There’s Still Time to Apply for APPLE 202526 Term A

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Green apple on bookEven though summer just started, the fall term will be here soon. APPLE 202526 Term A begins on September 1, and we are excited to welcome a new cohort of learners to the program and support those continuing their studies with us.

If you would like to join the APPLE cohort this fall, please complete all elements of the admissions application by the end of June 2025. You will also need to request the required recommendation from your pastor or principal and official transcripts from all institutions of higher education you previously attended.

If you have questions about the APPLE program or the application process, please contact the Nontraditional Education Program Department.

Accelerated, Flexibly-Paced Pathway to Teaching

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In all of our communications, we emphasize that APPLE is an accelerated pathway to teaching that is online, competency-based, and flexibly-paced. Most of the conversations we have about the program ask about two of those concepts — accelerated and flexibly-paced. We thought it might be helpful if we explained both of those terms in greater detail, especially as they work together to meet the needs of the returning adult learner this program serves.

Accelerated

APPLE is designed for the returning adult learner who wants to serve in a WELS elementary school. We realized that returning adult learners have different scheduling needs, especially those who are already serving in their congregations. Returning adult learners need to be able to make steady progress all year long. By designing the course offerings across three, fifteen-week terms, learners are able to attend courses full-time each term, completing a minimum of 12 credits a term.

APPLE also allows learners to switch between part-time and full-time status. When a learner meets with their faculty mentor to plan classes for the upcoming term, they have an earnest conversation about expected work, life, and school demands so that the learner can make an educated decision about whether to study part-time or full-time in the next term. We have designed registration as a flat tuition for each type of learner — meaning a part-time learner pays a flat tuition for 6 – 11 credits. So, a learner who needs to be part-time for a given term can still make considerable progress towards their graduation goals by completing more than the minimum required 6 credits in the term.

Flexibly-Paced

The majority of the coursework for the APPLE program is flexibly paced.

The eighteen credits for the Competency-Based Theological Education (CBTE) Minor are not flexibly paced. These courses span the fifteen-week term and include weekly, synchronous virtual class meetings and interactive discussion boards. The design is intentional. Our faculty developed these courses not only as a space to share our faith and doctrine, but also as a space for you to grow in your faith. Faith development takes time.

The remaining courses in the program are flexibly paced. When a learner begins a course, they are given an overview of the course and its content and provided with a pacing guide to complete the course in five weeks, seven weeks, or fifteen weeks. The content overview helps the learner make a reasonable decision. For example, someone with a strong math background may review the course overview for Math for Educators and realize that much of the content is very familiar to them. They may then decide that this course is achievable in five weeks and follow the accelerated pacing guide to complete the course in that time frame. That same learner may review the course overview for Human Growth and Development and decide that some of the content is familiar and some is new, and select the seven-week pacing guide. Finally, when that learner engages with Teaching Religion, they may want to engage with that class over fifteen weeks to prepare for the devotions, catechism, and Bible history lessons they will lead in their classroom. The flexible pacing also makes it possible for learners to complete the coursework around their family, work, and community obligations, so that a busy week at home does not mean a learner misses a major assignment.

In order to allow for such individualized pacing, the courses do not rely on required group work or discussion boards. There are, though, weekly virtual class meetings with the faculty member teaching the class to address the learners’ questions, review concepts from the course, and discuss expectations for assignments and assessments.

Call Day – The End Goal of the APPLE Program

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This past weekend, the MLC campus celebrated our May graduation. While that celebration is certainly important, it pales in some ways to the Call Service that follows the graduation ceremony. Families, friends, classmates, and recently graduated education and staff ministry students return to the same room where they just celebrated their graduation to attend the Call Service. Together, the graduates listen to hear their name assigned to their first call to serve in the public ministry of the WELS. Within the span of a few hours, one chapter in our students’ lives closes and another begins.

While some learners in the APPLE program already hold provisional or part-time calls that require the pursuit of a baccalaureate degree in elementary education and licensure, some do not. The end result, though, is the same. For learners who are already serving a congregation, they will most likely be called to serve at that school. For those who are not currently serving a congregation, they will complete the same paperwork for review and consideration of an assignment in the public ministry.

Experiential Learning Credit for APPLE

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MLC recognizes that its student body, especially returning adult learners, often has professional experiences and credentials that could be considered in their academic studies.

