Secondary Education

 The Teaching and Learning Program at DePaul University is a unique career change opportunity designed to enable college graduates with a bachelor's degree in a field other than education to become teaching professionals. The Secondary Teaching and Learning Program offers certification in:

The secondary education program enables qualified students to obtain an Illinois certification to teach sixth through twelfth grade.  Classes, with the exception of student teaching obligations, are held in the evening so program participants may continue to work and attend school at the same time.  However, there also is an intense day time clinical element to this program-- all students must devote themselves to at least 100 hours of field experiences in area schools during school hours, beyond their student teaching requirements

Why is DePaul’s program special?

Here are some qualities that make our program stand out:

Some flexibility in your work schedule is necessary in order to complete clinical field experiences during the day in schools. Field experiences are completed in conjunction with coursework.  

Degree Requirements

Printable PDF of the program requirements

Content Area

Content Area Courses. Secondary Education students must complete 48 quarter hours (32 semester hours) of coursework in a content (subject) area.  Specific course requirements must be met. It is strongly recommended that students  meet with an advisor upon admission to review undergraduate transcripts and determine what courses in the content area must be taken. Completion of content-area requirements are not a prerequisite for admission. However coursework must be completed before student teaching. 

For more information about content area requirements

Graduate Level Content Area Course.  Graduate Level Content Area Courses must be taken before student teaching. Three courses to be determined by you and your advisor.

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Advanced Standing

Just as a physician progresses through stages of medical school (medical student, intern, resident), so also education candidates must progress through stages of teacher preparation. Students are admitted to DePaul’s College of Education as pre-teacher candidates. After a minimum of 8 hours of coursework, students must petition to become an advanced teacher candidate, at which time the College of Education reviews the student’s file to determine if he or she has met the criteria for continuing in the program. The criteria for advanced standing include passing the Illinois Test of Basic Skills, having a minimum GPA of 3.0, and passing the Basic Technology Assessment (EDU 025).

Field Experience

The State of Illinois requires extensive and intensive field experiences during the school day, working with both students and teachers.  Field experiences, which are assigned by faculty in program courses, offer a gradual introduction to the full range of experiences associated with teaching.  Level I experience provides students an opportunity to observe a classroom and engage with small groups of students.  Level II experience allows students to teach short lessons to small groups or an entire classroom.

For more detailed information about field experiences Click Here

Student Teaching

Student teaching is the culminating experience of the program that places students in a classroom full time for at least 10 weeks.  Students become progressively more responsible for curriculum development and classroom instruction with the end goal being complete control during the last half of the overall experience. An on-campus seiminar accompanies student teaching.

For more information on student teaching Click Here.

Admission requirements

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