To begin the Student Teaching Placement Process, you must:

• Meet all course-related qualifications for your degree (Courses you are currently enrolled in and the EF400 seminar course do not need to be completed before the application process).
• No other courses may be taken with the student teaching courses unless officially approved by the Field Director and the Associate Dean. To make this request, contact Alicia Lincoln at aelincoln@semo.edu.
• Have the required professional education content 3.0 GPA and required content 3.0 GPA.
• Have a valid Missouri Background Check on file with the Southeast Missouri State Teacher Preparation Program.
• Have and submit with other documents a Missouri Substitute Certificate
• Complete the application and upload all required documents (outlined further on this site)
  • Substitute Teaching Certificate
  • Proof of Professional Liability Insurance
  • Introduction Letter
  • Philosophy of Education
  • Degree Audit
  • TB Test (less than a year old)
  • Resume
  • 3 Letter of Recommendation (St. Louis placements only)

If you do NOT do each of the above, your information will NOT be submitted for a student teaching placement.

*Please note: Students may be required to obtain an additional background check and/or do additional training for the school district in which they are placed.

Reminder: You must have provided evidence of having passed all Praxis required for your certification area(s) at least one month before student teaching to be eligible to student teach.

Teacher Preparation Program Student Handbook

Field and Clinical Handbook

If a student fails to meet any of the criteria for approval into the student teaching program, they have a right to appeal to the Associate Dean of the College of Education, Health and Human Studies. A student must fill out a formal student teaching appeal and submit it to aelincoln@semo.edu. 

Student appeals are due at the time of application for student teaching, or immediately following failure to maintain the standards for student teaching after initial approval for a placement. No appeals will be accepted to enroll in EX390 concurrent with student teaching.

If you do not have a sub certificate, follow the instructions below.  Apply for your substitute certificate IMMEDIATELY. It may take up to 6 weeks to process.

• Click “Create Account”
  • Fill in your personal information. It is suggested that you use your personal email address instead of your SEMO email address.
• Then sign into your account.
• Then click on “Education Certification System – Request – Educator Access”
• Click “Submit” under Licensure System
• Enter your SSN and date of birth and click “Submit”
• Fill out your personal information
• Click “Save profile”
• On the left-hand side of the screen click on “Substitute cert.” under Applications.
• Fill out the professional conduct questions
• Under Type of Application select “Content Substitute (36 semester hours)”
• Then click “I accept” under By selecting “I accept,” I agree to the terms…
• Click “Submit and Pay”
• Fill in your billing contact information
• Click “Next step: Add Payment method”
• Fill in your payment information
• Click “Next step: Review payment”
• Click “I agree to the Payment terms of service…”
• Click “Make Payment”
• A box will open stating “Application has been submitted to DESE”
• Click “OK” 

Step 2 - To obtain a substitute certificate, you must complete a fingerprint background check specifically for the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). You cannot use the background check results that you have sent to Southeast Missouri State University. (DESE is a different entity and, therefore, requires its own Fingerprinting Background Check.)

• Register for a DESE background check.
• Click “Here to register with the fingerprint portal”
• Click “Here to register with MACHS”
• Enter 2301 as the 4-digit registration number and click “enter”
• Click “OK”
• Fill in your personal information
  • It is suggested that you also fill in your email address even though it is not required.
• Click “Register”
• Check the information and write down or screenshot the Transaction Control Number (TCN). You may need it when getting your fingerprints done.
• Click “Continue Registration”
• Click “Complete Registration”
• Click “Correct” (if the information is correct)
• Click “Register for Digital Fingerprint Services”
• Enter your zip code
• Choose a location, date, and time to get your fingerprints taken
• If needed print or save the next page as a PDF
• Click “done”
• Then go to the fingerprint location on the date you scheduled and get fingerprinted. 

