Nov 21, 2024  
2024-2025 Graduate Catalog 
    
2024-2025 Graduate Catalog

1600 Educator Preparation


See also 4000 College of Education and Human Development 

​Initial and advanced educator preparation programs at the undergraduate and master’s levels are administered by the Professional Education Faculty, an organization of faculty members from the College of the Arts, College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Education and Human Development, and Perimeter College and local public-school teachers and administrators. The Professional Education Faculty is a multidisciplinary team committed to teaching, research, and service in partnership with school and community agencies. Its mission is to prepare educators as leaders, thinkers, and change agents who are grounded in theory, content, and practice. Advanced educator preparation programs beyond the master’s level are administered by the College of Education and Human Development.

Professional Education Faculty governs all educator preparation programs leading to licensure by the Georgia Professional Standards Commission. The GaPSC approval process covers all initial teacher preparation programs, programs leading to service and educational leadership certificates, and endorsements in teaching or service fields offered at Georgia State University.

Teacher preparation programs in Music Education are accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music, and teacher preparation programs in Art Education are accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design. The Master of Education program in School Counseling is accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Programs; and the Master of Science program in Communication Sciences and Disorders is accredited by the Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.

1610 Professional Education Faculty

The Professional Education Faculty’s primary duty is to promote and facilitate constructive interaction of the members of the Professional Education Faculty, especially along interdisciplinary lines, in the interest of maintaining excellence in professional education programs at Georgia State University.

The Dean of the College of Education and Human Development is the presiding officer of the Professional Education Faculty. The faculty meets at least twice each year, once during Fall Term and once during Spring Term. Quotidian governance of the Professional Education Faculty is conducted by the Professional Education Council, which consists of faculty members elected from the various teacher education areas, faculty members appointed by the Dean of the College of Education and Human Development, students appointed by their departments, and is advised by representatives from various Metro-Atlanta area school districts, which are a part of the Metro-Atlatna P-16 Community Council. The chair of the Professional Education Council is elected annually, and the position alternates between members of the College of Education and Human Development and members of the College of Arts and Sciences, College of the Arts, or Perimeter College.

1620 Conceptual Framework

The Professional Education Faculty’s conceptual framework illustrates its philosophies and purposes in regard to effective educator preparation. The framework builds on the College of Education and Human Development mission statement and includes the Professional Education Faculty’s purpose, assumptions underlying educator preparation, and candidate outcomes. The conceptual framework is described fully at mycehd.gsu.edu/faculty/resources-policies-forms/.

1630 Teacher Education Warranty

Georgia State University teacher education programs provide a limited warranty and guarantee the following:

  • The Professional Education Faculty of Georgia State University guarantees the quality of any educator that they recommend for initial certification in Georgia.
  • Georgia State University guarantees educators during the first two years immediately following graduation from Georgia State or following recommendation by Georgia State for an initial certificate, whichever occurs first.
  • Any Georgia State University educator in a Georgia school who fails to demonstrate essential skills can receive additional training at no expense to the educator or the employer.

1640 Graduate Professional Education Core

All students enrolled in professional education programs at the master’s level must complete the graduate professional education core as it is described in the program requirements for their major. The professional core consists of three areas of study: research, social foundations, and psychology of learning. The Professional Education Faculty has designated the following courses as fulfilling the professional education core requirements:

Research (minimum of 3 semester hours)

Social Foundations (minimum of 3 semester hours)

Psychology of Learning (minimum of 3 semester hours)

1650 Georgia Assessments for the Certification of Educators (GACE)

education.gsu.edu/gace-georgia-educator-ethics/

This information is for candidates seeking admission to or enrolled in an educator preparation program. The state of Georgia requires such candidates to take various GACE content examinations and Georgia Educator Ethics assessments as part of the educator certification process. These computer-delivered assessments have been developed by the Georgia Professional Standards Commission (GaPSC) and are delivered by the Education Testing Service (ETS). You will take these tests at different times.

Content Assessment tests your content knowledge and is taken after enrollment prior to program completion. There are different content assessments for each program. You will receive specific information regarding this test as you are nearing completion of your program.

Georgia Educator Ethics Assessment: 

Georgia Educator Ethics an admission requirement. Completion of this assessment is required for admission, though there is no “Pass/Fail” grade assigned. Program entry candidates must add your program provider (Georgia State University, school code 5090) as a score recipient when you register, or we will not receive notification that you have completed the assessment. Select Reason for Testing #2.

Georgia Ethics for Educational Leadership Assessment an admission requirement for the educational leadership programs (M.Ed., Ed.S. and Ed.D). Completion of this assessment is required for admission, though there is no “Pass/Fail” grade assigned. Program entry candidates must add your program provider (Georgia State University, school code 5090) as a score recipient when you register, or we will not receive notification that you have completed the assessment. Select Reason for Testing #7.

