Yes, I was failed in student teaching (anything below a B- is considered failing and
I got a C). But please read on.
How much warning did I get? It was 3 weeks before the end of the program. Before
that, I had absolutely no idea.
Then, two weeks before finishing, I was given a different university supervisor with
entirely different requirements. One week before completion, my supervisor was
switched yet again. It was truly bizarre and indicative of the chaos in my university
program.
But what killed me was when at the end, my mentor teacher, who had given me all
4's and 5's (on a scale of 1-5) the semester before, gave me all 1's. Since he was
never in my classroom, I'm not sure how he was qualified to assess me. Perhaps he
didn't like my ongoing complaints about his absence and lack of feedback.
At the end of the final quarter, I was given an incomplete (by definition meaning I
was doing passing work) for my student teaching.
I was required to do a large additional assignment with a near impossible deadline.
I proudly finished it with 2 minutes to spare. Unfortunately, my supervisor
criticized the work mercilessly and graded it D-. The incomplete was then
changed to a C (failing).
In my permanent file, some of the previous assignments were doctored by my
supervisor to make it appear that my work all along had been substandard. I
actually proved this to the university, and the supervisor got a tiny slap on the
wrist.
As you suggest, I did go to the acting Dean of Graduate Studies. He refused to
help me. Ironically, credential students are not considered graduate students, due
to the program not being degreed. Therefore, the credential program was not
under his (nor anyone's) jurisdiction and there was nothing he could do to help
me.
On the plus side, the high school kids got a great education. Much better than they
would have gotten from the mentor teacher. Yes, I was good.
What happened afterwards?
My acceptance to the Masters in Teaching Mathematics program at this same
university was rescinded, citing my failure to obtain a credential. My petition for a
grade change was denied. My petition to repeat the student teaching was denied.
That summer, the Director of the credential program died of a sudden heart attack
(to this day, the department blames me for his stress). Consequently, the entire
science credential program was also dissolved that summer. My university
supervisor was not rehired in any capacity. My mentor teacher was not rehired by
the high school and was once again unemployed.
I applied to a Masters in Education program at a CSU, where I graduated both top
in my department and top in my college.
And that's where I am today. Without a credential, but top of my class.
On 5/08/08, not legal in any state.. wrote:
> Iīm sorry, but this story canīt be true as posted.
>
> OP: If you failed student teaching you canīt be recomended
> for liscensure, but they can NOT just fail to recomend you.
> Possibilities:
> Did they say you were in danger of failing you that you did
> fail student teaching?
>
> Is it a paperwork issue--i.e. are you missing something?
>
> Please no one write back and inform me that principalīs
> can/do claim you called a kid a name, no one told the OP
> about this, and so here the OP is thus unable to do anything
> about it..
>
> You can not just not be recommended for liscensure--period.
> OP: If you really are not being recomdended or being told
> why, go to the university dean immediately.
>
> n 4/29/08, Seven wrote:
>> Has anyone else finished a credential program and not been
>> recommended for a credential?
>>
>> I've completed all the classes and exams for a California
>> secondary clear credential in Mathematics (with
>> supplementary authorization in physics), but without a
>> recommendation it's worthless.
>>
>> Just interested to know if anyone else has found themselves
>> in this situation, and what you did.
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