Step 3 - Order transcripts  through the Registrar's office

• Click on “studentclearinghouse.org” or “National Student Clearinghouse” toward the middle of the page
• Click on “Order-Track-Verify” (Green box on top right)
• Click on “Order a Transcript” under “Transcripts”
• Type “Southeast Missouri State University” in the box under “Select School” and click on it
• Click “Continue”
• Click “Order Transcript(s)” at the bottom of the page
• Enter your personal information
• Click “Continue”
• Enter the rest of your personal information
• Click “Continue”
• Use the drop-down box under “Recipient” to choose “Education Organization, Application Service, Scholarship, and Professional Licensing.g
• Use the drop-down box under “Select Organization” to choose “Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education”
• Use the next drop-down box under “Department” to choose “Educator Certification”
• Choose “Current Transcript – Process As Is” under “When do you want your transcript processed?”
• Choose “Certification/Licensure” under “Why are you ordering your transcript?”
• The Delivery Information should say “Electronic” and “1 copy = $15.00”
• Click “Yes” to accept the terms
• Click “Continue”
• Click “Checkout”
• Use the Electronic Consent Form and sign and click accept signature
• Click Continue
• Complete your payment information
• Click Submit order

Step 4 - Check your DESE profile periodically for confirmation that your sub certificate has been issued. Once DESE approves your sub-cert application, you can access a PDF of your sub-cert on the left-hand side of your DESE profile.

• Contact DESE if you have any questions about applying for a sub certificate. 

If you do not have professional liability insurance, one option is the Missouri State Teachers Association (MSTA). You can join Student MSTA to receive free professional liability insurance.

• Click “Join MSTA”
• Scroll down and click on “Join Today” under Log in or create an account to join today
• Click on “Don’t have an account”
• Fill in your personal information and login information
• Click “Create Account”
• If your name is not listed on the next page, click “Create Account”
• Click “Join Now” on the next page
• Click “Edit” under Primary Affiliation
• Type Southeast Missouri State University
• Click “Save”
• Click “Save and continue”
• Click “Student”
• Then click “checkout”
• Under Dues Selection click on “Student”
• Under additional options unclick “Southeast Missouri State University Student Chapter Dues” if it is already clicked
• Click “Checkout”
• Click “submit”
• You can save your Order summary by clicking Print and then save it as PDF OR You will also receive an email that you can save as a PDF to upload 

Individuals seeking scholarship opportunities will find that MSTA offers a variety of options specifically tailored for students attending Southeast.

This is an opportunity to introduce yourself and provide some information that might help the administrator or teacher reading it make a decision. If it is poorly written, this may be the only document read. You need to sell yourself here. Also, this is where you can provide some context for potentially damaging details (e.g. that low-GPA semester during which you had mono.) Limit the letter to one page.

Take a look at these introduction letter examples to help get you started.

Describe your philosophy of education in a one-page document. Consider having the Center for Writing Excellence review this for you since it will be sent to schools with the rest of your application packet.

Here's an example to give you an idea of what a philosophy of education might look like.  Students will learn to create this document at the beginning of their Ped 3 or Advanced Field courses.

• Check your Degree Audit to make sure all courses are met before saving. If not, contact your advisor ASAP.
  • Go to my.semo.edu
  • Click on Degree Works under “Tools” – “Academics”
  • Click on the “Save as PDF” box toward the top of the page
  • A separate box should open
  • Click on the printer icon
  • Change the “Destination” to “Save as PDF”
  • Click “Save”
  • Choose where you want to save the document on your computer
  • Change the name of the file if you choose to
  • Click “Save”

All teacher candidates must have the results of a current (completed within the last 12 months) TB test on file. You can get a TB test at the Campus Health Clinic, your personal physician’s office, or your home country's health service. The health care provider will have their own type of document to give you. Once you receive your results, scan them and upload them. 

• Please note, the TB test takes 3 days to process and requires two visits to the clinic.
  
  

Consider having Career Services review your resume since it will be sent to schools with the rest of your application packet. Try to limit it to one page, but two pages are acceptable if there are relevant experiences that need to be included.  Students will learn to create this document at the beginning of their Ped 3 or Advanced Field courses.

We've included two resume examples to help you craft yours.