How to Register:

Educational Testing Service (ETS) is the test supplier for the GACE content assessments and for the Georgia Educator Ethics Assessments.

Important Step:  You must first establish a MyPSC account at the MyPSC website. As you create your account, you will indicate a different “Reason for Testing” specific to the test and your student status:

  • Georgia Educator Ethics and Georgia Ethics for Educational Leadership - select Reason for Testing #7 (Be sure to review the four-step registration process on the link provided here. Program entry candidates must add your program provider (Georgia State University school code 5090) as a score recipient when you register, or we will not receive notification that you have completed the assessment.  NOTE: Step #3 of registration - check your email SPAM folder for the email from ETS. In step #4 of the registration process, the candidate is in the ETS portal (not your MyPSC account) and they must create a new account under “Registration.” To do so, the candidate should choose the option: Test Takers.
  • Content Assessments - Graduate students in Educational Leadership, School Psychology, or School Counseling: select Reason for Testing #2 
  • Content Assessments - Graduate students (except in Educational Leadership, School Psychology, or School Counseling): select Reason for Testing #3 

1660 Educational Field Experiences

education.gsu.edu/office-of-field-placements-and-certification/

All Georgia State University students who are accepted into a teacher education program and will be completing a field placement must complete the requirements to obtain a Pre-Service Certificate through the Georgia Professional Standards Commission (GaPSC) which includes a criminal background check and the ethics module.

All teacher preparation programs require an Opening School experience in addition to practicum and student teaching placements. Opening school experiences vary by program and can include the Georgia State student spending 1-2 weeks with a mentor teacher during pre-planning and the first week of school. Due to the schedules of the county schools where Georgia State places students, the opening school experience may occur prior to the start of the Georgia State fall term. Students should check with their program faculty regarding the specific number of days/hours required for their opening school experience for their program.

Students accepted into teacher education programs will not be able to begin their field placement(s) until they receive their Pre-Service certificate number from the GaPSC and provide proof to the Office of Field Placements and Certification.

Upon admission to a teacher education program, you will receive an email from the Office of Field Placements and Certification with instructions for how to apply for your Pre-Service certificate. Do not submit your Pre-Service Certificate application before you are admitted.

Extended field experiences, opening school, practicum and/or student teaching (i.e. experiences involving interactions with students, tutoring or classroom teaching in school settings) will be arranged by the Office of Field Placements and Certification and program coordinators in the educator preparation departments of the students’ major fields of study.

Students must successfully complete the prerequisite courses in their program of study with respect to securing a placement.

It is the responsibility of the student to check with their faculty advisor regarding specific departmental procedures required to request a practicum or student teaching placement.

Students may not contact a school or school system office or report to a school site until they are notified by their department or the Office of Field Placements and Certification of their placement confirmation.

An additional lab fee of $125.00 will be charged at the time students register for selected field experiences. Educator preparation students must be aware that extra costs such as tort liability, criminal background check, and transportation will be incurred at various times during the completion of educational field experiences.

Teacher education and school counseling students are required to purchase tort liability prior to placements in field experience courses, practicum, or student teaching. Students will be expected to show proof of coverage to program coordinators/supervisors prior to field placements.

1665 Continuing Duty to Report Criminal Events

In addition, Georgia State University students have the continuing duty to report criminal events that occur after application to the University per the Georgia State Student Code of Conduct. Students enrolled in educator preparation programs or in education coursework requiring field-based experiences must (1) report to the Office of Field Placements and Certification any criminal events described below that occur after the criminal background check required for field placements was conducted (i.e., notice to Office of Field Placements and Certification must be made within 72 hours of the student’s notice of the event); (2) consent to a new criminal background check; and (3) provide written consent for the release of the criminal background report and all information about the criminal event to any field placement site at which the student is currently student teaching or at which Georgia State attempts to place the student in the future. Failure to comply with the notice requirement described herein may result in sanctions up to and including immediate withdrawal from the University. Failure to comply with the criminal background check and release of information requirement described herein will result in immediate removal from all current field placements and courses and denial of future requests for field placement.

  • Conviction of a crime other than a minor traffic violation.
  • Criminal charges filed against the student.
  • Entering a plea of guilty, a plea of no contest, a plea of nolo contendere, an Alford plea, or a plea under any first offender act in response to charges filed against the student.

1670 Criteria on Academic and Professional Integrity

The College of Education and Human Development is committed to upholding standards of academic and professional integrity. These standards require that students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate programs within the College of Education and Human Development adhere to both the University’s Student Code of Conduct as described online at codeofconduct.gsu.edu/ as well as their individual degree program’s Policy on Student Professionalism, Integrity and Retention. Students should contact their department for a copy of their degree program’s policy.