Screening is an event that occurs in the spring semester of a student's junior year, or the year before he or she is eligible to enter the professional year.  The screening candidate is interviewed for about fifteen minutes by the English Adolescence Education Committee members, including, but not limited to, Terry Mosher, Scott Johnston, KimMarie Cole, Mindy Wendell, Ann Siegle-Drege, Susan Spangler, and En-Shu Liao.  It is a formal event, so dress like you are a teacher.

Preparing for Screening
Take a look through your work from your ENED courses.  What have you learned about good teaching from those courses and from being in the program?  Be prepared to talk about specific techniques that worked in particular courses and specific theories that underpin your approach to teaching.  What specific activities would be going on in your classroom if someone were to observe you?  Think about both composition and literature classrooms (or writing and reading classrooms if you prefer those terms).

Screening
During screening, candidates are asked to discuss some of the principles of teaching that he or she has learned in the English Adolescence Education program at SUNY Fredonia.  In order to do well, the screener needs to talk very specifically about pedagogical principles that work well in secondary classrooms. There are many things a candidate can say that are appropriate, but there are some statements that are "red flags" to the professors who sit in screening and that may prevent candidates from going forward.  Here are some of those ideas, in no particular order:

The screener:

• is obsessed with grammatical correctness and plans to "teach grammar" to students.
• keeps referring to his or her high school experience, implying that "because I did it in high school" is a valid reason to teach in certain ways.
• thinks that lecturing about the background of a novel is a good way to introduce literature to students and get them excited about reading.
• indicates that he or she will use the "modes" of writing (comparison/contrast, cause/effect, classification/analysis) and five-paragraph essays to teach composition.
• has antiquated views about teaching "the research paper" in inauthentic ways.
• wants to use vocabulary quizzes and spelling tests in his or her classroom because those are good ways to teach language.
• suggests that he or she will use reading and writing as punishment for students.
• thinks that "popcorn" reading is a good method for reading in class.
• uses candy or competition as incentives for learning.

Also during screening, candidates may be confronted about dispositions in their pedagogy courses or other English courses.  Each ENED course syllabus has a statement about dispositions if you do not know what dispositions are.  Candidates may be asked to explain reasons for their behavior in courses (like absenteeism, late work, etc.).  Most of the conversation, however, is cordial and focused on the candidate's potential for success in the secondary classroom. 

After Screening
Approximately two weeks after screening, candidates will receive a letter indicating their status for the following year.  Candidates who "pass" screening are eligible to enroll in ENED 450 and 451, "Seminar" and "Methods," respectively.  Those who do not pass screening have several options:

• Stay at SUNY Fredonia, take more courses, and re-screen the next year.  In recent years, several students who took this option did well in screening and in their professional year, including student teaching.
• Stay at SUNY Fredonia and switch to another major (usually English) and finish their degrees on time.
• Leave SUNY Fredonia to attend another university or to work.
• Appeal the screening process. 

Bottom line:  We want you to be successful in your professional year and student teaching experience, so we won't place people there who are clearly not ready to accept the responsibilities of being a secondary teacher.  Questions?  See any of the ENED faculty for more information about screening.