School of Education
Director: Verjanis Peoples
The School of Education prepares diverse professionals who foster learning by utilizing technology and best practices in diverse educational and clinical environments. The School of Education offers programs designed to prepare educational leaders who become teachers, administrators, and clinical practitioners.
The school consists of two departments, Curriculum and Instruction and Counseling and Educational Leadership, Policy, and Practice, which is a graduate program. Consult the graduate catalog for more information on graduate programs in the School of Education. Centers dedicated to research, technology, and professional development are also housed in the School of education. The Southern University Laboratory School serves as a primary site for clinical/field experiences of students in the school. Undergraduate degrees offered are Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education and Bachelor of Science in General Special Education (grades 1-5 and 4-8). The School also offers several minors that lead to secondary certification in Biology, Chemistry, History, Mathematics, Music, and Physics.
Graduates of the school’s teacher program are critical thinking professionals who model best practices, and engage learners from multicultural and global perspectives. Graduates are expected to demonstrate knowledge of the major concepts, principles, theories, values, methods of inquiry, and uses of technology in the content they will teach. They also are expected to show understanding of relationships between the technical (pedagogical and behavior management techniques) and normative (social, political, and cultural) aspects of schooling. Additionally, they show evidence of attitudes and values consistent with accepted modes of behavior in American society.
Teacher Certification
Southern University School of Education is approved by the Louisiana Department of Education and NCATE for the professional preparation of teachers. Students planning to teach must enroll in the College of Education and follow an approved program of study. Our programs are accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE); that accrediting has now become the Council for the Accreditation of Educational Programs (CAEP)
In addition, students who wish to be certified to teach in the state of Louisiana must pass the appropriate PRAXIS examinations required by the state of Louisiana prior to teacher education, PRAXIS I, and prior to beginning in student teaching, PRAXIS II. Students may use a score of 22 on ACT or SAT combined verbal and math score of 1030 in lieu of PRAXIS I scores.
Teacher education programs are designed to follow the curriculum guidelines set by the college as well as those set by the appropriate professional organizations and learned societies in education.
Alternative Certification
The School of Education, through the Louisiana Department of Education, offers a Non-Masters Alternate Certification Program, which was designed with the intent of augmenting the number of certified teachers in the State of Louisiana. With the goal of making the pursuit of certification more attractive to individuals who already hold the bachelor’s degree, but not certification, the program has been redesigned so that coursework can be completed in one year. The program requires a one-year internship.
Candidates must satisfy admission requirements stipulated by Southern University and must be officially admitted to the Alternate Certification Program before pursuing any coursework.
Candidates for admission to the program must have a bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited institution, a cumulative grade point average of 2.20 with regular admission or 2.50 with provisional admission, pass PRAXIS I or already possess a graduate degree, and candidates must pass the PRAXIS content specific exam and have a cumulative 2.50 average in order to be certified.