Online Transition to Teaching Programs

Online Transition to Teaching Program for Secondary Education  

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.

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.

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 License 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)

Program Contacts

Casey Schultz
Student Success Specialist

Jill Bradley-Levine
Assistant Professor of Education Studies

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 Educational Studies as detailed below. You'll submit these items with your application:

• 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 teaching
• Vita or résumé, 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.

Application Deadlines

• Fall semester: July 1
• Spring semester: November 1
• Summer semester: April 1