The Secondary Education program offers courses and fieldwork for students seeking an initial Pennsylvania Instructional I certificate, grades 7-12, in a specific academic area. Students in the program will pursue a Master of Science degree. Students working toward certification in grades 7-12 Biology, Chemistry, Citizenship, Communication, English, General Science, Mathematics or Physics will complete 34 credits. These programs require 70 hours of field experience, a semester of student teaching, and passing a comprehensive examination.
Applicants who do not possess an undergraduate degree in a content area of certification offered in the MS Secondary Education program (Biology, Chemistry, Citizenship, Communication, English, General Science, Mathematics, Physics) may be required, in consultation with the Graduate Program Director, to complete up to 15 credits of additional undergraduate course work in the content area in which they plan to be certified prior to program completion.
International students may be permitted to complete this program, however, upon graduation, they will not be eligible to apply for certification in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania due to state regulations. International students must submit a passing score on Praxis II examination prior to admission to the program. International students accepted into this program will be accepted on probation. They must take nine (9) graduate credit hours and achieve a minimum grade point average of 3.00 at the conclusion of these 9 credit hours.
Program of Study for MS in Secondary Education
Students pursing the Master’s in Secondary Education must complete a total of 34 graduate credit hours, including 70 hours of field experience and a semester of student teaching, and pass a comprehensive examination.
Certification Areas: Biology, Chemistry, Citizenship with History, Citizenship with Political Science, Communications, English, General Science, Mathematics, and Physics
Curriculum
For credit totals, please see bottom of grid.
Student Teaching and Praxis
Application for student-teaching must be uploaded into Taskstream. Students must pass the requisite Praxis Subject Assessment test(s), which are mandated by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, prior to student-teaching and upload the score into Taskstream. The due dates for submitting student teaching application and Praxis scores are provided below. Taskstream will not be available for submitting applications after the established dates and time.
| Deadlines for: |
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Student Teaching Application |
Submission of Praxis Scores (Praxis II for MS Secondary Education or Fundamental Subjects for MS Special Education |
| Spring |
No later than October 1, 11:59pm for student teaching during the following spring semester |
No later than January 1, 11:59pm prior to the spring student teaching semester |
| Fall |
No later than March 1, 11:59pm for student teaching during the following fall semester |
No later than August 1, 11:59pm prior to the fall student teaching semester |