I have a teaching degree and was wondering if a practicum/field experience required for the endorsement?

If you are planning to get a school counseling GT endorsement you must take the school counseling practicum and internships as the other students. Hence your school counseling practicum is your practicum and field experience.  If you want to take an additional teaching practicum or field experience via Belin then you must do so in the area that you were not endorsed previously. Example, if you did your student teaching in an elementary setting, you would need to have a middle school or high school teaching setting. Contact Belin for more information.

How many credits will it be and is there a way to have those paid by my regular semester tuition next year?  

Typically, the school counseling practicum is three regular credits and can be paid for as a regular course. Additional courses that are not part of the school counseling and gifted sequence may be different and can depend on the number of hours in which you enroll and whether the course is a regular class or a workshop course. 

Will this be a teaching or counseling endorsement?

A teaching endorsement.

How does it compare to having a M.A. in Gifted Education?

First there are fewer hours--12 as opposed to 30 or more. The endorsement is good preparation for understanding the needs of gifted students, and how to begin to meet those needs, but a Master's degree would provide even greater understanding.  Second, a masters is a degree program while an endorsement is not.

Do the 1 credit workshops fulfill the Programming and Administrative strands?

To fulfill the Administrative Strand you can choose to do one of the following: Participation in Wallace Symposium, Participation in the National Association for Gifted Children, or enroll in 7B:112 Evaluation of Gifted Programs. To fulfill the Programming strand, you must take 3 of any of the 1 hour workshops listed on the Belin program of study under Programming or you can enroll in a new course that is being developed and should be offered next fall for affective curriculum 7C:280.  There are also additional classes taught via Belin (3 credits) this spring such as Program Models in Gifted Ed or Curriculum Models in Gifted Ed which should count for the programming strand. Contact Belin for more information.

How many credits are required in each of those strands?

You must take at least 1 credit in each strand, but for the complete endorsement, they must total 12.  7C: 137 Introduction to Gifted Education (3) and 7C:223 Counseling Gifted and Talented Students (3), and  7C: 300 Practicum in School Counseling (in partnership with the Belin-Blank center) (3), gives you 9 hours total as part of the master’s degree. You must complete the additional three in programming and administrative strands. 

When and how long is the practicum for Gifted Education?  

The School Counseling practicum will be held from June 10 to July 20 in the summer of 2007. Typically 7 to 8 weeks including preparation time and follow-up.

Is there a program schedule for the TAG endorsement that goes with my cohort?

There is not one set in concrete. Right now the School Counseling faculty is working with Belin to develop a rotating schedule that would benefit each new cohort group.  The Iowa DE Endorsement or the Belin GT Certificate follow the requirements set forth by the state of Iowa. Courses are determined by Belin Professional Development Staff.  The School Counseling Faculty do not have any oversight of courses outside of our program, therefore, advisory input not decision-making power for the GT Endorsement.

GT Course Sequnce.

GT Endorsement Plan of Study