Testing Dates

• September 11, 2010
• November 13, 2010
• January 8, 2011*
• February 12, 2011
• April 16, 2011
• June 4, 2011
• July 9, 2011

* Supplemental Basic Skills and Assessment of Professional Teaching (APT) test administration

Computer based testing dates are shown below (click on the image for larger view):

Click here to download and print the flyer!

• MA Education
• MA Early Childhood Education
• MA Reading
• MA Multicategorical Special Education

Candidates can click here to apply to sit for the exams through May 31, 2010.

NOTE: This examination date does not apply to candidates in the MA Educational Administration program.

“Sailing in a Storm: Refitting a Career in a Volatile Job Market”

6:00 pm – Meet and greet
6:30 pm – Presentations

Networking reception to follow the presentation
Light refreshments will be served

RSVP to GSU Alumni Office by May 11 (708) 534-4128 or alumnirelations2@govst.edu

Transcript Ordering allows you to order official transcripts via the Web at any time, 24/7. You can order as many transcripts as you like in one online session using any major credit card. Whenever you order a transcript, you will receive real-time order updates by email. You can also track your order on the Transcript Ordering Web site.

Among the benefits that you will realize from online Transcript Ordering are:

• Convenient 24/7 access
• Secure transactions
• Automatic order updates via email
• Online order tracking
• Ability to order multiple transcripts for multiple recipients in one order

Transcript Ordering is provided through the National Student Clearinghouse, a non-profit organization serving the higher education community.

For more information, please refer to our website at http://www.govst.edu/transcripts.

Conference: The conference will provide students an opportunity to present their research work before an audience of their peers, and will provide a forum to highlight research accomplishments at GSU. All the presentations will be made by students only. All the previous conferences had a full house with back to back presentations from 9 a.m. till 5 p.m. We encourage students to present their research and other scholarly work in this important conference.

Registration and Abstract Forms: This year the registration and the abstract submission forms are in an electronic format and are available at the conference website: www.govst.edu/src.

Students and faculty will fill out and submit the forms via the website. Abstracts are to be submitted via the abstract submission form.

All attendees are required to register using the registration form. Students are encouraged to attend the conference even if they are not presenters. Faculty members are encouraged to invite their students to attend the conference and join us for lunch. However, students must be registered before the deadline of May 12, 2010. There is no registration fee.

Deadline: Registration and Abstract Submission Deadline: Friday, May 12, 2010

Program: The conference will begin at 9:00 a.m. and will have morning and afternoon podium presentations. The poster presentations will be displayed right after lunch, which will be provided to all registrants. Certificates of Merit will be awarded to all student participants.

The program is available at the conference website: www.govst.edu/src.

Conference Format: Students may present their work in podium presentation or poster presentation formats. The podium presentations will be 15 minutes in duration followed by 5 minutes question/answer session. In the poster presentations students will display their work in small posters which will cover an area of 4′ x 3′.

Conference Proceedings: All abstracts will be published in the conference proceedings.

Mark your calendars now! Early registration for the Fall 2010 semester will run from May 10, 2010 to June 4, 2010.

Although registration will begin approximately 60 days earlier than for previous fall terms, the tuition payment deadline will come only about a week earlier than previously! The payment deadline for students registering during the early registration period won’t be until July 22, 2010.

So register early to assure a spot in those high demand courses that you need for your program!

To view the new calendar, go to www.govst.edu/semesters.

If you have any questions about the registration periods or about the new semester calendar, just contact your academic advisor.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan last week announced the award of new five-year Teacher Quality Partnership (TQP) grants to GSU and 11 other teacher education programs across the country. Duncan said the grants will strengthen teacher preparation in “diverse and challenging classrooms” through residency programs modeled after intense, hands-on training that’s the norm in the medical profession. The grants are financed by the federal stimulus funds through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

With the TQP grant, GSU alternative certification students will work with mentor-teachers in south suburban classrooms for a one-year residency period. They will be paid $30,000 during the residency period, with that salary coming via the federal grant. Teacher candidates will work in high-need, low-income school districts and, after certification, will agree to teach for three years in the partner district. The grant provides funding for about 170 residency placements over the next five years.

Partnering school districts are Calumet Park 132, Posen-Robbins 143.5, Dolton-Riverdale 148, Harvey 152, West Harvey-Dixmoor 147, Lincoln 156 in Calumet City, Ford Heights 169, Thornton High School 205, and Bloom High School 206. The nine districts represent 21,000 students in 37 schools. All have heavy concentrations of minority and low-income students.

Governors State is already nationally renowned for the success of its alternative certification program for persons pursuing teaching credentials after working for years in other fields. For the last 10 years, GSU has partnered with high-need local school districts in alternative certification programs. Under the new residency model, teacher candidates will work side-by-side in the classroom with experienced mentor-teachers.

“The award of this grant is a wonderful confirmation of the high quality teacher preparation at GSU,” said Dr. Karen Peterson, interim director of the alternative certification program in GSU’s College of Education. “This funding, building on the success of our current programs, provides the opportunity to use additional research-based strategies to meet the needs of children in area high-need schools.”

Dr. Pam Guimond, assistant professor of biology education in GSU’s College of Arts and Sciences, said the residency program will produce excellent beginning teachers with the skills necessary to meet the needs of 21^st century students. Peterson and Guimond are co-directors of the grant.

“We are very excited about the opportunities this grant makes possible for GSU and its partner school districts to make extensive changes in the way we train professional educators. These changes, aligned with current research, include experiences necessary for producing individuals capable of teaching diverse populations of students,” Guimond said.

GSU’s alternative certification program currently leads to certification in elementary education. GSU plans to expand certification offerings to include bilingual education/English as a second language, and middle school/secondary math and science, pending Illinois State Board of Education approval.

Dr. Deborah Bordelon, dean of the College of Education, said the grant will enhance GSU’s influence as a catalyst for change. “We are honored to receive the highly competitive TQP funding. This collaborative program with its focus on innovative teacher preparation, the teacher residency model, and student achievement, will have an academic, social, and economic impact on our school districts and surrounding communities,” Bordelon said.

During the five year grant period, GSU will collect and use student achievement data to determine the impact of participating teachers on student learning and for continuous program improvement.

This event is sponsored by Chi Sigma Iota, Illinois Counseling Association, the College of Education, and the GSU Alumni Association. Tickets are $25 and reservations are required.

For more information or to register, email ica-sci@govst.edu.

According to Carol Morrison, Executive Director of the Family Development Center, the grant will enable Governors State University to create 20 new jobs and serve 72 families through Early Head Start, a free, comprehensive program for low-income families.

Early Head Start provides specialized support services to qualified pregnant mothers and children, up to their third birthday, who live in Will County, east of I-57, and the immediate families of GSU staff and students regardless of where they live. Participants need not be students at GSU.

Components of Early Head Start include prenatal support for pregnant women, home visits from a child development specialist, educational opportunities for pregnant women and parents, and support services linking families to social services in the community, as well as infant and toddler childcare.

For more information about the Early Head Start Program at the Family Development Center, call 708.235.7300 or visit www.govst.edu/children.