Experiential Learning Credit

An “experiential learning” experience is a previous learning experience in a classroom, on the job, in previous training, or through personal study that a student wishes to apply towards credit for a college course. The student must provide supporting documentation in the form of a portfolio. Three faculty members evaluate the portfolio for fulfillment of course objectives.

APPLE Field Experiences

Learners in the APPLE program complete three field experience courses: Early Field Experience I, Early Field Experience II, and Literacy Clinical. As many of our learners in APPLE currently serve in our schools as paraeducators, substitutes, and sometimes the teacher of record, they may be able to apply those experiences to earn credit for one or more of these classes.

APPLE learners are enrolled in the experiential learning credit course based on their prior classroom experiences. During the first week of that class, learners upload a detailed resume that follows a specific format so the faculty members responsible for the course can determine which, if any, of the field experience courses could be met by collecting and sharing a portfolio of evidence. Learners are given the rest of the term to create a portfolio for each course they have been invited to demonstrate they have met through their professional experiences. Once their portfolio is complete, three faculty members review the submission(s) and determine if experiential learning credit should be awarded.

PELSB Approval

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Green apple on book

At MLC, our academic programs are regularly reviewed internally and by the appropriate accrediting bodies. Over the past year, our faculty and staff, especially those in our Licensure Office, have worked diligently to prepare for an onsite Minnesota Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board (PELSB) review of our academic programs that lead to eligibility for a Minnesota State Teaching license.

It is with great joy that we celebrate and give thanks to God for the time and talents of those who helped by preparing reports, engaging in meetings, or providing additional documentation. We are happy to share the news that MLC has received continuing approval from PELSB through June of 2031.

Holy Week Devotions

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Over the course of this week, Christian schools and churches remember the perfect life, painful death, and promised resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Join MLC faculty this week in reflecting on The Foolishness of the Cross. This devotion guides our Holy Week reflections, challenging us to consider “how the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.”

Let us all pause in wonder at God’s plan for our redemption and join together in triumphant song on Easter Sunday that “Jesus Christ is risen today!”

Modality Changes — Expectations Do Not

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MLC has intentionally designed the competency-based education courses we are offering for returning adult learners to ensure that the courses meet the same academic rigor expected of our traditional undergraduate students. Whether a learner completes their elementary education program on campus as a traditional undergraduate student or through our online competency-based education program as a returning adult learner, they are expected to complete the same signature assessments to demonstrate their knowledge of pedagogy and complete the same field experiences, literacy clinical, and student teaching to apply that knowledge.

It is true that the format of the coursework is different. But in most cases, the courses have been designed by the same faculty who teach the course on campus, often using the exact same course materials. While some of the activities in the course have been revised for a different modality, the major assignments and assessments, especially those associated with licensure requirements, remain the same.

It is also true that returning adult learners may be able to apply their work experience towards Experiential Learning Credit for EFE I, EFE II, or the Literacy Clinical, but the expectations are the same. Returning adult learners must provide a resume that demonstrates they can meet the requirements of those courses through their previous work experience before they are allowed to engage in Experiential Learning Credit. Then, they are tasked with creating and submitting portfolios that include all of the required activities.

What Happened to the CBTE Minor?

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We designed the CBTE Minor to mirror the same six Theology courses that all undergraduate elementary education majors complete at MLC. Together, these courses provide a strong foundation in Scripture and assure a shared understanding of the tenets of our faith. But we always planned that once the Alternative Pathway to Professional Licensure Eligibility (APPLE) was approved, the minor would become part of the course offerings for learners enrolled in that program.

We launched the CBTE coursework in Fall 2024 to allow those who were planning to matriculate into APPLE to begin their studies to serve in the public ministry with the best foundation possible. Two different cohorts of learners began their studies as continuing education, CBTE learners. Now that the APPLE program is approved and will begin its first cohort in fall 2025, we are no longer offering the CBTE courses separately from the course offerings for the major.

While the CBTE Minor still exists, it is only available to those studying in our competency-based education baccalaureate program.

Individuals who are interested in deepening their faith by closely studying Scripture and doctrine but have no intention of serving as a WELS elementary school teacher should connect with MLC’s Continuing Education program to determine what courses may meet their interests.