Internships Provide Alternative to Student Teaching
Released: November 13, 2007
College students studying education in Wisconsin know they need to student teach in order to graduate. What many of them don't know is that through the Department of Public Instruction's Wisconsin Improvement Program they can get paid for it.
"The teacher intern is a college or university student in the process of completing a teacher preparation program leading to professional licensure," said Tom Ganser, associate professor of field experiences at UW-Whitewater. "They are temporarily licensed by the Department of Public Instruction and interviewed and selected based on high admission standards including the candidate's commitment to teaching, scholastic record, and admission to the College of Education."
The program, officially called Teacher Internships, provides an alternative to the student teaching requirement. These internships differ from the traditional student teaching program in that the interns obtain a temporary license for the semester they teach, are interviewed and hired by the school district, and receive a stipend of $4,500 plus professional support. The internships also carry a lot more responsibilities for the student that can help them later in their career.
"I don't think I could have received the knowledge of being a teacher from a student teaching experience," said Sara Perisic, a UW-Whitewater alumni who participated in the teacher internship program spring 2007. "There's a lot definitely to take on, but in the end, the information and experience you gather will definitely put you in front of others in the long-run."
The students are only allowed to participate once in the internship program, which can last only one semester of the school year in which they are student teaching. Last year there were 151 teacher interns in the state, 28 of them from UW-Whitewater, second only to UW-Stevens Point who had 29.
For more information on the Teacher Internship program, visit the WIP Web Site at dpi.wi.gov/tepdl/wipbr.html or contact Deborah Bowditch, UW-Whitewater's WIP coordinator.
- Kyle Kopplin,kopplinka01@uww.edu
