Post-Baccalaureate Teacher Preparation in English for Secondary Education

For more than 175 years, Central has provided quality education to its teacher candidates. Central’s post-baccalaureate certification program in secondary English prepares students who have already earned a Bachelor’s Degree in English (or its credit equivalent) from a regionally accredited institution to be a certified teacher of grades 7-12 English Language Arts in Connecticut. Our graduates develop their knowledge, strategies, and professionalism via excellent content and pedagogy experiences, and they often go on to become mentor teachers and innovative leaders in their school districts and professional organizations.

Program Features

• Learn and apply engaging and inclusive pedagogical theories and practices
• Focus on effective and innovative English Language Arts methods 
• Engage in active fieldwork in public schools 
• Apprentice to mentor teachers 
• Complete a semester-long student teaching internship
• Develop leadership capacities in education and communication
• Attend coursework full- or part-time
• Co-build camaraderie and supports via small, cohorted classes 
• Enjoy job market and career-focused mentorship both before and beyond graduation from a range of program faculty, mentor teachers, and clinical supervisors with decades of experience in CT public schools

Program Outcomes

Central’s post-baccalaureate certification program in secondary English employs the National Council of Teachers of English Standards for the Initial Preparation of Teachers of English Language Arts (ELA) 7–12:

• Standard 1: Learners and Learning in ELA. Candidates apply and demonstrate knowledge of learners and learning to foster inclusive learning environments that support coherent, relevant, standards-aligned, differentiated, and antiracist/antibias instruction to engage grade 7–12 learners in ELA.
• Standard 2: ELA Content Knowledge. Candidates apply and demonstrate knowledge and theoretical perspectives, including antiracist/antibias ELA, pertaining to texts, composition, language, and languaging.
• Standard 3: Planning for Instruction in ELA. Candidates apply and demonstrate knowledge of theories, research, and ELA to plan coherent, relevant, standards-aligned, differentiated, antiracist/antibias instruction and assessment. 
• Standard 4: Implementing Instruction in ELA. Candidates implement planned coherent, relevant, standards-aligned, differentiated, and antiracist/antibias ELA instruction and assessment to motivate and engage all learners. 
• Standard 5: Professional Responsibility of ELA Teachers. Candidates reflect on their ELA practice, use knowledge and theoretical perspectives to collaborate with educational community members, and demonstrate readiness for leadership, professional learning, and advocacy.

Check out the full publication of the NCTE guidelines.

The Application Process

Any student with a Bachelor's Degree and at least a 2.70 GPA is eligible to apply for the Certification Program in Secondary English. 

1. Apply to the Graduate School and check off Certification Program, Secondary English. Applications are available in Graduate Studies.
2. You will be sent a letter that informs you whether or not you have been accepted into the Graduate Studies at Central. This step makes you eligible to work with an advisor to plan your next steps, including a formal application to the Certification Program in Secondary English. 
3. If you have been accepted to the Graduate School, you will be assigned an advisor. You must contact your advisor so you can discuss your pathway to certification. Your advisor and our certification officer in the School of Education will review your transcripts, and then you and your advisor will determine when you apply to the Certification Program. If you already hold a BA in English at a regionally accredited institution requiring a liberal arts general education requirement, that step may happen quite soon after your general admission to the Graduate Studies at Central. If you need to take more English or general education courses, you will prepare your formal application to the program once the majority of those are completed. Your advisor will help you determine the type of English courses that best prepare you for your career path.

Once accepted into the Professional Program, most students complete the remaining required coursework in two to three semesters and then student teach for one full spring semester. Students who require significant prerequisite English and/or general education courses and those who elect to attend part-time prior to their student teaching semester work with their advisor to adjust their timelines accordingly.