The Secondary Education minor enables students to meet the requirements of the State Board of Education for teaching in the secondary public schools (grades 9-12) of South Carolina. Minors in Secondary Education (grades 9-12) may be earned in the following areas: Mathematics and Social Studies. Any student interested in pursuing teacher certification in English or Chemistry should contact the Department Chairs of Education and the respective content area.

A student who plans to qualify for certification at the secondary level must major in the academic field in which certification will be sought. The student must complete the general and professional education courses to meet South Carolina requirements. Students should discuss their programs with their advisers and with the Chair of the Department of Education or the college coordinator for secondary education early in their college careers.

Secondary minors must apply for admission into the Teacher Education Program by April 1 of the sophomore year and submit passing scores on the required Praxis I tests as well as meet all the requirements listed in the Teacher Education Program Admission Requirements section of this catalog. The Secondary Education minors must maintain good standing, must complete the requirements for approval to student teach the semester prior to student teaching and must meet the requirements for program completion and certification.

Courses that are requirements for minors in secondary teaching areas are also prerequisites for student teaching. They should be taken in the following sequence, and should be limited to one course each semester. ED 202 (Foundations and Teacher Shadow – freshman, Winter Term only), SE 212 and SE 213 (Intro to Exceptional Children – Sophomore, Fall only), ED 301 and ED 418 (Secondary Reading– Junior, Fall only), ED 302 and ED 419 (Secondary Methods – Junior, Spring only), and ED 300 (Principles of Learning and Diversity – Senior, Fall). In the senior year, each student preparing to teach must complete 12 weeks (60 full days) of student teaching (ED 423).
In addition to the above courses for certification, all secondary teacher education students must complete PE 201, AR 200 or MU 203 as well as all requirements for their major.

During the student teaching semester, no other courses may be taken without special permission.