Secondary Certification
In addition to engaging in the education and psychology coursework listed under Program Requirements, teacher certification candidates must also meet the following State course and GPA requirements and pass several tests offered by the Educational Testing Service. They must also align their major coursework to the State's requirements for teachers in their specific subject area. For information about courses required in the various certification areas, select the appropriate certification area to the left (English, Mathematics, etc.).
State Requirements
The Pennsylvania Department of Education requires that certification candidates meet the following course and GPA requirements:
- One course in English composition (freshman writing and ESEM both fulfill this requirement, as does a score of 600 or above on the SAT II Writing test)
- One course in American or English literature (a score of 600 or above on the SAT II Literature subject test meets this requirement, as does a score of 5 on the A.P. English test)
- Two mathematics courses (a score of 560 or above on the SAT II Math Level IC test counts, as does a score of 5 on the A.P. calculus test)
- A GPA of at least a 3.0
Click here for more information about these requirements.
Test Requirements
Students applying for certification must pass the following ETS Praxis tests offered at test centers across the country:
- Three Praxis I Pre-Professional Skills Assessment tests at the end of their junior year (by the July test date):
- PPST Reading (Test Code 0710 or 5710)
- PPST Writing (Test Code 0720 or 5720)
- PPST Mathematics (Test Code 0730 or 5730)
- A Praxis II Subject Assessment test for the subject area(s) in which they are pursuing certification (by the January test date of their senior year).
- If pursuing a foreign language certification (which is a K-12 certification), students also need to take the Fundamental Subjects: Content Knowledge test (Test Code 30511) (by the January test date of their senior year).
Tests required in Pennsylvania are listed on the ETS website at http://www.ets.org/praxis.