Secondary Certification in Social Studies question?

Question

Is it possible to get a Secondary Certification in Social Studies, to teach history/social studies at a high school level, after you get a degree in history. IE get the degree in History and then get the certification afterwards, possibly much later. I know a lot of states have "emergency credentials" but I'm not talking about that I'm talking about a real nation-wide recognized certification.


I was also curioius if you could get the certification from a different school than you got the history degree. I know most American Universities stipulate that you have to get at least half of your credits from them to get a degree from them but I don't know if the same thing is true for Secondary Certifications.

I once over heard a rumor that if you work so many years under Emergency credentals that you get the real certification but I have not been able to varify that.

Answer 1

One other thing to consider -- and this is a bummer, there is a major shortage of social studies teaching jobs out there right now. (Unless you live in Texas, Nevada, or Florida)

Also -- working with an emergency license -- it will not eventually turn into a real license if you have it for so long. In fact, you can't keep it long -- an emergency license is something you get for a short period of time while you work toward meeting the licensing requirements of your state.

Answer 2

In New York state , you would be able to get a Master of Science in Teaching whihc is a degree for people who did not get an undergraduate degree in teaching. NYS does not recognize emergency credentials unless it is considered to be a "teaching area of shortage".
To become nationally certified you would need to already have a masters in Education and have taught for at least 10 years (not sure about the years #). The National Certification Process is quite detailed, takes approximately 3 years to complete and can cost up to $5000.
NYS also does not "Give" out permanent certificate after you have only had emergency credentials. School districts are actually penalized if they do not have "highly qualified and certified" teachers. They lose a certain amount of Title 2 funds due to not being in compliance.

Answer 3

Depending on where you live, many colleges and universities have Masters programs that will lead to an initial certification in social studies. The time frame seems to be about two years at most for completion. So you will have to take some education courses, probably some courses in geography/economics/and other social sciences, and do what is called student teaching. As a student teacher, you spend a whole semester attending a school each day, working closely with an experienced teacher and eventually planning and teaching the whole day.

Most education departments at colleges are more than happy to work with you. Their staff will look at your transcripts and suggest the best path to certification.

Answer 4

Part of the problem with your question is that you aren't understanding that most states have different certification credentials. Education, standards and licensing are still controlled by the States. You can certainly get Secondary Certification after your degree. The best advice I can give you is to contact the state in which you are looking to work. Most of them have an office in which you can have your transcripts reviewed and they will tell you exactly what classes you would need to take in order to qualify for certification. Afterwards, contact any of the local universities to see if they offer those classes.
Since the colleges are NOT the ones issuing certification, they can not demmand you take classes at their school. You are being certified by the state, not the college.