Students interested in seeking any kind of teacher certification are urged to visit the Office of Educator Preparation website.  The Office of Educator Preparation oversees students' admittance to the Teacher Preparation program, Field Experience, Student Teaching, and the TExES Certification exams. 

Becoming a teacher requires a degree with an academic major and completion of a teacher education program. Sixty-nine colleges and universities in Texas offer teacher education programs for undergraduate students. Most of these colleges and universities as well as several Regional Education Service Centers and a few school districts also offer teacher certification programs for people who already have a degree.

After deciding to be a teacher, a first important step is to decide what age group of children to teach. In Texas, four different certification levels are available.  Below is some basic information about each certification level to help you begin making that first step:

Early Childhood through Grade 6

Teachers of students in these grades are usually responsible for all children and all subjects. The two certificates available at this level are the ESL Generalist and the Bilingual Generalist. At Texas State, the degree used to obtain this certificate is the Bachelor of Science degree with a Major in Interdisciplinary Studies offered through the College of Education.  To see a list of majors offered within the College of Education, click here.  

Grade 4 through Grade 8

Teachers of students in these grades, usually called middle schools or junior high schools, may choose to be broadly educated in order to teach self-contained classes at the lower grades in the range, or they may elect to specialize in one or two teaching areas. The certificates available at this level are: Generalist, English/Language Arts/Reading/Social Studies Composite, Mathematics, Science, and Math/Science Composite. As with the EC-6 certificate, the degree used to obtain one of these certificates is the Bachelor of Science degree with a Major in Interdisciplinary Studies offered through the College of Education.  To see a list of majors offered within the College of Education, click here. 

Grade 8 through Grade 12 (or in some cases Grade 6 through 12)
This group is referred to as Secondary Certification

Teachers at these grades enjoy working with adolescents to help them reach their academic goals in a specific content area and to prepare them for post-secondary lives. To prepare to become a teacher of grades 8-12 (or 6-12) at Texas State, students select a degree and a major and minor in one of several academic departments that offer teacher education programs. For example, if a person wants to be a teacher of English, then that person will select a Bachelor of Arts Degree with a Major in English and a suitable minor.  Similarly, if a person wants to be a Mathematics teacher, then that person will select either a Bachelor of Science Degree or a Bachelor of Arts Degree with a Major in Mathematics and a suitable minor.

The teaching certificates available for grades 8-12 are: Chemistry, Computer Science, English/Language Arts/Reading, History, Hospitality/Nutrition/and Food Science, Human Development and Family Studies, Journalism (requires second teaching field), Life Science,  Mathematics, Physical Science, Social Studies Composite (Economics, Geography, Government and History), and Speech

The teaching certificates availble for grades 6-12 are: Agriculture Science and Technology, Business Education, Dance, French, Family and Consumer Sciences, German, Spanish, and Technology Education

All-level

In a few cases, teachers are prepared to work with students at all grade levels and ages. The teaching fields available as All-level programs are Art, Health, Music, Physical Education, Special Education, and Theatre.  The All-Level Certifications for Health and Physical Education are offered through the College of Education; the rest are offered through their own Academic Departments respectively (i.e. Music through the Department of Music, etc.).