SOMERS - The state is investigating the University of Wisconsin-Parkside's teacher education program, due to a complaint that student teachers have been allowed to teach without fulfilling requirements.

The state complaint filed in January by a Parkside staff member states students were allowed to student teach without completing required coursework and passing required state tests, according to a Jan. 21 letter from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. It also states students were awarded credit for independent work that was not completed and students were being inaccurately advised about state requirements.

An anonymous caller alerted The Journal Times to the complaint Wednesday night.

Parkside Interim Provost Gerald Greenfield believes that all students fulfilled their requirements to become certified to teach, but there was a "record keeping issue," he said. Greenfield said he does not know who filed the complaint with the state.

Greenfield said the university has met with the DPI, removed a staff member from a position in the department and conducted an internal investigation. Representatives from the state department will be going to Parkside Monday to conduct its own investigation, Greenfield said.

Representatives from the state department were not available to comment Thursday because many staff members were involved in the swine flu scare, DPI spokesman Patrick Gasper said.

Parkside currently has about 30 student teachers at various schools in southeastern Wisconsin and northern Illinois, including the Racine Unified School District, according to Greenfield's staff.

Internal investigation

The university found that not all students had documentation in their files that stated they passed state exams. Five students were licensed to teach without passing some part of Pre-Professional Skills Tests (PPST), according to a March 30 letter from Greenfield to the state.

Greenfield believes that the students who did not have the documentation probably received waivers to eliminate some testing requirements, but the waivers were never put in the files, he said. The university is allowed to waive some testing requirements for 10 percent of students, according to state rules.

Students are also required to have a log of school observation hours in their files, but not all students had logs in their files, Greenfield said. He believes the students had their observation hours because they are required to pass certain classes.

Also before student teaching, students are supposed to take a methods class, where they learn to teach specific subjects to different grade levels. But some students were taking it at the same time they were student teaching, he said.

In his letter to the state, he said there was no evidence to support allegations that students were given credit for independent coursework that they did not complete. He also said there were inconsistencies in the way students were advised about courses and that was attributed to the former director of teacher preparation.

"Most of the problems noted could be ascribed to a single individual - the Director of Teacher Preparation," Greenfield said in his letter to the state. The former director Kelly Mcfatter no longer works with accreditation paperwork, Greenfield said. She is finishing teaching her spring semester classes, but she will not be at Parkside next year. The university is now hiring a new director of teacher education.

He said organizational structure also played a role in problems. The director used to report to a dean rather than the department chair, which created "a disconnect," said Greenfield. Mcfatter could not be reached for comment Thursday.