Diversity

 

  1. I have the race/ethnicity category to fill and I am student teaching next term.  Where I want to student teach will not fill this requirement. What should I do?

 

  1. First, take a look at where you did your pre-professional and midtier hours.  When looking at those two prior placements, consider the specific make up of the individual classes.  Did an individual class have 20% or more non white students?  If so, you can petition for classroom ethnicity and meet that specific category through an individual class.  The classroom ethnicity form must be filled out and given to either the midtier coordinator or director of student teaching to confirm the request. 

    Also while looking at your pre-professional hours, if you have less than 30 hours at a school that meets the categories you need to fulfill, you may want to explore the possibility of returning to that school to do additional hours to reach the 30 hour requirement for that school to count toward your diversity.

 

  1. My classroom did not meet the ethnicity and I still need to fulfill this category.  Any other suggestions?

 

  1. You can do an additional 30 hour placement to fulfill any category not already complete.  If you are living in Mt. Pleasant and want to get this done before you student teach make sure you check the diversity chart on line to confirm what school will meet your need.  Once you choose your school, arrangements can be made to begin your additional field hours.  Please follow the guidelines below when arranging additional field hours.

 

Additional Field Hours Out of the Mt. Pleasant area:

 

You may contact the principal on your own.  The best way to make initial contact is by email.  Please find the web site on line for your desired school.  A helpful address in locating some of the school web sties:

 

http://www.grandpajunior.com/Michigan.shtml

 

When sending an email, be sure to be professional and include all necessary information.  Explain you are doing an additional field placement to fulfill diversity categories.  Please include when you would like to attend the school and explain that the host teacher has no obligation for any paperwork. I would highly suggest your email be free from punctuation errors and be written in complete sentences.

 

The closest district to Mt. Pleasant to fulfill both the urban and race/ethnicity categories will be Saginaw.  Below is the website for Saginaw schools:

 

http://www.spsd.net/

 

 

Additional Field Hours In the Mt. Pleasant area:

 

Do not contact the school principal yourself.  Please contact Renee Papelian at the midtier office for any hours you desire to obtain in Mt. Pleasant. 

 

No guarantee will be made regarding additional hours in Mt. Pleasant, but every effort will be considered as Mt. Pleasant classrooms become available.

 

 

  1. What if I can’t get my hours done before student teaching? Does that mean I can’t graduate?

 

  1. You will be able to graduate without your diversity categories complete but Central Michigan University will not be able to send your paperwork to the state for your teaching certificate until all diversity requirements are met.  You can complete this after student teaching but it is recommended you try to get this done prior to graduation.

 

  1. Any other suggestions on how to get these diversity requirements met?

 

  1. If you are thinking about trying to complete needed diversity categories during your student teaching, but your student teaching school does not meet the needed categories, you might consider these options.  Check your school district for any days off.  For example, you might have the first day of deer season off, or a professional development day you could be excused from attending.  Find as many non teaching days during your school calendar that might allow you to obtain hours at a district that fulfills the category or categories you are missing.  If you can get some hours in prior to the end of the term you might be able to finish up the hours right after you are done student teaching.  If you are student teaching in the spring, one other option might be during the spring break of your host school.  Chances are you will be able to find another school not on spring break that will meet your needed categories.  If so, you can attend that other school when you are on spring break from student teaching.

 

  1. How could I have avoided this dilemma of not having my requirements done and student teaching not meeting my last couple of categories?

 

  1. I’m glad you asked.  It is always a good thing to think ahead and try to plan on meeting your most difficult diversity categories during your pre professional hours. The midtier field hours will meet some of your diversity but please note the Mt. Pleasant area will not meet urban and often will not meet ethnicity.  If you desire to drive to an urban location during your midtier field hours you must be sure to make the midtier coordinator aware of your needed categories by using the additional information section when filling out your midtier placement forms.  You can also do an additional 30 hour placement anytime during your time at CMU.  A good opportunity to obtain a 30 hour additional placement is when CMU ends the term in early May.  Most schools are still in session until the end of May or early June.  Many schools will welcome students at this time and appreciate the extra set of hands in the classroom.

 

If you have other questions regarding diversity, please email:  Becky Mozurkewich, Midtier Assistant at mozur1rl@cmich.edu

If you would like to discuss your diversity status in detail, please submit the following:

Your Full Name:

Email (CMU global ID):

Day of the week you are available:

Time of day you are available:

A confirmation of  your appointment will be sent to your CMU global ID.  A typical appointment will take approximately 10-20 minutes.

For questions regarding diversity, please contact Becky Mozurkewich, Midtier Assistant, by phone at (989) 774-7662, or by email at mozur1rl@cmich.edu.