Secondary Education Bachelor's Degree

Critical and analytical thinking, careful and thoughtful communication, and a desire to explore, question, and solve problems are promoted in the secondary education major. These institutional commitments are anchored in a research agenda and further exemplified through best instructional practice, professional service, and local school districts.

You can dedicate your professional expertise to a specific area of interest or talent, while helping students cultivate their passions in that same field.

Minimum of 120 Credit Hours Required

Licensure Grades 6-12

Bachelor of Science in Education Curriculum

Candidates preparing to seek grades 6-12 teacher licensure concentrate studies in three areas:

General Education
Courses in communications, humanities, social sciences, quantitative sciences, and natural sciences provide the prospective secondary teacher with broad content background. A teacher is, first of all, a well-educated citizen. The general education portion of the program is directed toward this goal.
Professional Studies (Teacher Education)
The professional portion of your program includes courses in teaching as a career, learning and development, educational psychology, methods of teaching, foundations of education, and multicultural and interpersonal relations. You will learn about uses of personal computers in the classroom, how to help students with reading in your content field, and how to adjust teaching methods to the needs of exceptional children. The teaching internship (student teaching) occurs near the end of the program. With guidance and support of a cooperating teacher and a college supervisor, you will gradually assume responsibility for planning and teaching in the secondary classroom for a full semester or more.
Content Studies (Teaching Field)
Secondary teachers prepare to teach in one or more content teaching area. In-depth preparation in at least one teaching field is required as a part of your preparation to be a secondary education teacher.

The College of Education offers a secondary education degree for all teaching fields except for these, for which the college has collaborative licensure programs: a music teaching degree is earned through the College of Arts and Sciences; a family and consumer sciences teaching degree is earned in the College of Health and Human Sciences; and agriculture teachers earn a degree in the College of Agriculture.

General Education Courses (33 credit hours minimum)

Communications – 8-9 credit hours

COMM 105 – Public Speaking IA (2)
or
COMM 106 – Public Speaking I (3)
or
COMM 109 – Public Speaking IA Honors (3)
ENGL 100 – Expository Writing I (3)
ENGL 200 – Expository Writing II (3)

A minimum grade of C is required in all communications courses.

Humanities – 6 credit hours

Literature – Any Department of English literature or Department of Modern Languages literature course (3)
Fine Arts – Any class in the Departments of Art, Modern Languages, Philosophy or the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance (3)

Social Science – 6 credit hours

HDFS 110 – Intro to Human Development (3) or other approved Human Development course
Global Issues and Perspective course (tagged as meeting the K-State 8 requirements) from Dept. of AMETH, ANTH, ECON, GEOG, HIST, POLSC, PSYCH, SOCIO, GWSS (3)

Natural Science – 7 credit hours

One laboratory course is required.
In addition to courses in the Division of Biology, Departments of Biochemistry, Chemistry, Geology, or Physics, the following may be used to satisfy part of the natural science requirement: ASI 500, ENTOM 301, 312, 313, GEOG 221, DEN 425, ANTH 280, 281.

Quantitative Science – 6 credit hours

MATH 100 – College Algebra or higher level math course* (3)
and
STAT 325 or higher level statistics course* (3)

*Grade C or better in both courses

Professional Studies (Teacher Education) Courses

A grade of C or higher is required in all Teacher Education courses and practica. A 3.0 or higher grade point average in Teacher Education courses and practica is needed before the Professional Semester.

Pre-Professional Component (5 credit hours)

EDCI 200 – Teaching as a Career (1)
(Co-requisite with EDCI 230 – Early Field Experience and sophomore standing)
EDCI 230 – Early Field Experience (1)
(Co-requisite with EDCI 200 – Teaching as a Career and sophomore standing)
EDCI 110 – Foundations of Education (3)

Professional Component
Admission to Teacher Education is required.

Non-Blocked Courses (3 credit hours)

Must be completed before student teaching.

EDCI 318 – Educational Technology for Teaching and Learning (1)
(Must be completed before Block II)
EDCI 405 – Middle Level Education (2)
(Not required for P-12 majors in art, modern languages, or music)

BLOCK I (8 credit hours)
Courses must be taken concurrently and prior to Block II.

EDCI 315 – Educational Psychology (3)
EDCI 320 – Core Teaching Skills and Lab (3)
EDSP 323 – Exceptional Students in the Secondary School (2)

Students receiving a grade of less than C in a Block I course will not be permitted to proceed to Block II until a grade of C or higher is recorded (i.e., must retake the Block I course first).

BLOCK II (9 credit hours)
Courses must be taken concurrently and prior to Student Teaching.

EDSEC 525 – Interpersonal Relations in the Schools (1)
EDSEC 455 – Teaching in a Multicultural Society (1)
EDSEC 477 – Content Area Literacies and Diverse Learners (2)
Choose one of the following that corresponds to your teaching field:
- EDSEC 530 – Art Methods for Secondary and Middle Schools (3)
- EDSEC 532 – Business Methods for Secondary and Middle Schools (3)
- EDSEC 534 – Family and Consumer Science Methods for Secondary and Middle Schools (3)
- EDSEC 536 – Language Arts Methods for Secondary and Middle Schools (3)
- EDSEC 538 – Mathematics Methods for Secondary and Middle Schools (3)
- EDSEC 540 – Modern Language Methods for Secondary and Middle Schools (3)
- EDSEC 542 – Science Methods for Secondary and Middle Schools (3)
- EDSEC 544 – Social Studies Methods for Secondary and Middle Schools (3)
- EDSEC 546 – Physical Education/Health Methods for Secondary and Middle Schools (3)
- EDSEC 548 – Technology Education Methods for Secondary and Middle Schools (3)
Choose one of the following that corresponds to your teaching field:
- EDSEC 531 – Art Methods Practicum (2)
- EDSEC 533 – Business Methods Practicum (2)
- EDSEC 535 – Family and Consumer Science Methods Practicum (2)
- EDSEC 537 – Language Arts Methods Practicum (2)
- EDSEC 539 – Mathematics Methods Practicum (2)
- EDSEC 541 – Modern Language Methods Practicum (2)
- EDSEC 543 – Science Methods Practicum (2)
- EDSEC 545 – Social Studies Methods Practicum (2)
- EDSEC 547 – Physical Education/Health Practicum for Secondary and Middle Schools (2)
- EDSEC 549 – Technology Education Practicum for Secondary and Middle Schools (2)

Professional Semester (12 credit hours)

A 3.0 or higher grade point average in teacher education courses and practica is needed before the professional semester.

EDSEC 586 – Teaching Internship in Secondary Schools (12)

Content Studies (Teaching Fields) Curriculum Guides

Teaching Field Curriculum Guides:

Additional Teaching Field(s)
In today’s market, teachers prepared to teach in more than one subject area are in greatest demand. Therefore, it is highly advisable to prepare for a second teaching field. This is accomplished with the wide selection of general education electives and other free electives.

You should work closely with an advisor to plan the additional teaching field. The Kansas State Department of Education currently allows licensed teachers to add another endorsement by passing the required Praxis test. Please talk to your advisor for more information. You are encouraged to complete the required course work and methods as well as the test.

Professional and Educational Service Hours

K-State 8 General Education Requirements

Kansas State University requires all graduates to meet the K-State 8 General Education requirements as part of their program. The K-State 8 encourages students to explore coursework from 8 different perspectives. The College of Education curriculum meets all 8 requirements in our General Education, Teacher Education, and Teaching Field coursework. More information is found at the K-State 8 website.