Professional Education Programs

Overview

The Professional Education Programs (PEP) are required for all secondary education majors in the College of Arts and Letters. After applying, you must meet the major-specific criteria for PEP acceptance. Refer to the academic catalog for acceptance criteria and major requirements.

Application

Once you have declared a secondary education major in the College of Arts and Letters, you must apply to the PEP. If you have questions, speak to your advisor and refer to the email you received when you declared this major.

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Bachelor’s programs

Master’s programs

Student teaching

Student teaching is a required course for all secondary education majors. During your last semester, you will be applying the skills you acquired throughout your education by teaching in a secondary classroom, supervised and evaluated by professional educators. You must meet all prerequisites before student teaching begins.

Student teaching criteria
Before being accepted to student teaching, you must meet the following criteria:

• acceptance to the Professional Education Programs
• an NAU GPA of at least 2.5
• in all teacher preparation courses:
  • no grade lower than a “C”
  • Art, English, History Education majors: 3.0 GPA in the major
  • Music and Language Education majors: 2.5 GPA in the major
• completion of all plan requirements
• completion of all major coursework (with the exception of EDF 200) within the six years prior to student teaching
• demonstrable social and emotional maturity consistent with professional standards of classroom instruction, as well as adequate physical health for teaching

Student teaching placements

• Arizona

Arizona certification requirements embedded in your major coursework:

• one Structured English Immersion course
• US/AZ constitution

Required Arizona education exams

In order to obtain an Arizona teaching certificate, you must pass both the appropriate National Evaluation Series subject matter test and the Assessment of Professional Knowledge: Secondary test.

The NAU College of Education provides test preparation resources to help you prepare.

Test preparation resources

Institutional recommendation

Once you complete your program, you will receive an Institutional Recommendation (IR) from NAU. You will take your IR to the Department of Education along with:

• a copy of your passing scores of the Assessment of Professional Knowledge: Secondary test
• your IVP fingerprint clearance card
• the required fee

Questions about the PEP application or your to-do list items in LOUIE? Contact your academic advisor.