• Example One

• Example Two

Students will be emailed a link to upload documents once they have filled out the student teaching application. The following documents are required to be uploaded by the deadline. Documents must be in a PDF format:

• Substitute Teaching Certificate
• Proof of Professional Liability Insurance
• Introduction Letter
• Philosophy of Education
• Degree Audit
• TB Test
• Resume
• 3 Letters of Recommendation combined into 1 PDF document (St. Louis placements only)

You must pass all required Missouri certification assessments (MoCA passed before June 30, 2024, or PRAXIS passed after July 1, 2024) by the deadline given in the “Important Dates” section.

For more information on what tests you need to take, please refer to Praxis to find which assessments are required for your specialty area.  When registering for an exam, make sure to:

• Include Southeast as the institution your scores will be sent to
• Include your Social Security number
  • This is to ensure that your scores will be linked with your DESE profile

We also have information on alternative testing arrangements/accommodations.

Some study material is provided by the ETS testing company when you register and pay for an exam. Additional study material may be purchased when you register and pay for an exam. The Educator Prep Program offers study material in Canvas on the Pre-Service Teacher Resources page. If you do not have access to this Canvas page, please email aelincoln@semo.edu.

Praxis Testing Guide

Ensure that your Southeast background check will cover you throughout the student teaching semester. To be eligible to student teach, you must have a Missouri State Highway Patrol (MSHP)/ Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) background check on file.  (Most students obtained this background check for their previous field courses.) 

• If your Southeast background check is not approved, please email the Candidate Status and Certification officer at aelincoln@semo.edu. 

Placements: All placements are made by the Office of Field Experiences. Students are NOT to contact the schools for placement information.

If the Office of Field Experiences is unable to place you in your top two district choices listed on the application, you will be placed in a district within a 30-45 minute radius of the address you listed on your application. In some situations, placements are not available for various reasons.  If the situation arises the Field Experiences Office may have to place students in a school that is willing to host them.

• Family: If you have immediate family working in a school within a district you put on your application, notify fieldexperiences@semo.edu. While you can be placed in the same district, you cannot be placed in the same school building.
• Additional Classes: Additional classes during student teaching are not permitted without permission from the Dean of the College of Education, Health and Human Services. (This does not include EF400 or CL004)
• To appeal to take classes during student teaching, email a formal letter explaining the need by the date on the Application Packet to aelincoln@semo.edu.
• Substitute Teaching: During student teaching, you are a student of Southeast Missouri State University, not an employee of the school district. If your mentor teacher cannot be at school, the district should get a substitute for the classroom. 
• Working: While keeping a personal job may be necessary, it is advised that you take a break from your job during student teaching if you can. Student teaching requires at least the same number of hours as a full-time job.

You also cannot get paid for any job at the school you are placed in during regular school hours.

Candidates are expected to contact their Mentor teacher the same week they get the placement information. Mentor teachers are expecting this.

Candidates should introduce themselves and inquire as to when the Mentor teacher would like the candidate to begin their teaching experience in the next semester.

• Candidates need to make sure the Mentor teachers are aware of the Triad Seminar and make arrangements to meet and sit together at this meeting.
• If the teacher candidate starts early, they are still expected to be in the classroom for the entire 16-week semester according to the university calendar. (University supervisors will not begin supervising until the official start of the semester.) 

If you want to be placed outside of the regional area where we place teacher candidates, you will have to meet one of the following criteria: 

• The candidate is married before the student teaching semester begins and the spouse is required to live outside the area for employment, military commitment, or to continue enrollment in a university outside the service area. 
• A hardship exists due to a serious, long-term illness of a member of the immediate family, requiring the candidate to relocate immediately. 
• Another documented hardship exists as determined by the Director of Field and Clinical Experiences. 

Failure to meet these criteria will result in a denial of the request for a courtesy placement.

There is an additional charge of $1,800 for a courtesy placement.

Triad Seminar 

• Teacher candidates, Mentor teachers, and university supervisors will participate in the Triad Seminar which will include team-building activities as well as obtaining the same message of all expectations in the same setting. 
• At least two meetings will be offered each semester (attendance to only one is required): St. Louis and Cape Girardeau

For questions about the application process or eligibility for student teaching, contact Alicia Lincoln at aelincoln@semo.edu.

For questions about placements or student teaching policies, contact the Office of Field Experiences at fieldexperiences@semo.edu.