Admissions Requirements

Bemidji State University now offers an ONLINE opportunity for those wishing to teach who have a previously earned BA, BS, MA, MS, MBA, MFA or PhD in a Minnesota Department of Education content licensure area.

The Bemidji FasTrack Secondary Initiative meets the Standards of Effective Practice criteria approved by the Minnesota Board of Teaching for Bemidji State University. The successful candidate must meet the Minnesota Department of Education competency requirements and the methods of teaching courses for the specific content area licensure sought as well as achieve passing scores on the Praxis I PPST and the Praxis II subject area assessment. Content competencies are verified by the Minnesota Department of Education and additional coursework in your content area should be expected. Credit for practicum and student teaching experience may be modified for candidates currently teaching on limited licenses.

Quick Summary of Process

Bemidji State University's FasTrack Secondary Initiative is for people who want to obtain a license to teach secondary school, and have completed coursework and earned experience in a licensure area. The Initiative is online, meets face-to-face in Minneapolis four-five times throughout the 4 semesters of the academic initiative, and includes a mentor in the content area. Teacher candidates accrue field hours in classrooms connected with coursework.

The FasTrack Initiative is a three-pronged approach:

• State-approved education (pedagogy) courses from BSU

  BSU provides the basic pedagogy needed by a teacher, which is approximately 21 credits plus student teaching (12 credits).   Students pursuing K-12 licensure such as art, music and physical education complete 6 credits of student teaching at the elementary level (ED 4820) and 6 credits at the secondary level (ED 4840).  Students seeking a 5-12 or 9-12 license register for 12 weeks of student teaching at the secondary level (ED 4830).  When the FasTrack courses are finished, a Letter of Completion is issued to the teacher candidate from BSU.

• Praxis Tests

  BSU advises students regarding the national tests that are required. These are Praxis I and Praxis II from the Educational Testing Service www.ets.org.

• Content Portfolio - Alternative Pathways Licensure Process

  The third prong is the submission of a content portfolio to the MN Department Of Education (MDE) in conjunction with the MN Board Of Teaching's (BOT) Alternative Pathways Licensure Process. A FasTrack candidate submits the portfolio to the MN Department of Education (MDE) addressing designated competencies in their area of content -- e.g. math, biology. MDE evaluates the meeting of competencies and issues either a Letter of Acceptance or a request for further information.

When the teacher candidate satisfies the three-pronged areas, the candidate requests the appropriate licensure through the MN Department of Education Office of Teacher Quality and Licensing.