time TCP applications will not be evaluated.

Appeal Process for TCP

If the teacher candidate wishes to dispute the decision of their TCP status and feels their application should have received full acceptance or probationary acceptance, the teacher candidate may file an appeal. Detailed instructions for filing an appeal will be included in the decision letter.

Student teaching is a year-long clinical experience during a teacher candidate’s senior year. It is a requirement in New Hampshire that all teacher candidates seeking a teaching license successfully complete a culminating clinical experience (student teaching). It is during the clinical experiences, including the culminating clinical experience, that teacher candidates will have the opportunity to develop, apply knowledge, and demonstrate their ability to positively impact student learning and meet all the competencies associated with their licensure area(s).

During the clinical experience (student teaching), teacher candidates will spend a full year in a public p-12 classroom with a licensed experienced educator who is currently working in the certification area where the teacher candidate plans to get licensed.

During student teaching the teacher candidate will:

1. Work closely with an experienced school-based clinical educator and gradually take over the duties of the teacher
2. Be mentored and evaluated by a qualified school-based clinical educator, university-based clinical educator, and a SNHU instructor during your final two semesters of clinical experience

How to Apply to the Undergraduate Clinical Experience (EDU 487, Student Teaching I and Seminar)

Education program students seeking licensure should apply to student teaching one semester prior to their intended student teaching start date

• Applications for fall student teachers are due no later than December 15 of the prior year
• Applications for spring student teachers are due no later than April 15th of the prior year

Student teaching applications will be submitted via Anthology Portfolio (formerly known as Chalk and Wire).

Steps to Apply

1. Access your Anthology Portfolio account
2. Go to “Menu" 
3. Go to "My Coursework"
4. Select "Create New Portfolio"
5. Name your Portfolio “Student Teaching Application”
6. From the table of contents choose “Initial UG Student Teaching Application”
7. Select “Application"
8. Open the form labeled "Form EPI Clinical Experience APPLYING"
9. Choose the option, "I am applying to be enrolled in the Undergraduate Clinical Experience"
10. Select "I understand I am required to have all coursework completed before I can start student teaching"
11. Upload a PDF copy of your most recent program evaluation (this should show all your *IP and *PR courses)
12. Save the form, choose "submit" then select "submit" once more
13. When the status of your application is green and says "submitted" you have successfully submitted your application

Once the application has been submitted:

• Clinical Experience applications will be reviewed by the Office of Educator Preparation and a decision will be made within 20 business days of the submission

Criteria for Clinical Experience (Student Teaching) Status

Following a review of the clinical experience application in Anthology Portfolio, the teacher candidate will receive a letter of decision by the Office of Educator Preparation with the appropriate advisor copied. Decisions regarding clinical experience acceptance status are issued as follows:

• Full Acceptance: For full acceptance into EDU 487, Student Teaching I and Seminar, teacher candidates meet all the criteria as indicated in the rubric.
• Denial: Any candidate who does not meet all the criteria for full acceptance will be denied admission to EDU 487, Student Teaching I and Seminar. Candidates may reapply once they have met all criteria. Candidates who wish to appeal the decision may do so following the appeal process.

Process for Notification of Clinical Experience (Student Teaching) Status

The Office of Educator Preparation evaluates clinical experience applications based on the published criteria and notifies candidates of the decision, copying the candidate’s advisor, within 20 business days.

Appeal Process for Clinical Experience (Student Teaching)

Candidates wishing to appeal the issued decision are required to submit a formal letter of appeal within ten (10) business days of receipt of the decision. The letter of appeal must explain why they feel they should be accepted into the clinical experience, with appropriate documentation included. Letters of appeal should be addressed to the education department faculty and submitted to the Office of Educator Preparation. The appeal is considered and voted on by the full education department faculty. A majority vote of the faculty will be used to decide the appeal. The candidate will be notified of the faculty’s decision within 25 business days.

