Information for Student Teachers

Preparing for Student Teaching

Fingerprinting and Background Check Instructions

Background checks must be cleared before being placed for student teaching. Because it takes a month or so for the process to be completed, it is imperative that you apply early in the semester before you plan to student teach. It is also advisable to begin the process even earlier than this, because records may be kept on file for up to 3 years.

Go to www.utah.gov/teachers, the website for the Utah State Office of Education On-Line License System.

From here, click on the button for Background Check, and follow the directions.

On your first time, you will need to use your SSN to log in to the system.

You can also pay for the fingerprinting online, so be prepared with a credit card.

Also be prepared for another fee when you are given the Live Scan location (the place where you will actually be fingerprinted).

PRAXIS test instructions

You can take the Praxis tests anytime, but you definitely need to have it completed before student teaching. Note that you must now take the Praxis I Writing Test and the Praxis II in Music.

The Praxis 1 Test you will take is the #20720 PPST Writing test. You can either take it via paper/pencil, or computerized (#5720).  This test costs $40 to take via paper/pencil, $80 via computer.

The Praxis II test you will take is the #10113 Music: Content Knowledge test. This test costs $80 to take.

Make sure you send a copy of your results to the University of Utah AS WELL AS THE STATE OFFICE OF EDUCATION and you keep one for your records. It will cost you $40 to have them send you another copy, so don’t lose it.

Go to www.ets.org

Click on Praxis

In the “For Test Takers” box, click on “register for a test”

This will give you information about the computer-based and paper-based tests and how to register. For the Praxis II (Music) portion, you can only take the paper-based.

Follow the instructions and register for both tests.

RA4853 is the code for University of Utah. Enter this to make sure your results get here.

The Student Teaching Experience

Choral Music Student Teaching Handbook - Dr. Jessica Napoles