Post-Baccalaureate Teacher Licensure: Mathematics 5–8 and 8–12

Learning Format

Hybrid

Types

Certificate/PBTL
Post-Baccalaureate Teacher Licensure: Mathematics 5–8 and 8–12

Teach math to middle or high school students

The Mathematics track prepares you for a Massachusetts Initial Teaching License in Mathematics, for grades 5 through 8, grades 8 through 12, or both. It's designed for people who already hold a bachelor's degree, in math, engineering, finance, or another field, and want to teach math to middle or high school students.

You take the shared PBTL education core, a methods course for your subject with time in a real public school classroom, and finish with a full semester of student teaching. Depending on your transcript, you may also need a few mathematics courses to meet this license's subject-matter requirements.
 

Why choose Mathematics 5–8 and 8–12?

  • You choose your grade band. Teach middle school math (5–8), high school math (8–12), or pursue both. The courses are shared until student teaching, where you complete the practicum for the band you want.
  • Your work already runs on numbers. If your degree or career has leaned on mathematics, this license turns that fluency into teaching.
  • You also enjoy science. If you'd like to teach both math and science to middle schoolers, compare Middle School Mathematics/Science 5–8.
  • You might want a master's too. FSU also offers these licenses through the Secondary Education M.Ed. Ask your coordinator which path fits your goals.
Program Requirements

Courses for this license

CourseTitle
EDIL 802Professional Preparation II: Special Needs and Educational Technology
EDIL 823Secondary Methods with Field Study II: Mathematics Grades 5–8 & 8–12
EDPS 863A / 864ASecondary Professional Practicum A: Mathematics 5–8 (863A) or 8–12 (864A)
EDPS 863B / 864BSecondary Professional Practicum B: Mathematics 5–8 (863B) or 8–12 (864B)

Methods courses run in the fall. Student teaching runs in the spring: Practicum A from mid-January to mid-March, then Practicum B from mid-March to mid-May. Your methods courses and both practicum courses must be taken at FSU.

Subject-matter requirements
Massachusetts requires candidates for this license to hold a bachelor's degree and to demonstrate the depth and breadth of content knowledge needed to teach the state's Mathematics Curriculum Framework: Grades 3–8 and the model Algebra I, Geometry, Mathematics I, and Mathematics II standards for the 5–8 license, and Grades 6 through High School for the 8–12 license.

Faculty in the Mathematics department review each applicant's transcript against the subject areas below, which FSU uses to assess that knowledge. Coursework completed at FSU or another institution may satisfy some or all of these areas, and the transcript review identifies any courses that remain.

RequirementFSU courses that meet it
Discrete mathematicsMATH 206 Discrete Mathematics I
Calculus IMATH 219 Calculus I
Calculus IIMATH 220 Calculus II
Higher geometryMATH 317 Higher Geometry
History of mathematicsMATH 322 History of Mathematics
Abstract algebraMATH 419 Abstract Algebra
Real analysisMATH 427 Real Analysis
Probability and statisticsSTAT 157 Probability and Statistics

Plan to finish any subject-matter courses you still need before student teaching. Exceptions need your coordinator's approval.

Admissions Requirements

To apply, you'll need a bachelor's degree, a statement of purpose, and two recommendations. Your transcript is reviewed course by course for the subject-matter preparation this license requires. Full admissions detail, including how transcripts from outside the U.S. are handled, is on the Post-Baccalaureate Teacher Licensure (PBTL) program page.

Core Courses

Every student on this track takes:

  • EDIL 900 Field Study I in Education and Seminar (spring), or a waiver if you qualify
  • EDIL 910 Education Foundations
  • EDIL 920 Learning and Human Development
  • TESL 910 Sheltered English Immersion

EDIL 910 and EDIL 920 are offered online three times a year. Take them before your methods courses, since they're prerequisites.

Field Experience

Field Study I is observation. Field Study II is part of your methods course, where you take on real teaching. Then comes a full-time, semester-long student teaching practicum. Already working in a school at this level? You can apply to use a semester of that job in place of the practicum.

Application details and deadlines are on the Field Placement & Licensure Information page.

Tests You Will Need

You do not need to pass the Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure (MTEL) to apply. You do need these before student teaching and before the state issues your license:

  • Communication and Literacy Skills
  • Mathematics (Secondary) (63) for the 8–12 license. For the 5–8 license, either Mathematics (Secondary) (63) or Mathematics (Middle School) (65). These are for subject matter knowledge

For registration dates and preparation materials, see Field Placement & Licensure Information.

Meet your Coordinator

Kelly Matthews

Kelly Matthews, Ph.D.

Professor and Secondary Education Coordinator, English Department and Interdisciplinary Studies Advisor and Coordinator
(508) 626-4815
kmatthews@framingham.edu
May Hall

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