understanding diverse needs of students, understanding accommodations to
be made in teaching each child, and understanding design and
implementation of on-going assessment practices, and possessing a strong
knowledge of pedagogical applications. Students graduating from our
programs who are recommended for licensure must demonstrate competence in
the knowledge, skills and dispositions as related to each of the ten
Wisconsin Teacher Standards.
The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point has a 100+
year history in teacher preparation. Teacher certification programs
comprise the largest academic interest on campus with the greatest number
of teacher certifications in Elementary Education, Early Childhood
Education, Exceptional Education, Science Education, Speech Language
Pathology, English, English as a Second Language, Physical Education,
Family and Consumer Education, Mathematics, Music and Social Studies.
The hub for teacher education programs is the School
of Education (SOE), the home of the University’s largest major, elementary
education. Elementary education students enter teacher education as
juniors, with an average 3.37 grade point, making this the most selective
major on campus. Also located in the School are majors in exceptional
education and early childhood education as well as teacher certification
coursework for all Early Childhood through Adolescent and all Early
Adolescent through Adolescent majors . Full time placement in schools for
all education fields in 2003-2004 was 63% and 61% in elementary education.
The School sponsors the state’s largest student
education organization, Student Wisconsin Education Association, that
routinely wins national awards from the National Education Association (NEA),
including the single Best Student Chapter in the nation award for
the past five years, as well as the 2000-2001 Best Advisor Award,
the 2001-2002 Best Web-Site Award and the 2002-2003 Most
Outstanding Student Leader Award went to Diana Spargo, one of it’s
officers. The School also teaches the largest UWSP graduate program, with
over 1,000 teachers enrolled in regular, on-site, or technology-mediated
graduate courses.
The School of Education is at the forefront of
educational innovation. With grant support of $285,000, the School has
created two projects to support Hmong-American students in pursuing
teacher certification and graduate degrees in education. The School
houses other innovative programs including: UWSP Site-Based Master’s
program, Network for Gifted and Talented Education, and state headquarters
for Wisconsin Creative Problem Solving (Destination ImagiNation). UWSP
faculty participate in creative use of distance and Internet for class
delivery and service activities. A recent survey revealed that over 1,200
K-12 teachers and 6,000 school-aged students were involved in UWSP
enrichment programs in any given year.