Secondary Education (Grades 9-12)
Students who wish to earn a teaching certificate at the secondary level must earn a bachelor of arts or a bachelor of science in the subject area in which they wish to teach and, additionally, complete the requirements for either of the following minors:
- Minor in education (K-12)
- Minor in secondary education (9-12)
For instance, if a student wishes to teach English at the high school level, he or she must earn a Bachelor of Arts in English and complete the requirements for a minor in secondary education (9-12). For this reason, students who desire to teach at the high school level must secure an advisor in the subject area as well as in education.
Note that students seeking K-12 certification or secondary education (9-12) certification must have an academic advisor from both the content area and from the School of Education to ensure that all DESE requirements for certification have been met. These requirements may exceed the requirements for the degree in the content area.
Certification Requirements
The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (http://dese.mo.gov/) outlines the following requirements for teacher certification in secondary (9-12) grades:
- A baccalaureate degree from a college or university having a teacher education program approved by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
- The recommendation of a designated official from within the department of teacher education at the college or university.
- A minimum GPA of 2.75 overall, a GPA of 3.0 in the content area, and a GPA of 3.0 in all professional education coursework.
- Completion of the content knowledge or specialty area test designated by the State Board of Education with a score equal to or greater than the Missouri qualifying score. If no content knowledge or specialty area test is designated for the area of concentration, completion of the Principles of Learning and Teaching: Grades 9-12 test is required with a score equal to or greater than the Missouri qualifying score.
- Completion of professional requirements as determined by the recommending college or university, which may exceed these minimum requirements.
International students or students who have completed high school outside of the United States are also required to complete coursework in the following areas:
- English composition, two courses, each a minimum of three credit hours
- U.S. history, three credit hours
- U.S. (National) government, three credit hours
Students will be required to complete all required coursework within each DESE approved teacher education program before being recommended for certification.