College of Education Graduation Requirements

College of Education Stipulations

The College of Education does not award Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degrees to students who have already completed an accredited first Bachelor's, Master's, or Ph.D. degree, regardless of when the degree was completed. 

Bachelor of Arts Degree

Adult & Organizational Development (AOD)

A Bachelor of Arts degree is awarded to students majoring in Adult and Organizational Development who successfully

• Complete all program requirements as detailed on the 8-semester matrix.
• Earn a "C-" or above in all required Education Courses.
• Earn a "C-" or above in all required University General Education Courses.
• Take a minimum of two writing-intensive courses at Temple University (including transfer students).
• Earn a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0.

Bachelor of Science in Education degree

All Teacher Certification Education Programs

(Early Childhood Education, Middle Grades Education, Secondary Education, and Business Education)

Students receive a Bachelor of Science in Education degree by meeting the following minimum College requirements:

• Complete program requirements as detailed on the 8-semester matrix.*
• Earn a "C-" or above in all required Education Courses.
• Earn a "C-" or above in all required University General Education Courses.
• Take a minimum of two writing-intensive courses at Temple University (including transfer students).
• All students seeking to graduate with the recommendation for Pennsylvania teacher certification (Instructional I Certification) must successfully complete their program requirements with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 or must meet the Pennsylvania Department of Education Bureau of School Leadership and Teacher Quality GPA Qualifying Praxis Score.

*The required total credit hours vary depending upon the course of study.  These credit hours are satisfied by taking courses in four categories:

(1) University General Education requirements (General Education)

(2) Education courses

(3) Teacher Education Certification Courses (i.e. methods and student teaching)

(4) Elective courses as permitted by your program of study.

Professional Certification

Areas of Certification

All curricula leading to Pennsylvania certification are organized to meet the standards established by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. The following areas of certification have been approved by Temple University's Board of Trustees and the Pennsylvania Department of Education (unless otherwise noted, the following programs are housed in the College of Education):

• Art Education (Tyler School of Art)

• Career and Technical Education
  • Business, Computer, and Information Technology K-12 (Formerly Business Education)
  • Cooperative Education
  • Marketing Education K-12
  • Industrial (Career Technical) Education

• Early Childhood Education (Pre K to 4)

• Early Childhood Education with Special Education Concentration (dual certification)

 

• Health and Physical Education (College of Health Professions & Social Work)

• Music (Boyer College of Music & Dance)

• Middle Grades (grades 4 to 8)
  • Math and Science
  • Math and English/Language Arts
  • Science and English/Language Arts

• Secondary Education

• English
• Mathematics
• Social Studies

 

• K-12 Certification in World Languages

• French
• German
• Hebrew
• Italian
• Russian
• Spanish

 

• Speech (College of Health Professions and Social Work)

• TU teach (College of Science & Technology and College of Education)
• Biology with Teaching
• Chemistry with Teaching
• Earth & Space Science with Teaching
• General Science with Teaching
• Mathematics with Teaching
• Mathematics & Computer Science with Teaching
• Mathematics & Technology with Teaching
• Physics with Teaching

Certification Requirements

All students seeking to graduate with the recommendation for Pennsylvania teacher certification must meet the following requirements: 

• Must complete all degree requirements and meet credit minimum for the program, with a minimum of thirty (30) credits completed at Temple University.
• Earn a "C-" or above in all required Education Courses.  (Students must be aware that the State of Pennsylvania requires a minimum cumulative GPA for teacher certification (see above); obtaining the minimum grade of "C-" in multiple courses will not be sufficient to obtain certification.)

• Earn a "C-" or above in all University General Education Courses.
• Pass all three sections of PAPA (reading, writing and math - all students, regardless of program) and passing scores in all required PECT (Early Childhood Education majors) or PRAXIS II (all programs other than Early Childhood Education) exams.
• Complete six credits of college-level math as specified by your program. Developmental, pre-college and courses at the Mathematics 0702 level or below are not applicable to this requirement.
• Completed six credits of college-level English, specifically 3 credits of composition and 3 credits of literature. Developmental, pre-college and courses at the English 0xxx level are not applicable to this requirement.
• Pass a speech screening assessment conducted by an academic advisor.
• Secondary Education students: earn a minimum cumulative 2.0 GPA in their content area.  Students must earn a "C-" (or higher, where stipulated by the program) in all content area courses.
• Middle Grades students: earn a minimum cumulative 2.0 GPA in their concentration areas.  Students must earn a "C-" (or higher, where stipulated by the program) in all content area courses.
• Pennsylvania requires students to have valid clearances prior to entering a school or other setting where children are present. This applies to ANY student who is taking ANY course with a field experience component.  See more about clearances on the College of Education's web site: http://education.temple.edu/services/clearances.

