Additional Information
To become a secondary school teacher you'll need a bachelor's degree in
education or a bachelor's degree in the subject you want to teach plus some
teacher training. A few states require a master's degree.
In the U.S., all teachers need a state teaching license. The requirements
are different for each state. At a minimum, you must have a bachelor's degree
and you must complete a traditional or alternative teacher preparation program.
There is a general teaching certification exam in each state. You must
also write a content-specific test for the subject you wish to teach. Many
states also require mentoring during your first year of teaching or student
teaching experience. Criminal background checks are also standard.
The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education currently accredits
more than 600 teacher education programs across the United States.
If you want to teach middle school, the requirements depend on the state
in which you want to work. Often middle school and high school are lumped
together as "secondary education," while training for Grades 1 to 6 is "elementary
education."
"In New York state, when you get certified, secondary education is usually
[Grades] 7 through 12... so middle school and high school are treated pretty
much the same," says high school teacher Richard Goodman. "It's lumped together.
I think that's the way it is in most states."
Volunteering is a great way to see if teaching is for you. It can also
set you apart when you apply for teaching jobs.
"They can get involved in peer tutoring," says high school teacher Janet
Munroe-Carpenter. "We've got a student who is going through teachers' college
right now and he's always been really helpful -- doing extra help sessions
and helping kids after school and... even helping mark papers and quizzes.
"I think that's important and certainly looks good on a resume," Munroe-Carpenter
adds. "It gives them an idea how to explain something to somebody else --
that's a true sign of a teacher. You may understand it yourself but you've
got to be able to teach someone else, you've got to be able to make someone
else understand what you're trying to say."
"When I was in high school I did a lot of peer tutoring, through National
Honors Society, and we had this lab where as a senior you could go for one
period a day and tutor other students, and I got really into teaching from
that," says high school teacher Carrie Jones.