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Elementary Education - Transition to Teaching 

Time for a Career Transition?

On Your Way to a Master’s Degree

If you finish the transition program, you need only four additional courses to complete a master’s degree in elementary education.

Competitively Priced

Ball State's graduate programs combine quality with an affordable cost. We recommend you compare the value of a Ball State program with any other.

During your college years, you may not have thought about a career in a school classroom. But now, after some years in the workforce, you may like the idea of guiding children to a meaningful future and inspiring them to dream big. 

The nationally recognized Ball State Teachers College can prepare you for the classroom with our online Transition to Teaching Program for Elementary Education. You can finish in four consecutive semesters and be ready to earn your teaching license. 

You will perform your student teaching in a school where you work or at an another educational setting that is near your home. A Teachers College faculty member will supervise your teaching. Take note that our online faculty are the same Ball State professors who teach on campus.

The program includes coursework in teaching methods, child development, math and literacy, plus field experiences, and a 10-week student teaching experience. Except for student teaching and field experiences, you will pursue the program 100 percent online.

What Can You Do with a Degree in Transition to Teaching Program for Elementary Education (K-6)?

Ball State’s Transition to Teaching program qualifies you to teach kindergarten through grade 6. Schools need dedicated professionals like you! According to the Learning Policy Institute, approximately 100,000 classrooms nationwide are staffed by a teacher who is not fully qualified to teach.

Course Requirements

You are encouraged to take two courses each semester. Your academic advisor will help you.

  • EDEL 600 Basic Concepts in Elementary Education (3 credits)
  • EDEL 626 Discipline and Classroom Management: Some Practical Approaches (3 credits)
  • EDEL 644 Education in a Diverse Society (3 credits)
  • EDEL 690 Practicum in Elementary Education (3 credits)
  • EDRD 610 The Teaching of Reading in the Elementary School (3 credits)
  • EDRD 615 Early Literacy Development (3 credits)
  • EDPS 627 Child Development (3 credits)
  • MATH 680 Special Studies in the Teaching of Mathematics (3 credits) 
Scott Popplewell, Transition to Teaching Director“We encourage our students to challenge themselves to become outstanding educators and hold them to the highest standards. It is because of this that our graduates are highly regarded and recruited by school systems across Indiana and throughout the nation.”

—Scott Popplewell, director of Ball State’s Transition to Teaching Program
 

Online Transition to Teaching Program for Secondary Education 

Master of Arts in Secondary Education Option

When you finish the transition to secondary education teaching program, you will need only four additional courses to complete a master of arts in secondary education option. You will pursue the four courses, after you are licensed and teaching full time.

Competitively Priced

Ball State's graduate programs combine quality with an affordable cost. We recommend you compare the value of a Ball State program with any other.

Designed to Work in Your World

Students from across the state may pursue their teaching license without relocating. Digital technology is used for lesson observations, as well as pre- and post-observation conferencing.

You only leave home to do student teaching and a field experience, which you’ll perform in an Indiana secondary school located near you.

What are the chances that you recently graduated with a degree in a content area but never planned to get a teaching license? Or that you’ve been working for a few years in a disciplinary field but think you’d make a great secondary teacher? Are you filling a position due to your school’s teaching shortage but need to earn your license? Are you a college professor wondering about other classroom levels?

Wherever you are, we have good news: you can always make a transition. Ball State’s Transition to Teaching Program for Secondary Education is one of the few online transition programs for those considering a career in the senior high, junior high, and middle school classroom. 

Finish in Four Semesters

You can begin the program in the fall, spring, or summer semesters, depending on your schedule. And you can finish the program in four semesters, including a 16-week, full-time student teaching experience in an Indiana secondary school during one of the final two semesters of the program. You can do your student teaching in a school where you work or at an another educational setting that is near your home. A Teachers College faculty member will supervise your teaching.

The Transition to Teaching program uses a two-part learning community approach. First, you will attend two, one-day professional development events each semester. Offered both onsite and online, these activities give you an opportunity to collaborate with classmates, faculty, university supervisors, and program alumni. Second, you will participate in a virtual learning community during and after the program. This community provides ongoing mentoring and support into your first years as a teacher.

Ball State’s Teachers College, which consistently ranks among the best in the U.S., has prepared innumerable teachers, counselors, principals, and superintendents. We are one of the nation’s most comprehensive universities in both the quantity and quality of educator programs.

