Hello Special Education Majors! Two reminders or bits of information for you: 1. Student teaching applications will be accepted in the Office of Clinical Experience (Student teaching office) on January 28th and February 3rd and 4th for anyone who will be student teaching next year. Remember you do need to register for student teaching in the semester in which you do it. The "class" is EDP 419. You will register for two sections of it if you are in the dual licensure program. Please consult your advising sheet for the correct sections. 2. The Praxis: many students have asked me when to take the Praxis exams and what Praxis to take. Here are a few pointers: The Praxis II should be taken at the end or close to the end of all your courses. The test pulls on a lot of knowledge from EDP 256 and 496. While EDP does not require our students to pass the Praxis before student teaching, we strongly advise you to have completed most, if not all, of your special education preparatory course work before taking it. Some students feel student teaching helped them in taking the Praxis as they had real life experiences that made their knowledge more meaningful; but others prefer to take it before student teaching. It is personal preference. Remember, you must have EDP 494 and EDP 496 completed before student teaching. (ECIS students take EDP 432 in lieu of EDP 494). Special education majors take the Core Content for Exceptional Learners test (#0353) and one Principles of Learning and Teaching (PLT) . The PLT is separated by pedagogy (early childhood, middle childhood, and adolescent/young adult) so you will likely want to take the PLT that matches your area. Ohio may be requiring one additional Praxis in order to be "Highly Qualified". We are investigating this issue and will keep you informed. To prepare for the Praxis, there are a number of preparation books available for the PLT. I have several and you are welcome to stop by to check them out to see if you think one would be worth purchasing. There are also practice tests available on the Educational Testing Service (ETS) website. We have a BB site available on your MyMiami page that provides practice exams from EDP 256 and 496 to aid you in preparing. Molly Kelly-Elliott, M.Ed. Clinical Faculty & Undergraduate Advisor Special Education Program Miami University Department of Educational Psychology 201E McGuffey Hall Oxford, Ohio 45056 (513)529-1711