Middle Grades, Secondary, and All-Level Teacher Certification
All middle grades (grades four through eight), secondary (grades eight through twelve), and all-level (prekindergarten through grade twelve) teacher certification programs are based on degrees with academic majors in the student’s chosen teaching field. Certification requirements for students seeking middle grades, secondary, and all-level teacher certification include all the courses required for the student’s major in the College of Education, Fine Arts, Liberal Arts, or Natural Sciences, or the Jackson School of Geosciences, as well as the preprofessional and professional education courses.
Students pursuing middle grades or secondary teacher certification in mathematics, computer science, or science must follow the curriculum prescribed by the UTeach-Natural Sciences program, a collaborative partnership between the College of Education and the College of Natural Sciences. Program advising is housed in the College of Natural Sciences. Information is available at http://www.uteach.utexas.edu/ and from the College of Natural Sciences Office of Special Projects.
Students pursuing middle grades or secondary teacher certification in English language arts and reading, history, languages other than English, or social studies must follow the curriculum prescribed by the UTeach-Liberal Arts program, a collaborative partnership between the College of Education and the College of Liberal Arts. Program advising is housed in the College of Liberal Arts. Information is available at http://www.utexas.edu/cola/progs/uteach/ and from the UTeach-Liberal Arts advising office.
Program advising for students seeking all-level certification in art, music, and theatre arts is provided in the College of Fine Arts and in the College of Education.
Certification Requirements
Information about legal requirements for certification to teach is available from the teacher certification officer, George I. Sánchez Building 216, or from the Texas Education Agency. Application for the certificate should be made at the Certification Office, George I. Sánchez Building 216. State of Texas teacher certification requirements are governed by the Texas Education Agency and are subject to change. Students must adhere to current certification requirements, even if they differ from those listed in a University catalog.
In accordance with state law, the commissioner of education may suspend or revoke a teaching certificate or refuse to issue a teaching certificate for a person who has been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor for a crime that directly relates to the duties and responsibilities of the teaching profession.
Students who have completed all necessary academic requirements for certification must also achieve a passing level of performance on the required state certification examinations. In addition, students seeking bilingual education certification or certification to teach French or Spanish in elementary or secondary school must earn a passing score at the advanced level on the Texas Oral Proficiency Test (TOPT) in the appropriate language.
Minimum Scholastic Requirements
In addition to meeting the minimum coursework and scholastic requirements for the degree, students seeking middle grades, secondary, and all-level certification must meet other requirements to take the prescribed work in professional development. Admission to the Professional Development Sequence is restricted; information about admission requirements is available in the Office of the Dean, George I. Sánchez Building 216.
Teaching Fields
All candidates for middle grades, secondary, and all-level teaching certificates must earn a degree in their primary teaching field by meeting all of the requirements for the appropriate major. While completing these requirements, the certification student must take a core set of courses in the major that fulfill certification requirements. This certification core includes at least twenty-four semester hours in a single teaching field or forty-eight semester hours in a composite teaching field, and incorporates the state-specified essential knowledge and skills needed for successful teaching in the field. Often, the student’s major department requires more than these twenty-four semester hours, but the certification core in the major field must be taken.
Students seeking middle grades certification may choose from the following teaching fields: English language arts and reading, social studies, mathematics, and science. Students seeking secondary certification may choose from the following teaching fields: science, social studies, computer science, English language arts and reading, history, and mathematics. Students seeking all-level teacher certification may choose from the following teaching fields: art, physical education, languages other than English (Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Latin, Russian, or Spanish), music, special education, and theatre arts.