RESIDENCY TEACHER CERTIFICATION PROGRAM
Please contact the School of Education at soeinfo@spu.edu or 206/281-2274 for additional information or questions on our undergrad certification programs.
The State of Washington issues teaching certificates to students who satisfactorily complete an approved teacher preparation program with a college or university. School of Education programs are accredited by the National Council for Accreditations of Teacher Education (NCATE) and the Certification Office of the Washington Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI).
Overview of Residency Teacher Certification Program:
The professional program leading to residency teacher certification at SPU consists of three parts:
- The Foundations Unit
- The Methods and Skills Courses
- The Applications Unit
(1) The Foundations Unit, consisting of Professional Quarters One and Two, provides an overview of theory, pedagogy and educational issues along with limited field experiences.
(2) The methods and skills courses provide content breadth and depth for teacher preparation.
(3) The Applications Unit, consisting of Professional Quarters Three, Four and Five, provide in-depth training in methods courses along with field experiences that culminate in a full-time internship.
Professional Quarters One through Five are sequential and must be taken as such. They do not, however, need to be taken consecutively. Method and skills courses may be completed before, along with and after Professional Quarters One through Three.
Majors for Undergraduate Students:
Undergraduate students must complete all the requirements for a bachelor's degree in addition to the certification program. Click here to download the current SOE catalog.
Teacher Certification:
Elementary Certification. Students pursuing elementary certification may major in any subject area. Some broad field majors specifically available, although not required, for elementary certification are fine and applied arts, language arts, mathematics, general science and social science.
Secondary Certification. Students pursuing secondary certification need to work closely with the certification coordinator to make sure all endorsement requirements are being met. Students planning to teach at the secondary level are encouraged, but not required, to receive a supporting endorsement in a second teaching area. Please see the certification coordinator in the School of Education for more information.
K-12 Certification. Some endorsements lead to K-12 certification. These include art, music, physical education and special education. Students obtaining a K-12 endorsement in art, music or physical education will complete one quarter of internship at the elementary level and another quarter of internship at the secondary level.
Transfer Students:
All transfer students are required to take the entire certification program at SPU. Any exceptions must be approved through substitution and petition processes in the School of Education . If substitutions and petitions are granted, a minimum of 26 credits, including the internship, must be completed as a regularly enrolled student at SPU. Upon arrival at SPU and prior to registration, transfer students should meet with the certification coordinator regarding course substitution requirements and procedures.
Post-Baccalaureates:
Students pursuing certification after receiving a bachelor's degree from an accredited institution recognized by the state of Washington do not have to earn a second degree. However, they must still meet state requirements for an endorsement and be approved by the School of Education .
Advising:
To complete the residency certification program in a timely manner, students need competent academic advice. The School of Education provides group and individual sessions with the certification coordinator to answer questions and help with the certification process. As soon as a student identifies a desire to be a teacher, he or she should make arrangements to attend a group session or make an appointment for advising by calling (206) 281-2214.
Admission to the School of Education:
A student enrolling in Professional Quarter One is considered a tentative candidate for admission to the School of Education . During Professional Quarter Two, the student is asked to prepare a formal application for full admission to the School of Education , which will be considered only upon satisfactory completion of Professional Quarter Two. The student may continue thesequence of Applications Unit courses (Professional Quarters Three, Four and Five) upon full admission to the School of Education and fulfillment of the prerequisites to the appropriate professional quarters.
To achieve admission to the School of Education, a candidate must do the following:
- Complete the Foundations Unit (Professional Quarters One and Two), achieving a "B" average (with no grade lower than a "C"), and a grade of "B" or better in EDU 3105. The Foundations experience must be no more than five years old.
- Receive a favorable recommendation from the Foundations team.
- Achieve a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or a 3.3 GPA in the last 45 credits of college or university work.
- Receive passing scores on all three sections of the Washington Educator Skills Test-Basic (WEST-B). (This test must be taken prior to Professional Quarter Two.)
- File a formal application for admission to the School of Education .
Registration:
Most classes in the certification program require School of Education permission to register. Before registering, students must go to the School of Education office to fill out any necessary paperwork and confirm appropriate prerequisites have been passed. No appointment is necessary for this process.
Certification:
Upon successful completion of the residency certification program, the Seattle Pacific University School of Education recommends candidates to the state of Washington for teacher certification. Though SPU makes recommendations to the state, it is the state that issues the certificate not the School of Education . All teacher certification candidates are subject to Washington requirements for the residency teaching certificate. These requirements may be changed by the state and override anything stated in the SPU Catalog or on the SPU website. Please see the education office for updates on state requirements.
