Secondary Education

Converse Secondary Education Programs are nationally recognized through Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP), as well as the National Council for Social Studies (NCSS), National Council for Teachers of English (NCTE), National Council for Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), and National Science Teachers Association (NSTA).

Candidates are familiar with and evaluated on the South Carolina Teaching Standards Rubric which parallels final certification requirements for teachers during their second year of teaching.

Converse Education graduates are known for their excellent preparation and student-centered teaching strategies.

Clinicals

Candidates complete two clinicals prior to student teaching. Prior to student teaching, you will spend more than 100 hours in high school classrooms engaging, observing, teaching, grading and planning under the supervision of highly qualified veteran teachers. Candidate placements are diverse, enabling you to experience a variety of learning environments ranging from urban to rural, one-to-one device, bring your own device to no device, high to low achievement, and many more.

Student Teaching

The capstone of the secondary education minor is a 60-day student teaching placement. Candidates are encouraged to teach full-time for a minimum of six weeks during the 12-week placement. Candidates are responsible for designing unit plans, daily lesson plans, evaluating student work, collecting data, measuring the effectiveness of their instruction, in addition to other responsibilities. Candidates are under the direct supervision of a highly qualified, experienced classroom teacher.

Research

Candidates are encouraged to research and present at state and national conferences. You may pursue specific areas of interest or focus on the best practices of teaching in your field.

The secondary education minor requires each candidate complete a major in either English or History. To be prepared to teach, candidates must maintain a major GPA of 3.0 and complete a major in the field they will teach. In order to graduate, candidates minoring in education must complete Converse’s General Education Requirements (GEP), major requirements including the major capstone course, as well as additional CAEP and South Carolina Department of Education program requirements.

The secondary minor is made up of courses in education and of applied or practical experiences in the public schools. These courses study the history of education, learning theories, and instructional practices to develop an understanding of the teaching profession. The required courses for the secondary education minor are:

Benchmark I

• EDU360 Introduction to Education
• PSY380 Human Growth and Development
• SED300 Introduction to the Exceptional Learner
• EDU350 R2S Reading Foundations
• EDU33 1-5 Secondary Curriculum Methods
• EDU201 Clinical I

Benchmark II

• EDU425 Reading in the Content Areas
• EDU202 Clinical II
• Benchmark III
• EDU412c Secondary Student Teaching

Admission to the Teacher Education Program

Students who plan to pursue a program of studies leading to initial licensure must submit a formal application to the Education Department. Students are encouraged to apply for admission after completing Clinical I.

Prerequisites for formal admission to the Teacher Education Department (TED) are:

1. Complete a minimum of 45 semester hours which will meet degree requirements.
2. Complete and submit the TED application forms.
3. Achieve at least a cumulative GPA of 2.75 on a 4.0 scale
4. A cumulative 3.0 on a 4.0 scale in content major
5. Qualifying SAT, ACT, or Core Praxis Reading, Writing, and Math score.

All candidates may enroll in Benchmark I courses prior to admission to Teacher Education. Candidates must be admitted to Teacher Education to take EDU425 and Clinical II courses.  Admission to the program should be sought during the spring of sophomore year or fall of junior year but must be obtained no later than during the semester prior to student teaching.

View the Secondary Education minor requirements.

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