Formal admission occurs after the Candidate successfully completes the Professional Development School (PDS) Entrance Interview and all grades are verified.  The Entrance interview usually takes place during May (for the Fall Semester) and during December (for the Spring Semester).  Grades are verified by August and January.  The candidates are required to have a cumulative GPA of at least 2.5 and a GPA of 2.5 in the Major with no grade less than C in block I courses.  They have successfully completed a three week assistantship placement.

Placements are made to meet certification requirements.  ECE/ELEM majors are placed in Pre-K/K, primary grades (1,2,or 3) and intermediate grades (4,5,or 6) over the course of Teacher Assistantship, Internship I or Internship II.

ELEM majors are generally placed in primary grades for Teacher Assistantship and intermediate grades or middle school during Internship I and Internship II.

Specific placements begin with each PDS Principal in consultation with the PDS Site Coordinator notifying the Frostburg State University Placement Coordinator of available mentor teachers and grade levels.  Taking into consideration the needs of each intern, the Placement Coordinator matches interns to each PDS opening and sends the placement list of interns to the appropriate principal.  The principal makes the placements and notifies the Placement Coordinator and the PDS Site Coordinator.  All preliminary contacts of the schools and the mentor teachers are made by the Placement Coordinator.

The Placement Coordinator notifies each intern of his/her placement.  Each intern makes a pre-practice visit to the mentor.  At this time the mentor teacher signs the pre-practice visit card and the intern submits it to the Office of Clinical and Field Experiences.