Clinical Experience (Student Teaching) Placement Process

The placement process for the clinical experience is directed and managed by The Office of Educator Preparation. It will be important for teacher candidates to monitor their SNHU email during this time, as they will receive multiple correspondences from The Office of Educator Preparation regarding action steps.

Following Clinical Experience Acceptance:

• Once the application has been reviewed and the teacher candidate has been accepted, they will be notified by the Office of Educator Preparation via SNHU email with an acceptance letter
• The acceptance letter will outline the next steps, which are:
  • Fill out a Placement Request Form (a Placement Request Form will be attached to the email containing your acceptance letter)
  • Create a professional resume detailing your academic achievements, experiences, and skillsets
  • Craft three cover letters addressed to the administration of the top three placement schools of choice. Letters should be personalized for each specific school. Teacher candidates are encouraged to take time to consider the type of school where they would like to have their clinical experience. For example:
    • Would the teacher candidate prefer a small or large school?
    • Would the teacher candidate prefer a rural, urban, or suburban school?
    • Additionally, we ask the teacher candidate to consider their own educational philosophy and what matters most to them. We encourage teacher candidates to research the mission and vision statement of local p-12 schools.
  • The teacher candidate is also instructed to craft a generic cover letter addressed "To whom it may concern;" This cover letter will be used if placement at the top three schools is not an option.
  • The placement request form, resume, and cover letters must be submitted via email to the Office of Educator Preparation, OEP@snhu.edu within ten (10) business days of receipt of acceptance.

Placements

• Teacher candidates and school-based clinical educators are thoughtfully matched by The Office of Educator Preparation in collaboration with partner school administration. During the placement process, the Office of Educator Preparation considers teacher candidate placement preferences and tries to honor them, however, preferences cannot be guaranteed.
• Once the Office of Educator Preparation has identified a prospective placement school for a teacher candidate, the resume and appropriate cover letter are sent to the administration of the prospective placement school.
• Teacher candidates may not contact schools or individual teachers for potential placement unless first directed by the Office of Educator Preparation.

Teacher candidate placement process:

• Using the Placement Request Form, cover letter(s), and resume, the Office of Educator Preparation and partner school administration will thoughtfully match teacher candidates with a potential placement.
• The Office of Educator Preparation connects the teacher candidate with the school administration via SNHU email.
• The teacher candidate will be directed to connect with the school administration within 48 hours to schedule a meet and greet. The meet and greet can be done virtually or in person. Regardless, it is imperative to dress and act professionally during the meet and greet.
• Following the meet and greet, if the match seems mutually beneficial, the school administration, in collaboration with The Office of Educator Preparation, will work to identify a prospective school-based clinical educator.
• Once matched, the teacher candidate will be contacted by the Office of Educator Preparation with the contact information. Please follow the guidelines for contacting the placement school.
• Teacher candidates should plan to spend at least one full school day shadowing the prospective school-based clinical educator.

Clinical Teaching (Student Teaching) Experience

Differences in classrooms, grade levels, subject areas, and students’ backgrounds make each student’s clinical teaching experience unique. Through partnerships with area schools and school districts, teacher candidates have a wide variety of opportunities for placements that will best meet their needs. SNHU Teacher Education Programs seek to provide the mentorship that will enable the teacher candidate to assume full responsibility for the school-based clinical educator’s teaching assignments.

The teacher candidate gradually assumes full teaching responsibilities. The timetable for the teacher candidate to assume full responsibility may vary based on feedback from the school-based clinical educator, university-based clinical educator, and the teacher candidate. This decision is usually made after the first week of the student teaching experience when the team has a good sense of how the teacher candidate might best transition to assuming a larger role.

