"I want to be a junior high or high school teacher."
Our secondary education program provides you with a Single Subject Teaching Credential in English/Language Arts, History/Social Science, Mathematics, Science, or World Languages Spanish. This credential authorizes you to provide instruction in departmentalized classrooms in secondary schools (usually grades 7-12). In addition, this credential prepares you to teach English learners and provide instruction for English language development.
Content Areas
- English
- Mathematics
- Science (Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Geosciences, Physics)
- Learn more about 2-year joint degree programs in Chemistry and Biological Sciences.
- Social Science
- World Languages Spanish
Community
- A single cohort of 35-45 passionate teacher candidates per year
- A professional learning community in each subject area of 8-12 teacher candidates will allow you to share triumphs and struggles
- A core group of 15 experienced teacher educators who will know, guide, and support you throughout your year
- A dedicated network of local teachers and schools eager to support your growth as a teacher and a leader
Placements
In your student teaching placements, you will be on local school campuses from the first day of school until the last. Our secondary education program has three placements throughout the academic year at junior high and high schools in the Santa Barbara Unified School District. The Teacher Education Program secures placements for you through our strong partnerships with these schools. At each placement, you will be mentored and supported by a university supervisor and a cooperating teacher in your credential subject, many of whom are graduates of our program.
Your first placement takes place during the K-12 fall semester for 8-9 weeks, starting on the first day of teacher reporting. You will be placed at either a junior high or high school. You will be in schools 4 days a week, from before the start of the school day to the end. During this placement, your focus will be on observations growing to limited direct teaching.
Your second placement takes place during the K-12 fall semester for 8-9 weeks, concluding at the Winter Holiday. You will be placed at the opposite school level than your first placement. In the last two weeks, you will be at your school site five days a week for the full school day. During this placement, your teaching responsibilities will grow and culminates in a 2-week takeover of classroom instruction.
Your third placement occurs over the entire K-12 spring semester (February-June). You will be placed at either a junior high or high school, typically at the same site as one of your previous placements. During this placement, you will be at your school site five days a week for the full school day, and will take over classroom responsibilities for at least one class period for the duration of the placement.
Below is a snapshot of what a typical week could look like during the Fall quarter:
| MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY | FRIDAY | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7:30-3:00 | K-12 schools | K-12 schools | K-12 schools | K-12 schools | UCSB (9:00-3:50) |
| 4:00-6:50 | UCSB | UCSB* | UCSB* | UCSB |
*Class occurs every other week
For a more detailed view, you can view our previous year's calendar. This should be used as general reference only: all course dates and times are subject to change.