Graduate Certificate of Completion in Secondary Education Teacher Preparation
Overview
Elevate Your Career in Secondary Education
The Graduate Certificate of Completion in Secondary Education is a convenient program for provisionally licensed teachers to further their skills in the area of secondary education. Emphasis is placed on meeting the educational needs of secondary-school-age children in a variety of settings. All courses within this College of Education program are online and directly aligned with specialized professional teaching standards and the associated national content standards.
You must have access to a classroom in grades 6-12 to complete assignments within many of the courses that guide teacher candidates through required observational and practice-based experiences.
You must submit a copy of your current teaching license or provide evidence of a minimum of one year of teaching experience to apply for this program. In addition, it is essential to have access to a K-12 classroom to complete the program assignments.
Degree Outcomes
Strengthen Your Role as an Educator
Upon completing this graduate certificate in secondary education, you will possess greater knowledge and access to techniques to meet individual student needs that improve student outcomes in secondary classrooms. Surveying seminal concepts, theories and research provides you with strategies for maximizing instruction and highly engaged student learning experiences. Strengthen your background in secondary education through fieldwork experience, peer collaboration and examination of instructional methods.
Continuing education in secondary education provides you with coursework and internship experience designed to help you better build foundational knowledge for constructing valuable learning opportunities. Learn techniques for successful engagement and management in a learning environment, with a focus on establishing a realistic discipline plan to manage student behavior.
What You Will Learn
Pursue Higher Learning with Continuing Education
Course topics in the online graduate certificate program in education include:
- Development skills in aligning objectives, instruction and assessments
- Differentiating curriculum with emphasis on the needs of diverse students
- Building a broad range of research-based reading methodologies focusing on reading strategies for classrooms with cultural and social diversity
- Addressing the development and use of integrated and thematic approaches of instruction
- Various foundations of instructional programs for English Language Learners; Structured English Immersion is a strong focus
Career Outcomes
Make a Bigger Difference in the Lives of Students
Earning this graduate certificate in secondary education helps you to seek potential career opportunities to teach students in one or more subjects, such as English, mathematics or social studies at the secondary level in public or private schools (may be designated according to subject matter specialty). Online coursework, practicums and fieldwork experience prepares you to improve student success in the classroom by instructing based on individual needs. Grand Canyon University also offers placement assistance as part of the certificate program to help guide your career path.
Program Core Courses
Course Description
Candidates in this course will develop skills in aligning objectives, instruction, and assessments. Special attention is given to differentiating curriculum for diverse students and using assessment data to guide instruction. Candidates will collaborate with peers and colleagues to achieve instructional goals through action planning. Review of current trends in instruction and assessment are presented to guide instructional decisions with a special focus on the needs of diverse students. Practicum/field experience hours: 10. Fingerprint clearance required.
Course Description
This course presents the historical, legal, theoretical, and sociological foundations of programs of instruction for English language learners. It includes an examination of the role of culture in learning and instructional program models, with a focus on Structured English Immersion. Teacher candidates are instructed in immersion strategies and the use of assessment data. Practicum/field experience hours: 10. Fingerprint clearance required.
Course Description
This course is designed to allow the teacher candidate the opportunity to learn techniques involved in the successful engagement and management of a learning environment. Major emphasis is placed to the establishment of a realistic discipline plan to manage student behavior, as well as engagement and management techniques and strategies to maximize instructional time, classroom procedures, and physical space. Practicum/field experience hours: 15. Fingerprint clearance required. Prerequisite: SEC-501.
Course Description
Teacher candidates will survey how adolescents grow and develop, recognizing that patterns of learning and development vary individually within and across the cognitive, social/emotional, and physical areas. This survey of the seminal concepts, principles, theories, and research related to development of adolescents will allow candidates to build foundational knowledge for constructing learning opportunities that support individual students’ development, acquisition of knowledge, and motivation. Practicum/field experience hours: 6. Fingerprint clearance not required.
Course Description
This course is designed to develop a broad range of research-based reading methodologies to enhance the learning strategies of middle and secondary school students. Major emphasis is placed on the use of reading strategies for culturally and socially diverse classrooms, including the use of literacy-based instruction in all content areas and understanding, evaluating, and promoting effective pedagogy in adolescent literacy. The development and use of integrated and thematic approaches of instruction are addressed. Teacher candidates are expected to observe and assist in a grade 7-12 classroom while taking this course. Practicum/field experience hours: 6. Fingerprint clearance required.
Online
* Please note that this list may contain programs that are not presently offered as program availability may vary depending on class size, enrollment and other contributing factors. If you are interested in a program listed herein please first contact your University Counselor for the most current information regarding availability of the program.
* The Department of Education defines how an institution must calculate a program's On-Time Completion rate for federal disclosure purposes. The On-Time Completion rate is based on a program's published required number of months to complete all degree requirements as provided in the institution's catalog. Completion statistics are updated every January and are based on the cohort of students who started the program in the same year and then graduated within the published program length.
Online and Evening program disclosures (8 months)* Please refer to the Academic Catalog for more information. Program subject to change.