Assessments and Evaluations During the Clinical Experience (Student Teaching)

Assessment tools will be utilized throughout the clinical experience to gather formative and summative data relative to the teacher candidate’s performance and to provide feedback to the candidate relative to their progress toward meeting required competencies. They are:

• Observation and Conference Report (O&C)
• Clinical Competency Inventory (CCI)
• Formative Progress Checks (FPC)
• Disposition Feedback Surveys
• Lesson Plans 
• New Hampshire Teacher Candidate Assessment of Performance (NH TCAP)

The Observation and Conference (O&C) report will be utilized each time a formal lesson observation occurs. The Clinical Competency Inventory (CCI) is a performance-based assessment instrument that measures key competencies aligned to the 2011 InTASC standards and the NH Teacher Candidate Assessment of Performance (NH TCAP) rubrics that are required of all teacher candidates prior to being recommended for licensure. This standards-based observational instrument specifies the defining set of competencies that teacher candidates should demonstrate before being recommended for licensure in the State of New Hampshire. Candidates will self-assess their performance using this instrument at the beginning and end of each semester. Additionally, both the school-based and university-based clinical educators will use this instrument to provide feedback to the candidate at the midpoint and conclusion of each semester.

Disposition feedback surveys, teacher candidate lesson plans, the O&C report, the CCI, and the NH TCAP will be utilized to assess teacher candidate performance throughout the student’s clinical teaching experience. The teacher candidate will receive dispositional feedback from the clinical course instructor, feedback and grades on selected lesson plans, as well as guidance and support for the successful completion of the teacher candidate’s capstone project, the NH TCAP.

NH TCAP

In a November 21, 2012 letter to the NH Board of Education, the NH IHE Network (a consortium of NH Educator Preparation Programs) committed themselves to “Craft, calibrate, implement and analyze a common assessment of teacher efficacy that can be used by all EPPs, regardless of size or specialization.” This is one of four core initiatives developed by the IHE Network in a statewide initiative to increase accountability and professional collaboration among New Hampshire’s Teacher Educators. The IHE Network adopted a common performance assessment for all teacher candidates. The result of this initiative is the New Hampshire Teacher Candidate Assessment of Performance (NH TCAP), a complex, subject-specific, portfolio-style, multiple measures performance assessment designed to assess and provide formative learning experiences for beginning teachers. This proprietary assessment serves as the final evidence of a candidate’s ability to demonstrate an understanding of the InTASC standards in all four categories.

The NH TCAP is completed by all candidates during their culminating clinical experience. The course instructor provides all rubrics and guidance documents to the candidates during the clinical experience course directly preceding the culminating clinical experience. Candidates must earn an overall average score of 2.0 (with no more than one strand being scored below 2.0) to pass their culminating clinical experience and be recommended for licensure to the NH Department of Education.

This proprietary assessment serves as the final evidence of a candidate’s ability to demonstrate an understanding of the InTASC standards in all four categories.

Content of the NH TCAP

The NH TCAP, a teacher candidate performance assessment that was adopted with permission from the Performance Assessment for California Teachers (PACT), has six strands that comprise the assessment (Contextualizing Learners and Learning, Planning and Preparing, Instructing Students and Supporting Student Learning, Assessing Student Learning, Reflecting and Growing Professionally, Using Academic Language). These strands are aligned with CAEP, InTASC, and the NH Professional Standards.

The Office of Educator Preparation verifies that candidates have met all program requirements prior to submitting a recommendation for licensure to the New Hampshire Department of Education. All of the following criteria must be met prior to the submission of the recommendation.

Once a candidate’s degree is conferred they are classified as alumni, regardless of whether they have actually submitted their licensure application to the NH Department of Education. The following steps are taken to follow-up with candidates after graduation.

• Six months after degree conferral, the Office of Institutional Advancement sends a survey to all alumni. The purpose of this survey is to solicit feedback from recent graduates relative to employment status.
• A Completer Survey is sent to all graduates who completed a licensure program. This survey is sent in the spring of each year to alumni who graduated within the three previous academic years. The purpose of this survey is to capture employment status and solicit feedback from alumni relative to their experience in the program and their satisfaction with the level of preparation received to support them in their professional roles.
• An Employer Survey is sent to P-12 administrators who have hired an EPP graduate within the last three years. This survey is sent annually each spring. The purpose of this survey is to gain feedback on EPP graduates’ effectiveness and impact on P-12 learners.