If you are pursuing a master of arts in education (MAE) or the building-level administrator's program (BLAD) in educational administration and supervision to earn a principal's license, you must complete two semesters of building-level internship (EDAD 694). If you are completing an educational specialist (EdS) degree for superintendent's licensure or completing Director of Career and Technical Education (CTE) license, you will complete two semesters of district-level internship (EDAD 696).
You must fill out an application for an internship one semester in advance. Please contact the internship director, Dr. Tracy Caddell at tacaddell@bsu.edu for more information and an application by these dates: June 1 for fall internship; Oct. 1 for spring internship; March 1 for summer internship.
Those completing the Director of Career and Technical Education (CTE) license must identify a CTE director to supervise the two semesters of district-level internships (EDAD 696) prior to registering for the courses. Visit https://iacted.org/directors/ and contact CTE directors on this list to see if one of them is willing to assist you. Once a CTE director on this list fully agrees to work with you as part of the internships, please send a single e-mail with the name, title, contact information, and school/district affiliation for the CTE director to Dr. Tracy Caddell at tacaddell@bsu.edu and Dr. Edward J. Lazaros at ejlazaros@bsu.edu for them to approve this person. Including professional biographical information about the CTE director is encouraged. The final approval rests with either or both of the two aforementioned Ball State University faculty.
A successful internship can lead to positive recommendations for future employment as an administrator. The experience involves a range of activities to familiarize you with the P-12 spectrum of administration. Specialized and in-depth projects also allow interns to adapt to special needs and pursue specific interests.
Requirements
Course Prerequisites
The internship will take place at the end of your studies. You must receive approval before you can register for EDAD 694.
To meet the prerequisite for the internship, you must have successfully completed five of these seven courses:
- EDAD 600 Introduction to Educational Leadership
- EDAD 630 Human Resource Development
- EDAD 635 Educational Decision Making
- EDSUP 650 Supervision of Instruction
- EDAD 684 Educational Finance and Ethics
- EDAD 686 School Law
- EDAD 689 The School Principal
Time
“On-Level” Internships
An "on-level" semester is when you serve an internship in your own school or grade levels of teaching experience.
You should plan at least 8 to 10 credits of contact time per week for the "on-level" semester enrolled in the program.
“Off-Level” Internships
An "off-level" semester internship would be served in another building at other grade levels. For example, a high school English teacher would serve an "on-level" semester at the high school. The "off-level" internship would be in an elementary.
A minimum of 38 credits of contact time is required during the "off-level" internship semester. Contact time consists of time on site with the field supervisor, project preparation and implementation, seminars, journaling, and other requirements.
Locations
Most interns complete their "on-level" semester in their own schools and their “off-level” at a nearby school in their district.
We recommend that the intern experience spans as much of the K-12 spectrum as possible, because students are earning a principal's license that covers grades K-12.
Projects & Work Assignments
Requirements for the internship include:
- three major leadership projects each semester
- monthly journals
- reflective essays
- discussion boards
- other leadership experiences at the school
Each internship project focuses on an ELCC standard. Building-level interns must complete a Standard 1 project during their on-level semester and a comprehensive Standard 2 project during their off-level internship.
You also must attend an on-campus orientation as you begin your internship, and a regional seminar toward the end of each semester.
Supervisor Assignments
Ball State will assign an internship supervisor to you; however, you must arrange for a field supervisor (a principal or assistant principal) to work with you at your internship school. You should approach that person about being your field supervisor as soon as you have received the information packet and have reviewed the field supervisor's duties listed therein.
How to Register
If you meet the prerequisites cited above, contact intern director Tracy Caddell via email to request permission to register.
Upon receiving approval, you will be granted access to the Internships for School Leadership Community, which serves as the access point for course materials. Directions and timelines will be included.
Contact Director
Frequently Asked Questions
Required internship orientation sessions are held the semester before students begin their internship. Therefore, make contacts early. For example, if you plan to begin an internship during fall semester, you should begin the process by June 1 by contacting the internship director. If you plan to begin an internship during spring semester, begin the process by October 1. If you plan to begin an internship during summer, begin the process by March 1.
Yes. Most students work full time while completing the internship; however, this presents challenging time management issues.
You may want to begin your internship during a semester when you have no extracurricular assignments, when you have a student teacher assigned to you, or when you can arrange you daily teaching schedule to include blocks of flexible time.
Former students and Ball State supervisors recommend that you do not take other courses during your internship. The internship is time consuming. At most, you should schedule only one other course during an internship semester.