Bemidji State University

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Comments on analysis

Courses reviewed: ED 3201, ED 3202, and ED 3203

The research-based content proven to be necessary for teaching all children to read should be clearly evident in materials such as lecture topics and assignments from at least one course and textbooks from all coursework.

The program fails to meet the standard because coursework addresses only two of the five components of effective reading instruction:

• Phonemic Awareness
• Phonics

Coursework does not address the following components of effective reading instruction:

• Fluency
• Vocabulary
• Comprehension Strategies

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Comments on analysis

Students cannot excel in mathematics without skillful instruction in the earliest years of school. Teacher candidates generally require three semesters of coursework, complemented by adequate field practice, to progress from a procedural to a conceptual understanding of the essential mathematics topics taught in the elementary grades.

Courses reviewed: MATH 1011, MATH 1013, and ED 3221

Through a review of the coursework noted above, the program was found to provide teacher candidates with good coverage of numbers & operations, algebra, geometry, and data analysis & probability.

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Comments on analysis

Because they teach all subjects, elementary teacher candidates need to have a solid grasp of literature and composition, American and world history, geography and science. Teacher candidates should also develop some expertise outside of their professional studies, not only to enrich their own academic experience, but also to serve as a fallback major in the event that the student teaching experience is unsuccessful.

Requirements established by the program and/or the institution in which it is located ensure that all elementary certification candidates must take relevant classes in the checked topics below.

Literature & Composition
	✗ World literature
	✗ American literature
	✔ Writing, grammar and composition
	✗ Children's literature Consider revising required coursework in Children's literature so that it provides an introduction to major authors, works and forms of children's literature and includes some examination of children's literature as an historical phenomenon.
History & Geography
	✗ Early American history
	✗ Modern American history or Government
	✗ World history—ancient
	✗ World history—modern
	✗ Geography
Science
	✔ Biology
	✗ Chemistry Because of the range of course options permitted, all elementary teacher candidates are not required to take the equivalent of a three semester credit hour general education course that covers topics such as measurement, matter and energy, atomic theory and structure, the periodic table, chemical reactions, stoichiometry, chemical bonding, states of matter, reaction rates and equilibria, acids and bases, nuclear chemistry, and biochemistry.
	✗ Physics Because of the range of course options permitted, all elementary teacher candidates are not required to take the equivalent of a three semester credit hour general education course that falls into one of these broad categories. Physics: an introductory course covering motion, energy, conservation laws, gravity, phase changes, thermodynamics, electricity, magnetism, sound, light, and wave dynamics. Physical Science: an introduction to physical science which features physics prominently. Earth Science: an introductory course that covers one or more of geology, climatology, astronomy, and oceanography.
	✗ Earth science