College Graduation Requirements

Temple University Requirements

Students receiving either a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science in education degree must complete the following university requirements before graduation:

1. All students must complete Temple University's General Education (GenEd) curriculum. 
2. All students must take a minimum of two writing-intensive courses at Temple University (including transfer students).

College of Education Requirements

The College of Education does not award Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degrees to students who have already completed an accredited first Bachelor's, Master's, or Ph.D. degree, regardless of when the degree was completed. 

Bachelor of Arts Degree

Adult & Organizational Development

A Bachelor of Arts degree is awarded to students majoring in Adult and Organizational Development who successfully complete the requirements specified on their program advising sheet and 8-semester matrix.

Bachelor of Science in Education degree

All Teacher Certification Education Programs

(Early Childhood Education, Middle Grades Education, and Secondary Education)

Students receive a Bachelor of Science in Education degree by meeting the following minimum College requirements:

• Completion of program requirements as detailed on the program advising sheet/8-semester matrix.*
• Achieved a “C-” or above in all required Education Courses.
• Achieved a “C-” or above in all University General Education Courses.

*The required total credit hours may vary depending on the course of study. 

All students seeking to graduate with the recommendation for Instructional I Certification from Pennsylvania must meet the following requirements:

• Completion of program requirements with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0.
• Earned at least 48 credits, 12 of which must be completed at Temple University, with a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.0.
• Earned at least 36 credits toward your teacher certification program of study, as detailed on the program advising sheet/8-semester matrix.
• Achieved a “C-” or above in all required Education Courses.
• Achieved a “C-” or above in all University General Education Courses.
• Passed all three sections of PAPA (reading, writing and math) and passing scores in all required PECT or Praxis II exams.
• Completed six credits of college-level math as specified by your program. Courses at the Mathematics 0702 level or below are not applicable to this requirement.
• Completed six credits of college-level English (3 credits of composition and 3 credits of literature).
• A speech assessment conducted by an academic advisor.
• Secondary education students are required to have a 2.0 GPA in their content area.
• Middle Grades students must earn a 2.0 in their concentration area.

Credit hours are satisfied by taking courses in four categories:

(1) University General Education requirements (General Education)

(2) Education courses

(3) Teacher Education Certification Courses (i.e. methods and student teaching)

(4) Elective courses (as permitted by your program of study)

Professional Certification

Areas of Certification

All curricula leading to Pennsylvania certification are organized to meet the standards established by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. The following areas of certification have been approved by Temple University's Board of Trustees and the Pennsylvania Department of Education:

- Art Education (Tyler School of Art)
- Early Childhood Education (Pre K to 4)
- Health and Physical Education (College of Health Professions & Social Work)
- Music (Boyer College of Music & Dance)

- Speech (College of Health Professions and Social Work)

- Middle Grades (grades 4 to 8)

         - Math and Science

         - Math and English/Language Arts

         - Science and English/Language Arts
- Secondary Education
          - English
          - World Languages
            - French
            - German
            - Hebrew
            - Italian
            - Latin
            - Portuguese
            - Spanish
          - Mathematics
          - Science

            - Chemistry
            - Earth and Space Science
            - Physics
          - Social Studies
- Career and Technical Education
          - Business, Computer, and Information Technology K-12 (Formerly Business Education)
          - Cooperative Education
          - Marketing Education K-12
          - Industrial (Career Technical) Education

Requirements for Certification

Graduation from the College of Education does not carry automatic endorsement for state certification. Students must complete all the requirements for their specific Teacher Education Certification Program, including student teaching; maintain a cumulative 3.0 GPA; and pass all required performance assessments (see below).

In addition, all students seeking certification are required by the State of Pennsylvania to pass the relevant parts of the Pennsylvania Teacher Certification Testing Program in order to be eligible for teacher certification. The required tests include the PAPA and PECT/Praxis II tests. Students should visit the PAPA web site, the PECT web site or the Praxis II web site to acquire test dates and required scores.

Students not obtaining Pennsylvania State Teacher certification within five years of completing their programs must take additional coursework before the College of Education will recommend them for certification.

Speech Assessment

Candidates for Teacher Education Certification are given a diagnostic speech assessment. Additional diagnostic testing may be required, and corrective actions may be taken, to remediate problems. Decisions about remedial efforts and student eligibility to continue in a program will be determined by the Chair of the Department in which the student is enrolled and approved by the Associate Dean of Teacher Education of the College of Education.

Field Experience, Practicum and Student Teaching

The College of Education places a great deal of emphasis on students' in-school experiences. All undergraduates are required to complete courses that place them in school settings for a specified duration. Student teaching, completed in a student's final semester, constitutes the most important field experience for prospective teachers. Application for student teaching placement must be submitted the semester prior to student teaching by the specified deadline communicated to students by the student teaching placement office.

Performance Assessment

In addition to the teacher certification tests (PAPA and PECT/Praxis II tests) required by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, students are required to complete three performance assessments in order to gauge the extent to which they:

(a) know the content they will teach,

(b) can teach the content, and

(c) embody the professional attributes required of professional educators.

The performance assessments occur at three points in the undergraduate program: initially when prospective students are being admitted to certification programs through candidacy; in the junior year, prior to student teaching (intermediate assessment); and before graduation, while student teaching (senior assessment). In addition to assessing and informing candidates about their teaching, the performance assessments are intended for use by faculty as a tool for program evaluation.

All undergraduate Education majors seeking certification must successfully complete the Intermediate Performance Assessment (IPA), a Temple University and PA Department of Education requirement for teacher education majors before student teaching. Under state guidelines, a teacher education institution must:

(a) conduct performance assessments throughout the preparation program for all students admitted to a professional educator (certification) program

(b) use the assessment information to determine eligibility for student teaching.

The Intermediate Performance Assessment (IPA) was developed in response to a regulation of the Pennsylvania Department of Education and as part of the College of Education's interest in ensuring teacher candidates continuous progress in the teacher education certification program. The Temple IPA, like college of education courses, is aligned to the program's six standards of effective teaching. At the completion of the teacher education program, teacher candidates will have had instruction to help them meet all of these standards in their teaching practice. The IPA measures progress toward these standards part way through the program; students must complete and pass this formal assessment to be eligible to student teach.

The IPA is followed by the Senior Performance Assessment (SPA) in the final semester of the program. All candidates for certification, must successfully complete the Intermediate and Senior Performance Assessments. This is both a Temple University and PA Department of Education requirement for teacher education majors. Candidates for certification will not be submitted to the state as having met all requirements if they fail either the IPA or SPA twice.

Professional Education Portfolio

After being admitted to a teacher education certification program and for the duration of the degree program, students will be required to maintain a professional education portfolio in either electronic or hard copy form. Faculty will use the portfolio to complement the performance assessment activity described above. The specific requirements for the portfolio will be available from the student's faculty advisor.