Class Cancellations for Monday, Feb. 13, 2012

The following courses will not be meeting tonight due to the weather conditions:
   
     EDU 5083-RWL:  Educational Research (D. Kew)
     EDU 5953-LBS:  Special Topics in Reading (D. Wolk)
     EAD 7123-NE:  The Superintendency (T. Wilson) 

EDU 5033-1: Learners and the Learning Process

Class for Thurs. evening, Jan. 12 (face-to-face session) has been cancelled.  Please check your email for online assignment.  Contact Dr. Hollis if you have questions.  Thank you!

Praxis II and SLLA Assessments

Good Afternoon from Jefferson City:

Thanks to our ETS Client Services Director -- Nathan Estel, we have been able to identify and clarify some recent concerns about Registration for the Praxis II Assessments.  There were basically two concerns and I will address each of them.  Please review and share this email with your campus colleagues as well as your students.

Interruptions in Registration Process:  The Registration Process is conducted at the ETS Office in Princeton.  ETS as well as other commercial and residential customers were experiencing delays and/or interruptions in both the telephone and on-line registration process due to power outages with Verizon.  They have posted information on the website informing students of those problems.  In addition, ETS extended the Registration Deadline through the weekend to December 19, 2011.  Hopefully things will have been completely ironed out by now.

Registration of the SLLA at a New Test Center:  This is a totally different situation than the one listed above.  The On-Line Registration Process has been recently updated as part of moving to computer-based test administration.  Some complications have developed in getting students registered for the SLLA for at least one of the new test centers.  Our ETS colleagues are continuing to work through the situation which involves multiple websites within the ETS Registration System.

Keep Sharing These Concerns:  Please continue to let me know if your candidates are having problems getting registered.  It is important for you to share the following information with me regarding those concerns:

·        Name of Student

·        Test Title & Code

·        When they tried to register and/or call ETS

·        Which test site?

This information helps our colleagues at ETS in trying to trace down what is happening in the world of on-line registration.

Thanks for your patience and understanding while these concerns are remedied one candidate at a time.  As we learned when we activated our on-line certification process, some gremlins will appear and sometimes it takes awhile for that to happen.

Gale "Hap" Hairston, Ed.D.

Director -- Educator Preparation

Office of Educator Quality

Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

205 Jefferson Street, P.O. Box 480

Jefferson City, Missouri 65102-0480

Office:  573-751-0371

Fax:  573-522-6526

Gale.Hairston@dese.mo.gov

Financial Aid Announcement

Effective July 1, 2012, in accordance with federal guidelines, all Federal Direct Loans available to graduate students will be unsubsidized with an interest rate of 6.8%.   Unsubsidized loan payments may be deferred as long as the student is enrolled in a minimum of three credit hours in a degree-seeking program.  However, the interest begins accruing at the time of disbursement.  If you have any questions, please contact Brook Jones in the Financial Aid office at https://ch1prd0302.outlook.com/owa/redir.aspx?C=JkTlxZtCkEuEV7MI3ddUGXqNgWX9h84IG1s4oJTMMWyWm6SJfq17SFY20YWBNzkOTTfxvfnVRl4.&URL=mailto%3abjones%40sbuniv.edu or 417-328-1821.

Thanksgiving Office Hours

The Graduate Education office will be open on Tuesday, Nov. 22 from 8:00-5:00 and on Wednesday, Nov. 23 from 8:00-3:00.  We will be closed Thursday/Friday and will reopen on Monday, Nov. 28 at 8:00am.

Spring 2012 Schedule

The Spring 2012 Graduate Education schedule is now available for viewing.  You will find the schedule, as well as the textbook list, on the right side of the blog. 

December Graduation

Please let the Graduate Education office know by Nov. 18, if you have any physical limitations (in a wheelchair, etc.) and may need special assistance for the Bolivar campus commencement ceremony.

School Leaders Licensure Assessment

Beginning January 2012, the format fo the SLLA will change from paper-based to computer based.

• The test code will change from #1011 to #6011
• The following are test dates for 2012
  • January 24-28 (five days)
  • April 18-21 (four days)
  • July 10-14 (five days)
• Candidates will need to take the SLLA at a Prometric Testing Center or a center operated by the Strategic Testing Network. Below is the current list of test centers.
  • Cape Girardeau - Southeast Missouri State University
  • Columbia - University of Missouri
  • Jefferson City - Prometric Testing Center
  • Kansas City - University of Missouri - Kansas City
  • Kirksville - Truman State University
  • Lee's Summit - Prometric Testing Center
  • Rolla - Missouri S & T
  • Springfield - Prometric Testing Center
  • St. Louis - SLU & Prometirc Testing Center
  • Warrensburg - University of Central Missouri
• The cost will remain $375

Test Preparation Materials: ETS offers free and fee-based preparation material.
http://www.ets.org/sls/prepare/materials/slla_prep

SLLA Score Reports will be emailed directly to you in a PDF file. You should IMMEDIATELY download and save the score report.

Test Preparation Workshops: MASA, MAESP, MASSP (December 2011 and May 2012)
http://moassp.org/events-2/isllc-preparation to register

If you have questions please feel free to contact Dr. Gale "Hap" Hairston at 573-751-0371 or
Gale.Hairston@dese.mo.gov

Applying for Your Principal/Superintendent Certificate Online or Upgrading a Certificate

Here is the link for creating a DESE online profile to apply for your principal/superintendent certificate or upgrade a current certificate:
http://www.sbuniv.edu/education/CreatingADESEOnlineProfile.pdf

Dr. Michael Arnold

Dr. Arnold is having further eye surgery today and will be out of the office probably through next week.  He will answer emails as soon as he is able.  Please feel free to call the office if there is something we can help you with.