B.S. in Mathematics Secondary Certification
Concentration Advising Handbook
Table of Contents
About the Handbook
Section 1: The Mission of the Program
Section 2: Advising
Section 3: Program of Study
Section 4: Professional Requirements
Section 5: Professional Experiences: The Three "Levels"
Section 6: Forms for Planning Your Course of Study
This handbook was created to provide students and advisors with all of the relevant information for attaining a BS in Mathematics with a Pennsylvania-issued certificate to teach mathematics (grades 7-12). Most states surrounding Pennsylvania will accept the certificate. This online handbook offers an outline of the four-year program at Shippensburg University. Every attempt has been made to maintain accuracy throughout. Corrections (especially dead links) and suggestions may be sent to Prof. Dave Kennedy at dikenn@ship.edu.
Some forms are also available in the Mathematics Department Office (MCT 250).
The program's mission statement.
As a secondary certification student, you will be assigned two advisors – an Academic Advisor and a Certification Advisor. The roles of these two advisors are described below.
Academic Advisor
You will be assigned an Academic Advisor at the beginning of your freshman year. You must meet with your Academic Advisor prior to registering for each semester to be released into the registration process. Your academic advisor can assist you with:
- course selection and sequence decisions, including courses required for certification
- completing the paperwork for declaring a concentration and/or minor
- advice on seeking course waivers, substitutions, or transfer credits
- suggestions on how to improve your performance in the undergraduate program if you are having difficulty, including monitoring of your GPA
- contacting other faculty members who might help you
- insight into University policies
- access to support services offered by the University
- opportunities to conduct research and participate in professional organizations
If, at any time, you prefer to have a different Academic Advisor, please contact the department secretary for reassignment.
Certification Advisor
The four mathematics education faculty members within the department will be serving as Certification Advisors for all of the secondary certification majors. The assignment of your Certification Advisor will occur during your freshman year. Your Certification Advisor will assist you with:
- planning and assessing your Level One Experiences
- meeting all testing and application deadlines
- participating in professional meetings and conferences
- creating and assessing your professional portfolio
- helping you through the certification process
Make sure you meet with your Certification Advisor at least once each semester to monitor your progress toward certification. This meeting is also prerequisite to your being cleared (each semester) to register for courses. Information on your progress will be documented by your Certification Advisor and shared with your Academic Advisor.
If, at any time, you prefer to have a different certification advisor, please contact the department secretary for reassignment.
Secondary Certification concentration students earn a B.S. in Mathematics with certification to teach mathematics in grades 7 – 12 in Pennsylvania. The program requires:
- 48 credits of General Education courses
- 31-32 credits of Required Courses in Mathematics, and
- 45 credits of Secondary Education Certification Concentration courses.
Secondary Certification concentration students have some state-mandated general education course requirements that are clearly indicated on the Check Sheet and described in the requirements for Professional Standing. Courses with prerequisites and those that are prerequisites must be scheduled accordingly. The Suggested Course Schedule and the Course Frequency Chart should be consulted when making your course selections and in planning your program of study. Your Academic Advisor will work with you to make appropriate course sequence decisions.
Your Certification Advisor will assist you in coordinating field experiences and pre-methods requirements with your coursework. These components are described in this handbook.
I. Professional Standing
There are several levels of Professional Standing, a designation for students who have met preliminary criteria at several stages of their teacher education program and are preparing to begin any of the various field experiences. Expected dates for the submission of these forms can be found on the Certification Timeline.
Applications for Level Two Professional Standing (sometimes referred to as applications for Methods or application for Level Two) should be completed and submitted during your third year and at least one semester prior to enrolling in EDU434 (Methods I). September and February due dates are announced by the Office of Field Services. To be approved for Level Two Professional Standing, students must have . . .
- Achieved 3.0 or better overall GPA.
- Completed all Level One requirements.
- Successfully completed the Commonwealth’s Early Field Experiences requirement.
- Applied for student teaching.
- Passed the PRAXIS I standardized test.
More information, including criteria and the application for Professional Standing, can be found here.
II. Praxis Tests
Students must pass the following standardized tests by the deadlines indicated to continue in the program. Mathematics Department faculty can point students to materials for test preparation and can provide assistance.
