Indiana: Teacher Credentialing in Indiana

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University of Phoenix

Bachelor, Master
Bachelor of Science in Education / Elementary Education/Science, MA in Education/Teacher Ed. for Elementary Lic., MA in Education/Teacher Ed. for Secondary Lic., Bachelor of Science in Education / Elementary Education/Social Studies, Bachelor of Science in Education / Elementary Education/Mathematics, ..
Indianapolis, Merrillville

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Brown Mackie College

Associate
Associate of Science in Early Childhood Education
South Bend, Michigan City

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The Indiana State Board of Education has specific requirements in place for those who hope to become teachers within the state. If you want to be a teacher in Indiana, you will need to complete some specific requirements which include obtaining the necessary educational training, teacher preparation, and later sit for the necessary state mandated testing. Once you have completed all of this, you can then obtain your teacher's certification, which is necessary in order to teach in any school in the state. The laws regarding teacher certifications can change from time to time.

Getting Your Degree

The first step in the process is to enroll in an accredited college or university to obtain your bachelor's degree in education. Most teachers will specialize this degree (elementary education, science, arts, secondary education, etc.) as it fits their specific goals. The bare minimum requirement of the state is that you hold a bachelor's degree in education with an accredited school. Unlike other states, Indiana does not have any specific undergraduate credit hour requirements, as long as you satisfy the requirements of the bachelor's degree.

Perhaps you already have a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university but it is not in education. If this is the case, you may qualify for what is called an alternative certification. Although you may not have to retake all of the courses that a traditional student would, you will still need to meet all other requirements of teacher preparation and testing requirements.

Getting Your Teacher Preparation

The second portion of the requirements to becoming an Indiana teacher is to obtain the necessary teacher preparation. This process requires that you work with an accredited teacher preparation school or program to obtain the basic skills of being a teacher. You will need to learn how to develop the skills and the on-the-job education to teach in a classroom. You will learn how to develop a curriculum and lesson plans. Then, you will learn how to implement them within the classroom.

Students will then need to perform at least a semester (sometimes less) of student teaching in an approved setting. Under this process, you will work with a licensed teacher to teach lessons which you have developed to the classroom.

Getting Your Testing

Once all of these other requirements have been met, the next step in the process is to sit for the state mandated testing. The Department of Education requires that all students sit for the Basic Skills Test called the Pre Professional Skills Test, or PPST. In addition, most teachers with a specialized area of competence will also need to sit for the Praxis II Subject Tests.

Once you have successfully passed these tests and have all necessary credentials to be a teacher in the state of Indiana, you can then fill out an application with the Department of Education and submit the necessary documentation and fee.

Return to the career guide index or read other resources from the teacher credentialing in the united states section below:

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