In order to meet state and national accredittion standards, the implementation of an electronic assessment system is required to measure the knowledge, skills, and dispositions of teacher candidates. The UMKC School of Education has implemented LiveText in order to meet this requirement. LiveText allows for the tracking of students' progress throughout their careers in the School of Education as well as how that progress relates to the relevant educational standards met by individual programs.

Students receive other benefits from LiveText, including:

• An online document storage area available anywhere with an internet connection, and the ability to share stored documents with fellow students
• A system for creating and sharing professional portfolios that can be disseminated to potential employers

LiveText is used to assist students in the collection, preservation, organization, evaluation, and dissemination of activities, assignments, pieces of evidence, and reflections that are associated with competencies and standards. Information about the School of Education assessment system can be found at this link.

As part of its assessment system, the School of Education has adopted the Social Equity Essay as a written assessment to measure candidates' dispositions on issues such as social justice and equity. The written prompt will be administered at program entry and program exit. All responses are confidential and will not be used in making grading decisions.

Students new to UMKC should send transcripts and applications for admission to:

UMKC Office of Admissions
5100 Rockhill Road
Kansas City, MO 64110-2499

Students seeking teacher certification should apply for admission to the School of Education when they anticipate completion of the majority of their prerequisite coursework with a cumulative 2.75 GPA. Applications for all Teacher Education programs are due by the end of the fall semester for admission the subsequent summer or fall semester. Specifics on the application process may be found at http://education.umkc.edu/applyte.

1. Initial admission at the freshman or sophomore level will be as a pre-education major to the School of Education in accordance with regular UMKC admissions standards. For students interested in music education, admission will be to the Conservatory of Music and Dance, which is discussed further in that section of the catalog.
2. Admission to Teacher Education:
   • Completion of a majority of specific prerequisite and subject area coursework with a 2.75 cumulative GPA and 2.5 content area GPA
   • Score results from the ACT or SAT (if graduated from high school in past 5 years)
   • A score of 235 or greater on each segment of the College Basic Academic Subjects Examination (C-BASE)
   • Completion of an oral communications class, English Composition I & II and a required math class or its equivalent with grades of C or better (students who have less than a C grade in mathematics may take the subject area CLEP)
   • Clearance of an FBI background check as required by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
   • Interview 
   • Acceptance by the Teacher Education Admissions Committee based on one essay selected from prompts on the application form and two letters of recommendation indicating an appropriate disposition to educating children
   • Passing scores on the appropriate PRAXIS II content knowledge exam are required for admission to the middle school, secondary and K-12 programs. 
3. Admission to student teaching requires:
   • Recommendations from methods teachers.
   • A cumulative 2.75 GPA.
   • A subject area 2.5 GPA.
   • Completion of all education courses with grades of C or better.
   • Students must pass an FBI background check as required by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Post-Baccalaureate Programs

Students who have earned a degree in another field and wish to become certified teachers should apply to the Teacher Education program by the process outlined above. Academic work completed prior to admission will be reviewed on a course-by-course basis. Coursework in the subject area and the professional education sequence is required of all students as are general education courses specifically required for certification.