Testing dates and registration information is available from the Educational Testing Services website at www.ets.org.
Praxis I
- Successfully complete by end of sophomore year
- The following are taken at a single test session
- PPST Reading (1 hour)
- PPST Writing (1 hour)
- PPST Mathematics (1 hour – no calculators)
Praxis II
- Successfully complete by summer prior to Year 3
- Mathematics: Content Knowledge (2 hours – graphing calculator required)
- Be sure it is Test #10061 – They have many!
III. Student Teaching Application
Applications to student teach must be completed and submitted to the Office of Field Services during the fall semester of the academic year prior to student teaching (typically the fall of your junior year.) It is highly recommended you have your Certification Advisor review the application before submitting it to the Office of Field Services.
The Student Teacher Application Form can be found here.
IV. Clearances
An FBI background check and fingerprinting is required of all prospective teachers. Students must also complete an Act 34 Criminal Record Clearance, an Act 151 Child Abuse Clearance, and a TB tine test. It is the responsibility of the student to make certain these clearances are completed and copies are submitted to the Office of Field Services at the start of the Methods II (EDU435) semester.
Please find more information here.
Note that most school districts require these clearances for Level One and Level Two experiences also!
Three levels of professional experiences are required. They are labeled Level One (completed by December 1, before taking the spring-semester methods course EDU434), Level Two (completed during the fall-semester “Methods II” course EDU435), and Level Three (student teaching).
I. Level One Field Experiences
These experiences are completed during Freshman and Sophomore years under the supervision of your Certification Advisor. These must be completed prior to applying for Professional Standing which is required to enroll in the methods-of-teaching-math courses. Evidence and documentation of the experiences must be displayed in a LiveText portfolio. A template for this portfolio (Math: Pre-Methods) is available through your LiveText account.
By no later than December 1st during the semester before you take Methods I, email your Certification Advisor to notify them that your LiveText portfolio is ready for inspection.
The following four required categories describe the requirements and acceptable activities for Level One Field Experiences.
1. Classroom Observations:
The student will spend at least 20 hours (i.e., the equivalent of three full school days) in direct classroom observation of mathematics instruction in secondary schools. Approximately half the time should be dedicated to observing in grades 5 through 8 (middle/junior high school), and the other half to observing in grades 9 through 12 (high school). A variety of settings should be observed, including rural and urban settings.
Proper arrangements need to made, with proper permission granted by the authorities in the school where the observations will take place. For schools within an hour's drive of Shippensburg, go through the Office of Field Services to plan your visits, or consult your Certification Advisor in the Math Department to receive permission to arrange your own. For schools farther away, you may make your own arrangements. Observations completed in American School, Educational Psychology, or any other education courses may be counted toward this requirement, provided they are mathematics class observations. If full days of observations cannot be arranged, partial days of observation can be used to accumulate hours equivalent to three full days. One full day (or about seven hours) should be completed during the freshman year.
Evidence and Documentation – Provide documentation that you made each observation. Provide complete contact information for each teacher observed. Write a one- or two-page analysis of each of your observation experiences. Respond to the following prompts:
- Describe the setting of the observation and what you observed.
- What was the best teaching strategy that you observed?
- What was the most important thing you learned from your observation about teaching?
- Describe any use of technology or other materials and equipment the teacher used to teach.
- Describe exactly how the teacher interacted with the students and how the students interacted with each other.
- Compare the rural and urban settings.
2. Pre-Teaching Experiences:
Working with students one-on-one is an important part of teaching. Valuable teaching skills can be learned by tutoring individuals or small groups. These experiences also help the certification student learn more about himself or herself as a teacher. Preapproval by the Certification Advisor is required as is appropriate evidence and documentation of the tutoring experience.
There are two options for satisfying this requirement:
(1) The student will participate in at least 40 hours as a volunteer or paid mathematics tutor in a setting approved by the Certification Advisor. This experience may include tutoring in the SU Math Department's tutoring center, but can also include outside work with students in grades 7-12.
(2) Serve as a Course Assistant (CA) for a college math course in the Mathematics Department, under the supervision of a Mathematics faculty member.
