Secondary Education Teacher Certification Option

Dual Enrollment and the Mississippi Alternate Route to Teacher Certification

The Belhaven University School of Education, other than Music, does not offer a traditional undergraduate program to prepare students to be licensed or certified to teach at the middle or the secondary school levels. Instead students are provided with an excellent opportunity to earn a 4-6th grade, middle school, and/or high school Mississippi Teaching Certificate by enrolling in the School of Education’s Dual Enrollment Program leading to the Mississippi Alternate Route Teacher Certification.

Teacher certification - DUAL ENROLLMENT

Undergraduate to Master of Arts in Teaching - MAT-Alt/Cert

Secondary Teacher Certification Program

If you are not an Education major you can still become a licensed Mississippi teacher.

Earn your Teacher Certificate by the time you graduate.

FOLLOW THESE STEPS

1. During your Junior year or the first semester of your Senior year, make an appointment with the Chair of Graduate Teacher Education: Dr. Cynthia Wilkins.  Call: The Graduate School of ED Adm Assistant, Ms. Pam Laws, to set an appointment:  601.965.7054

2. Prior to enrolling in the ALT/CERT program: Have an overall GPA of 3.0 or higher or 21 or higher on your ACT score or pass the Praxis Core Teacher Entry Test or have a qualifying SAT scores in reading & math. 

3. Prior to enrolling in the ALT/CERT program:  Pass one of the Praxis II Teacher Content/Subject Area Assessment Exams - which would be a test in your major degree and subject area.

     Your first attempt to take the Praxis II Subject Area Exam will be paid for by the University!

4. Apply for the Dual Enrollment: Secondary Teacher Certification Program* in the School of Education. Get a signed authorization from your Academic Advisor (Request the APPLICATION FORM FOR THE TEACHER CERTIFICATION - DUAL ENROLLMENT PROGRAM)

5. You are then eligible to enroll in the first three Master of Arts in Teaching courses as an undergraduate student.  These courses lead to the Mississippi Alternate Teacher Certification (MAT: Alt/Cert)*.

              * EDU 506: Classroom Management & Organization 

              * EDU 501: Measurement & Evaluation Strategies

              * EDU 602: Psychology of the Exceptional Child

6. Upon graduation and successful completion of these three courses you will be able to obtain your Mississippi 3-year Temporary Teacher License and become employed as a salaried teacher!

7. You then can apply for a Mississippi School Teaching Position and become employed as a 7^th -12^th grade-level school teacher.  You can be teaching in a Mississippi school the semester after you graduate and be paid as a fulltime teacher.

8. Once you have a teaching position you take the last two MAT Alt/Cert courses** and teach as a paid Residency Teacher.  The courses you take are two semesters.  During that time, you will be observed in your teaching role by a School of Education representative.  After successfully completing these two courses, you will be eligible for your MS Class A - 5-year Teacher License. 

**EDU 502 & 503: Teacher Residency I & II.

*Dual Enrollment: During the undergraduate senior year, a student can take three Master of Arts in Teaching Degree level Teacher Preparation courses* designated by the State of Mississippi for Alternate Teacher Certification provided all admission requirements are met prior to the program. These three courses will count as undergraduate dual enrollment program courses. The three courses also count as graduate degree level courses should the student desire to work toward completeing the Master of Arts in Teaching Degree. However, only 5 total courses are required for Mississippi Alternate Route Teaching Certification.

Music Teacher Education

Students seeking a Bachelor of Arts in Music Education leading to teacher certification in music should refer to the Music Education program. See Music (MUS) in this catalogue: Bachelor of Arts in Music Education-Teacher Preparation (Emphasis in Instrumental Music Education   and/or Emphasis in Vocal-Choral Music Education  )