English 7-12 Teaching Certificate

The Post-baccalaureate English 7-12 Certificate is a 24-credit teaching certification program for English majors or equivalent majors who did not earn teacher certification as undergraduates and/or who may be enrolled in a Master’s in English program and wish to add Pennsylvania state certification for secondary English. Some applicants will have an equivalent degree such as a BA in creative writing and some may be equivalent fields such as theater. The post-bac program director and faculty team will be conducting a thorough review for each applicant and will require additional course work (as stated in the program requirements) if candidates do not meet required English courses that match our BA in English or education pre- requisites according to the three-step process for certification at IUP.

The IUP English department already offers three Master of Arts in English degrees in Literature, in Composition and Literature, and in TESOL. This certification can be added to these existing M.A. programs. Students could opt to add the post-bac certification in English to their M. A. degree, or get the post-bac first and continue on to complete one of these Master’s degrees, offering options and flexibility for graduate students that are both time and cost effective.

Course Requirements

Total Credit Hours (24 cr.)

Qualifications for candidates: B.A. in English or related field. Some courses may need to be added to the program of study depending upon transcript review. Undergraduate minimum GPA 2.6 if the degree was earned in the past 5 years (2.4 minimum if degree was earned more than 5 years ago). If a student has less than a 3.0 GPA at the time of application, the student must pass the PAPA (Pre-service Academic Performance Assessment exam) or Praxis CORE exams and submit official scores to the Post-Bac. Director and the College of Education and Communications along with the application.
Options for Master’s Degree: Students may opt to add credits to earn a M.A. Literature, M.A. Composition and Literature, or M.A. TESOL degree.
Students must maintain a minimum GPA of 3.0 for Pennsylvania state teacher certification.

Students must pass the Praxis II English Language Arts: Content Knowledge examination to be cleared for student teaching and to earn Pennsylvania Instructional I Teaching Certificate

English 7-12 Teaching Certificate

Course Requirements

I. Core Courses (9 cr.)

Choose one (ESOL Pedagogy elective):

II. Courses in Teaching, Learning, and Schools (6 cr.)

III. Professional Practice (9 cr.)

Total Credit Hours (24 cr.)