3. Professional Development Activities:
The student must participate in two or more of the following activities (or a similar activity approved by the Certification Advisor). The student will provide in the LiveText Pre-Methods Portfolio appropriate documentation as evidence of completion of this requirement.
- Attend a school board meeting, or research actions of a school board during a single year and report on the results;
- Interview a teacher about what makes a good mathematics teacher;
- Attend campus events related to educational issues (presentations, conferences, department seminars, Math Club, KME)
- Attend a school function, such as PTO, teacher in-service program, etc.
- View and report on a special television program related to an educational issue.
- View and report on an educational videotape on a topic such as cooperative learning, discipline, etc.
4. Service-Focused Activities:
An important part of a teaching career is service to the school and community. The activities below provide experience with assisting others. The student must participate in one or more of the following activities (or a similar activity approved by the Certification Advisor). A total of 10 hours of participation is required. Appropriate documentation should be provided in the LiveText Pre-Methods Portfolio.
- Teaching other than public schools (Sunday School teacher, playground director, summer camp counselor, etc.);
- Volunteer work with youth, elderly, etc.
- Participate in campus service projects (Big Sister, Big Brother, Circle K, etc.)
- Civic club/Jaycee work.
II. Level Two Field Experiences
Each student in the Methods II (EDU435) course receives two different placements to fulfill his or her clinical experience. A middle-school placement and a high-school placement in different school districts are assigned. These experiences are designed to provide opportunities for students to work with cooperating teachers in classrooms where they may return for student teaching. A LiveText portfolio of these pre-student teaching experiences is prepared as a course requirement for EDU435. At the conclusion of the clinical experiences, classroom teachers and certification students assess the experiences and decide whether to continue with student teaching in these placements.
III. Level Three Field Expriences
Student Teaching is the Level Three Field Experience that is a capstone experience for secondary certification mathematics majors. This experience is usually completed during the final semester of the undergraduate program. Students must apply one academic year prior to student teaching.
The Student Teacher Application Form can be found here.
During the student teaching experience, student teachers, university supervisors and cooperating teachers in classrooms collaborate to facilitate each student teacher's professional growth and to prepare him/her as a qualified first-year teacher candidate. A LiveText portfolio of student teaching experiences is prepared as a requirement. Supervisory guidelines, observation and evaluation forms, and University policies are provided in the College of Education and Human Services’ Student Teaching Handbook.
The Student Teaching Handbook can be found here.
B.S. in Mathematics Check Sheet
The B.S. in Mathematics Check Sheet shows the math courses and education courses you will need to complete the Secondary Mathematics concentration. On page 2 it shows the General Education courses you should take. Pay special attention to the more-specific Gen Ed requirements for Secondary Certification majors!
Important Note about the “Old Program” vs. the “New Program”:
NEW: Students who began their freshman year at Shippensburg during the calendar year 2011 or later, and transfer students who are on a path that is not certain to finish at least a full year ahead of such freshmen, have some new requirements mandated by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. These include 9 new hours of special education coursework. Also distinguishing this “New Program” is a 12-hour student teaching experience, and the replacing of two old courses with the newer TCH 207.
OLD: Students who began their freshman year at Shippensburg during the calendar year 2010 or earlier, and transfer students who are on a path that is highly likely to finish at least as soon as such freshmen, follow the Secondary Certification program in place when these freshmen enrolled at Shippensburg. This “Old Program” is distinguished by a 15-hour student teaching experience, and the taking of TCH 205 (The American School) and TCH 260 (Educational Psychology.)
The Check Sheet of courses required for the math major can be found at the links below.
Suggested Course Schedule
A sample schedule for navigating through the Secondary Certification program can be found at the links below.
Course Frequency Chart
The Mathematics Department offers its courses on a regular rotation, so that you can plan with confidence when each course will be available. The Course Frequency Chart can be found here or in the Mathematics Department Office (MCT 250).
Certification Timeline
There are many steps required along the way to achieve secondary certification. A timeline has been created to show you chronologically how the major components are sequenced. This timeline can be found here.
Certification Advisor Check List
Would you like to see the list your Certification Advisor uses to keep track of your progress through the program? (Note that this is not a document for you to fill out.) It can be viewed here.