What can You Do with a Degree in Transition to Teaching for Secondary Education?

You will be licensed to teach your content area in senior high school, junior high school, and/or middle school (grades 6-12) in the state of Indiana.

Please note that you must have an undergraduate degree in the content area you wish to teach.

Course Requirements

You will complete 18 credit hours, including courses that explore the foundations of education, educational psychology, meeting the needs of diverse learners, curriculum development, classroom management, home and school connections, and student assessment.

  • EDFO 620 Social, Historical, and Philosophical Foundations of Education (3 credits)
  • EDPS 600 Advanced Educational Psychology (3 credits)
  • EDJH 585 Theory into Practice in Middle Level Schools (3 credits)
  • EDSE 560 Student Teaching (3 credits)
  • EDSE 580 Theory into Practice in Secondary Schools (3 credits)

Choose one course from the following:

  • EDJH 512 Instructional Strategies and Approaches in Junior High and Middle Schools (3 credits)
  • EDJH 534 Classroom Management: Practical Approaches to Improving Student Behavior (3 credits)
  • EDSE 695 Dynamics of the Secondary School Classroom (3 credits)
  • Content pedagogy course to be determined by your content area. Please note that some of these courses are online and others might require a face-to-face course (3 credits)

 

Faculty Advisor

Jill Bradley-Levine

Assistant Professor of Education Studies

More about Online Learning

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Tuition and Fees

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Funding Your Education


Ready to Apply?

Step 1: You will first want to check if you meet the admission requirements for the Ball State Graduate School. Then you may apply.

Step 2: Meet the admission requirements and apply to Ball State’s Department of Elementary Education as detailed below:  

  • Submission of Additional Information. E-mail the following documents to Casey Schultz, academic advisor and recruiter:
    • Letter of application, including a personal statement addressing why you wish to become a teacher, why you should be selected for the Transition to Teaching program and how you will contribute to the profession, and a statement about your access to an educational setting in order to practice teach with children
    • Vita or resume, listing educational and job experiences
    • Three letters of reference from professional contacts who can attest to your abilities as a student and/or teacher
    • Items detailed below depending on whether you are an Indiana resident or a resident of another state.
  • Personal Interviews. Once all of your materials are received, you will be interviewed either online or in person to determine your acceptance into the program.

Application Deadlines

  • Fall semester: June 1
  • Spring semester: November 1

For Indiana Residents

If you hold a master’s degree from a regionally accredited college or university, you do not have to submit any of the materials listed below.

If you hold a bachelor’s degree and are an Indiana resident, submit one of the following to be considered for admission into the Transition to Teaching program:

  • Your scores on the Indiana Core Academic Skills Assessment (CASA) as one means for demonstrating basic skills competency. You must have passed the CASA to be eligible for acceptance. CASA testing is offered only at physical locations within Indiana.

  • Or, you can submit your test scores of any one of the following:
    • ACT with a score of at least 24 based on math, reading, grammar, and science
    • SAT with a score of at least 1100 based on critical reading and math
    • GRE with a score of at least 1100 based on verbal and quantitative prior to 8/1/11; or a GRE with a score of at least 301 based on verbal and quantitative on or after 8/1/11

Note: Writing scores (if taken) for the ACT, SAT, and GRE are not considered in the score total.

Students from Other States

If you hold a master’s degree from a regionally accredited college or university, you do not have to submit any of the materials listed below.

If you hold a bachelor’s degree and do not reside in Indiana, you should submit any one of the following:

  • ACT with a score of at least 24 based on math, reading, grammar, and science
  • SAT with a score of at least 1100 based on critical reading and math
  • GRE with a score of at least 1100 based on verbal and quantitative prior to 8/1/11; or a GRE with a score of at least 301 based on verbal and quantitative on or after 8/1/11

Note: Writing scores (if taken) for the ACT, SAT, and GRE are not considered.

Ball State is authorized to accept online students from all U.S. states. Certain conditions may apply depending on what regulations your state has and what degree you are seeking. Learn more about state authorization for non-Indiana students.

Application

Admission to Ball State is selective, and we carefully evaluate all application on an individual basis. Applying for admission is easy. Use our convenient, comprehensive, and secure online application.

Get Started

Want to Learn More?

Do you have questions about this program or online learning? We’re here to help! You may request more information using our online form, or feel free to reach out directly to one of our staff.

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