Education Answers

I can only speak for Florida, but here, you must have a Bachelor’s Degree AND pass the State Teaching Exam. However, in recent years, I have seen the requirements loosen up a bit and they are allowing people without all the credentials to obtain a position and then finish up the requirements within a specific amount of time. You really will have to look up the information for the specific state(s) you are interested in. I would contact your local public school board and go from there.

You have to complete student teaching and take a licensing exam. I live in NJ and have a bachelor’s in early childhood education (preschool-grade 3). At my school, education majors at all levels completed the process for certification while pursuing our degree. We had to take the Praxis I (reading, writing, math) by first semester of junior year and the Praxis II (our content area/grade level) before we could student teach. At the start of second semester senior year, we applied to NJ dept. of education for certification and received them that summer. I’m not sure how the process is for other states but I’d assume it’s very similar.