Students not obtaining Pennsylvania State Teacher certification within five years of completing their programs must take additional coursework before the College of Education will recommend them for certification.

Minimum GPA information

Graduation from the College of Education does not carry automatic endorsement for state certification. Students must complete all the requirements for their specific Teacher Education Certification Program, including student teaching, earn a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 or must meet the Pennsylvania Department of Education Bureau of School Leadership and Teacher Quality GPA Qualifying Praxis Score, and pass all required certification tests (see below).

Certification Tests

All students seeking certification are required by the State of Pennsylvania to pass the relevant parts of the Pennsylvania Teacher Certification Testing Program in order to be eligible for teacher certification. The required tests are:

1. PAPA (Reading, Writing and Math - required of all students) plus
2. Either PECT (Early Childhood Education students) or Praxis II (Secondary Education, Middle Grades Education, Business Education) tests.

Students should visit the PAPA web site, the PECT web site or the Praxis II web site to acquire test dates, registration information, minimum score information, and suggestions for preparation.

Speech Assessment

Candidates for Teacher Education Certification are given a diagnostic speech assessment. Additional diagnostic testing may be required, and corrective actions may be taken to remediate problems. Decisions about remedial efforts and student eligibility to continue in a program will be determined by the Chair of the Department in which the student is enrolled and approved by the Associate Dean of Teacher Education of the College of Education.

Candidacy

Students are admitted to Temple University and the College of Education; however, P.D.E. guidelines mandate that all students must be admitted into the Teacher Education Certification Program through an application process; this process is referred to as "Candidacy."  Students apply to it at the midway point of their education before progressing onto teaching methods courses.  Students cannot register for teaching methods courses or the student teaching experience without achieving Candidacy. 

To learn more about Candidacy, including all criteria required, visit the College of Education's Candidacy web site: http://education.temple.edu/ugrad/candidacy-application-review.

Field Experience, Practicum and Student Teaching

The College of Education places a great deal of emphasis on students' in-school experiences. All undergraduates are required to complete courses that place them in school settings for a specified duration.

Student teaching, completed in a student's final semester, constitutes the most important field experience for prospective teachers. Application for student teaching placement must be submitted by the deadline communicated to students by the student teaching placement office.

Any student going into the field must obtain clearances. See the College of Education's clearance web site for all details.

Performance Assessments

In addition to the teacher certification tests (PAPA and PECT/Praxis II tests) required by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, students are required to complete three performance assessments in order to gauge the extent to which they:

(a) Know the content they will teach,

(b) Can teach the content, and

(c) Embody the professional attributes required of professional educators.

The performance assessments occur at three points in the undergraduate program: initially when prospective students are being admitted to certification programs through Candidacy; in the junior year, prior to student teaching (intermediate assessment); and before graduation, while student teaching (senior assessment). In addition to assessing and informing candidates about their teaching, the performance assessments are intended for use by faculty as a tool for program evaluation.

All undergraduate Education majors seeking certification must successfully complete the Intermediate Performance Assessment (IPA), a Temple University and PA Department of Education requirement for teacher education majors before student teaching. Under state guidelines, a teacher education institution must:

(a) Conduct performance assessments throughout the preparation program for all students admitted to a professional educator (certification) program

(b) Use the assessment information to determine eligibility for student teaching.

The Intermediate Performance Assessment (IPA) was developed in response to a regulation of the Pennsylvania Department of Education and as part of the College of Education's interest in ensuring teacher candidates' continuous progress in the teacher education certification program. The Temple IPA, like College of Education courses, is aligned to the program's six standards of effective teaching. At the completion of the teacher education program, teacher candidates will have had instruction to help them meet all of these standards in their teaching practice. The IPA measures progress toward these standards part way through the program; students must complete and pass this formal assessment to be eligible to student teach.

The IPA is followed by the Senior Performance Assessment (SPA) in the final semester of the program. All candidates for certification must successfully complete the Intermediate and Senior Performance Assessments. This is both a Temple University and PA Department of Education requirement for teacher education majors. Candidates for certification will not be submitted to the state as having met all requirements if they fail either the IPA or SPA twice.

Professional Education Portfolio

As a culmination of the teacher education certification program, students will be required to develop a professional teaching portfolio. The specific requirements for the portfolio will be available from the Senior Seminar course instructor.