The primary goal of the Careers in Education: Teacher Cadet Program is to encourage academically talented, high-achieving, high school students with exemplary interpersonal and leadership skills to consider teaching as a career. An important secondary goal is to develop future community leaders who will become civic advocated for public education.

The Careers in Education: Teacher Cadet Program is an innovative approach designed to attract talents young people to the teaching professional through a challenging introduction to teaching. The program seeks to provide high school students with insights into the nature of teaching, the problems of schooling, and the critical issues affecting the quality of education in America's schools.

In West Virginia, the Teacher Cadet Program is part of the Careers in Education curriculum offered through the West Virginia Department of Education. Developed by CERRA in South Carolina as part of a statewide initiative to recruit teachers to fill critical shortages in the public schools, the curriculum is aligned with the standards of the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP), Association of Teacher Education (ATE), the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS), and the INterstate Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (InTASC).

In addition to hours of field experience in a public school classroom, this curriculum includes:

• Learning styles and needs

• Human growth and development

• Art of teaching

• Social foundations of education

• Planning and implementation of learning activities

• Basic principles of educational psychology

• Structure and governance in education

• The opportunity for hands-on experience working in local feeder schools (elementary or middle)

Graduates of a partnering Careers in Education: Teacher Cadet Program in a West Virginia high school will be uniquely prepared to be successful in Fairmont State University's Teacher Education Program. To acknowledge the knowledge, skills, and dispositions these prospective teachers develop as a result of their completion of this rigorous program, Fairmont State University will:

• Waive the 20-hour Field Experience completed in a community education setting required for admission to Teacher Education.

• Provide Careers in Education Teacher Cadet Program students with the opportunity to enroll in a Dual Enrollment course at a reduced tuition rate ($25 per credit hour - $75 total for this course).

• EDUD 2200: Introduction to Education, a 3-credit hour course required for admission to Teacher Education, will be offered as a Dual Enrollment course in conjunction with the final course in the Careers in Education: Teacher Cadet Program. University faculty will provide support and mentoring for students via Blackboard and participate in culminating projects; such as the review of required electronic portfolios.