Secondary Education with Initial Teacher Certification

Master's Degree Program

Opportunities for graduate studies

Education professors at the University of North Texas combine years of experience in research and teaching with diverse interests to create one of the finest teacher preparation programs in the Southwest. The program is accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (2010 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Suite 500, Washington, D.C. 20036-1023, phone: 202-466-7496).

Some classes are offered online and others in traditional classroom settings. You may begin your training to become a teacher in our nondegree Online Secondary Education Teacher Certification Program. All courses taken through this program count toward the master's degree in secondary education. This approach allows you to become a teacher in an efficient manner, while being able to enhance your professional development.

Master's program in secondary education

The secondary education program offers a 36-credit hour Master of Education degree. This degree includes initial certification either as part of the degree or taken prior to starting the degree through the online certification program.

The major emphasis of the program is a 24-credit hour core of secondary education course work. The remaining 12 hours of course work is composed of approved graduate electives related to the teaching field or to a supplemental certification area such as educational technology or gifted and talented instruction.

Admission requirements

Documentation of at least 24 undergraduate semester credit hours in a Texas approved teaching content field (12 hours must be upper level) must be provided and accepted by the program coordinator. A minimum 2.8 GPA in teaching field course work is required. You will be granted access to a subject area examination for the Certification of Educators in Texas (ExCET/TExES).

Application to the master's program is a three-step process, which all can be completed at the same time.

1. Apply for admission to the Toulouse Graduate School. The graduate school requires:
   • an application and application fee
   • official transcripts
   • a minimum 2.8 overall grade point average on the undergraduate degree or at least 3.0 grade point average on the last 60 hours of the undergraduate degree
2. Apply to the Online Post Baccalaureate Teacher Certification Program. All applicants for the secondary education master's are admitted to the online program and the master's program. You may select to only apply for the online program initially. This part of the application requires:
   • a completed pre-admission requirements form (available at www.coe.unt.edu through the online secondary certification program in the College of Education)
3. Apply to the Department of Teacher Education and Administration for admissions to the master's program in secondary education. The department requires:
   • A completed application (available at www.coe.unt.edu through the secondary education master's program in the College of Education) and application fee mailed to:
     
     University of North Texas
     Department of Teacher Education and Administration
     Secondary Education Program Director
     1155 Union Circle #310740
     Denton, TX 76203-074o

If you have any questions, please contact the program advisors by phone at 940-565-3319.

Degree requirements

The Master of Education degree in Secondary Education requires 36 semester hours of course work. The required secondary education core classes are below. The remaining 12 hours are electives.

EDSE 5001 Public Education and the Teaching Profession

EDSE 5002 Everyone Can Learn: Applying Theory to Teaching Practice

EDSE 5003 Successful Teaching in the Secondary School

EDSE 5004 Literacy for All

EDSE 5005 Curriculum Development for Diverse Secondary School Learners

EDSE 547 Maintaining Classroom Discipline

EDSE 5105-5115 Internship or EDSE 5108-5118 Student Teaching in the Secondary Schools

Electives

In addition to the core courses, 12 semester of approved electives related to the teaching field or to an endorsement area are required (e.g.: gifted and talented, technology).

Additional requirements

In order to meet the state requirements to teach reading at the secondary level, Language Arts and Reading candidates need to complete an additional 6 hours of reading course work. Texas Public schools offer reading classes through 10th grade. English Language Arts and Reading Students should complete 6 hours of reading course work within the 12 hour graduate elective block. These courses are part of the certification plan and the master's degree plan.

Financial assistance

A limited number of teaching fellowships and assistantships are available. These opportunities include working with professors on research grants and projects or serving as a teaching assistant, working with undergraduate students in advising and degree plans, or teaching undergraduate classes and supervising student teaching. You may apply for these positions by submitting a letter of application and a current resume to the department chair. The letter should address particular strengths and interests. Financial aid and scholarship information can be obtained by calling 877-881-1014 or visiting www.unt.edu/finaid.