Bachelor's Elementary Teacher Certification Requirements

General Studies Requirements

Whether you are completing your initial degree or obtaining a second bachelor's degree, you must complete this 45-credit general studies requirement:

Teaching Majors and Minors

The State of Michigan requires that all teacher certification candidates graduating in winter 2013 or earlier have either a teaching major and minor or two majors in order to be recommended for teacher certification. If you're graduating after winter 2013, then you must have a teaching major only; minors will no longer be available.

Each teaching major and minor is comprised of a coherent program of study. We have outlined general studies requirements and designed teaching majors and minors to benefit from the University of Michigan's rich academic resources while meeting State of Michigan requirements for provisional certification. Teacher candidates in the undergraduate elementary teacher education program choose from the following teaching majors and minors.

Teaching Majors: Teaching Minors:

To request a copy of archived teaching major and minor course requirements for 2003-2009, please email temajorminorarchives@umich.edu.

Professional and Pedagogical Preparation

Each semester the focus of the professional coursework changes and adds to your evolving base of knowledge and understanding. The undergraduate elementary teacher education program includes three semesters of practicum and one semester of student teaching. There is a different focus for practicum each semester based on the course of study and emerging themes for that term.

Fieldwork

As a student in a professional program, clinical or field experience—real-life experience in the real settings and circumstances of your chosen profession—is an essential part of your preparation. In each of the first three terms, you will, typically as part of a pair, spend about six hours per week in classrooms—observing the classroom in action, collecting data on student learning and teaching practice in conjunction with your coursework, and contributing to instruction by tutoring, co-teaching, and planning with cooperating teachers and your university partners.

The culminating field experience is the student teaching term, when you will follow the calendar and schedule of your placement classroom for a period of 14-15 weeks. During this experience, you will spend five days per week for the full school day immersed in the classroom. You will slowly and deliberately take on all aspects of instructional responsibility, building toward lead teaching, when you will be responsible for most or all aspects of the school experience for your K-8 students. Lead teaching generally happens in the 8th-10th week of the student teaching experience and lasts 2-3 weeks.

School Partnerships

Substantial field experience in a diverse array of classrooms, urban to rural, is a key component of each semester of the program. You should expect at least one field placement in Ann Arbor, at least one placement in an outlying district (e.g., Willow Run, Chelsea, Plymouth/Canton, Ypsilanti), and you should expect to be assigned to grade levels spanning kindergarten through sixth grade.

Undergraduate Elementary Teacher Education Program Course Sequence

Following are the courses and experiences that define each semester of your program:

Year One (Junior Year)


Fall (semester 1) Winter (semester 2)
EDUC 391 "Educational Psychology"- 2 credits EDUC 406 "Teaching in the Elementary School" - 3 credits EDUC 401 "Literacy" I - 3 credits EDUC 307 "Practicum & Seminar" - 2 credits EDUC 391 "Multicultural Society" -1 credit EDUC 490 "Topics in Professional Education" - 1 credit EDUC 392 "Multicultural Society" - 1 credits EDUC 431 "Social Studies" - 3 credits EDUC 403 "Literacy II" - 3 credits EDUC 307 "Practicum & Seminar" - 2 credits EDUC 406 "Teaching in Elementary School II" -3 credits
12 credits 12 credits
MATH 385 is typically taken this semester. Students often also take one of the following creative arts methods courses: EDUC 427 ("Elementary School Art"), MUSED 408 ("Teaching of Music by Elementary School Teachers"), PHYSED 336 ("K-12 Rhythm and Dance Activities"). "Math" (EDUC 489) is typically taken this semester. Students often also take one of the following creative arts methods courses: EDUC 427 ("Art"), MUSED 408 ("Teaching of Music by Elementary School Teachers"), PHYSED 336 ("K-12 Rhythm and Dance Activities"), or PHYSED 354 ("Methods of Teaching K-5 PE").

