UA News

While the undergraduate programs are slated for elimination, the college will expand its masters-level secondary certification programs.

Earlier this week, the College of Education at The University of Arizona informed its students of plans to eliminate its undergraduate degree programs in physical education and secondary education, and its corresponding secondary teaching certification programs in English, social studies, history and foreign languages.

While the undergraduate programs are slated for elimination, the college will expand its masters-level secondary certification programs, which officials say will result in an increase of new teachers in high-demand content areas such as English and Spanish.

J. Robert Hendricks, associate dean in the UA College of Education, said the restructuring does yield significant savings in a time of major budget cuts, but also invests in programs more likely to address the state's critical need for new teachers.

"The English and Spanish programs were eliminated because of low enrollments, and the social studies and physical education programs are not designated as high-need areas by school districts," said Hendricks.

Future UA students interested in becoming secondary education teachers will be encouraged to secure an undergraduate degree in a specific subject area, such as English, Spanish or history. They will have several options to obtain secondary teaching certification, including the UA's highly successful Teach Arizona program.

Teach Arizona is a fast-track, one-year master's degree program for people who have earned a bachelor's degree and want to become math, science, English, history, social studies or Spanish teachers in middle school or high school.

Now in its ninth year, it is a collaborative effort among the UA and seven Tucson-area school districts. Upon completion of the program, students earn a master's degree in teaching and teacher education and are eligible for Arizona secondary teacher certification or middle school certification with the completion of two additional courses.

Hendricks says that the college will be expanding the program, as it yields more interest from prospective students than the UA's undergraduate programs. "Teach Arizona students are in heavy demand; most are offered jobs before they finish their program," said Hendricks. "Based upon the number of current applicants, we believe we can significantly increase the numbers."

Teach Arizona graduates usually are hired at a higher starting salary than most teachers, according to Hendricks.

In addition to Teach Arizona, the UA offers, or is planning to offer, additional programs for students seeking secondary teaching certification, including:

• Post-baccalaureate courses for students with a qualifying bachelor's degree.
• Teach America - Following a summer session, students are assigned to a classroom and take classes concurrently with teaching in low income schools.
• Undergraduate Jumpstart - The college is exploring ways to offer undergraduate courses that would that would be transferrable to any state certification program.

The proposed elimination of the undergraduate programs will occur over the course of the next several years. Both the physical education and secondary education programs will admit another cohort of students in the fall of 2009, and all students currently in the program will have the opportunity to complete their degrees.

Most of the fall 2009 cohort are second semester sophomores who applied for admission during the fall semester. "Students will work individually with their academic advisors to develop a plan to make sure they graduate in spring 2011," said Hendricks.

The proposed undergraduate program eliminations are going through an approval process, including a review by the UA Faculty Senate.