Year Two (Senior Year)


Fall (semester 3) Winter (semester 4)
EDUC 411 "Teaching Elementary School Mathematics" - 3 credits EDUC 421 "Teaching of Science in the Elementary School" - 3 credits EDUC 307 "Practicum in Teaching Methods" - 2 credits EDUC 490 "Topics in Professional Education" -1 credit EDUC 301 "Directed Teaching in the Elementary Grades" - 12 credits EDUC 303 "Seminar: Problems and Principles of Elementary Education" - 2 credits EDUC 490-xxx "Teaching with Technology" - 1 credit EDUC 490-xxx "Students with Exceptionalities" - 1 credit
9 credits 16 credits
Students often also take one of the following creative arts methods courses: EDUC 427 ("Elementary School Art"), MUSED 408 ("Teaching of Music by Elementary School Teachers"), PHYSED 336 ("K-12 Rhythm and Dance Activities"), or PHYSED 354 ("Methods of Teaching K-5 PE"). Students will receive instructions about which sections of 490 they should register for.
Total program credits = 49

 

Criminal Background Check

Before you are eligible to begin the Teacher Education program you must take steps to satisfy criminal background check requirements for the School of Education and for the school district(s) in which you will be placed.  This will include performing a search of your public record via the Internet Criminal History Access Tool to satisfy the School of Education requirements and being fingerprinted at the Washtenaw Intermediate School District to satisfy state and district requirements.  You will receive detailed instructions from your program coordinator about completing each step of the criminal background check process.

Blood-Borne Pathogens Training

Before you begin the program, you are required to complete training to handle blood-borne pathogens  To complete the blood-borne pathogens training go to the Global Compliance Network website. For instructions on accessing the training module on the site and completing the training please see the blood-borne pathogens training instructions sheet. Training typically takes 30 minutes or less.

Licensure in Michigan

In addition to the requirements of our program, the State of Michigan has requirements with which you must comply in order to receive teacher certification. These requirements are applicable to all of the teacher certification programs within the state. These requirements include CPR (child and adult) and first aid training; and successful completion of the Michigan Test for Teacher Certification Basic Skills test and relevant subject-area tests.

CPR & First Aid Training

Michigan Public Act 18 of 2003 requires all teacher candidates to be certified in CPR (child and adult) and first aid prior to being recommended for teacher certification.  The legislation stipulates that this training must be completed through the American Red Cross or American Heart Association.

Michigan Test for Teacher Certification (MTTC)

The MTTC Basic Skills and subject area tests are designed and administered by the Michigan Department of Education and are meant to ensure that each certified teacher has the necessary basic skills and subject area knowledge to serve in Michigan schools.  The MTTC program currently consists of subject-area tests, including the world language tests, and a basic skills test. The subject-area tests comprise multiple-choice questions, except for the world language tests, which comprise both multiple-choice questions and two or more constructed-response assignments. The Basic Skills test includes multiple-choice questions in reading and mathematics and a constructed-response assignment in the writing section.

Basic Skills Test:

Before you are eligible to begin the Teacher Education program, you must take and pass the Michigan Test for Teacher Certification (MTTC) Basic Skills test. Dates and locations of the test as well as practice tests are available on the MTTC website. The Basic Skills test is offered every month; five times a year in a paper format for $49 and seven times a year at Pearson Testing Centers as an on-line test for $130.

Subject Area Tests:

The subject area tests should not be taken before your final year in the program.  We strongly recommend that you wait until you have completed most or all of your major and minor university-based coursework before attempting the subject area tests.

Dates and locations of the tests as well as registration information and practice tests are available on the MTTC website: www.mttc.nesinc.com.

Before being recommended to the state for teacher certification, you must take and pass the MTTC test in Elementary Education. Additionally, elementary teacher candidates who wish to teach in subject-specific classrooms in grades 6-8, must take and pass MTTC tests in their teaching major and minor. The program strongly encourages elementary teacher candidates to take and pass the appropriate subject-area tests.   So, as an elementary teacher candidate, you can expect to take two to four MTTC tests while in our program.

Within This Section

Teacher Education
Program

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610 E. University Ave.
Room 1228
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1259

Phone: 734.615.1528
Fax: 734.647.9158
te.program@umich.edu
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