Should I Get a Teaching Endorsement?
Posted: January 14, 2020 | Author: Savannah Byers | Read Time: 3 minutes
As an education student, you might be wondering should I get a teaching endorsement, or maybe even what is a teaching endorsement? Southern Utah University’s College of Education and Human Development (COEHD) offers several degree endorsements on both the graduate and undergraduate levels. These endorsements help teachers gain more opportunities, stand out, and move up the pay scale.
“If you are majoring in education, SUU will jumpstart your endorsement and licensure options,” said Dr. Nichole Wangsgard, associate dean of COEHD. “See your advisor sooner rather than later, and add the credentials that will set you apart as a teacher.”
What is a degree endorsement?
If you are majoring in any education discipline, you are already working towards earning your license to teach. When you decide to add a degree endorsement, you will be adding another qualification or specialization to your repertoire.
Degree endorsements qualify teachers to teach a wider variety of subjects and students. SUU has degree endorsements available in disciplines such as mathematics, reading, English as a second language, and several others.
“In my first year of teaching, I have benefited greatly by being duly licensed in elementary education and special education,” said SUU alumni Rowdy Miller, a first grade teacher in a rural school district. “While my first job was not in the special education field, I have had to use many of the strategies I learned there to meet the needs of my students. I have students performing on a second grade level and students performing on a preschool level. It is my job to meet their needs.”
Why should I get a teaching endorsement?
School districts are finally beginning to raise salaries for teachers, and SUU remains committed to not only preparing future teachers to enter the field, but also setting them apart to earn the higher pay they deserve.
“Endorsements make a teacher more ‘marketable,’ meaning that they possess certifications that enhance their license that others probably do not have,” said John Meisner, assistant professor of education and COEHD accreditation director.
A teaching endorsement will make you stand out compared to other teachers in the hiring process, give you more opportunities throughout your career as a teacher, and possibly make additional monetary benefits available for you.
What options are available at SUU?
SUU currently offers three undergraduate teaching endorsements and seven graduate teaching endorsements. Many of the endorsements programs are also available online, making them easier to pursue even after you’ve begun teaching.
SUU also partners with several school districts in Utah and Nevada to help their teachers earn endorsements while they are teaching.
SUU’s current degree endorsements include:
- Graduate Elementary Mathematics Endorsement
- Graduate English as a Second Language (E.S.L.) Endorsement
- Graduate Gifted and Talented Endorsement
- Graduate Library/Media K-12 Endorsement
- Graduate Reading Endorsement (Reading Endorsement Level 1 or 2)
- Graduate Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Endorsement
- Graduate Technology Education Endorsement
- Undergraduate Elementary English as a Second Language (E.E.S.L.) Endorsement
- Undergraduate K-8 Mathematics Endorsement
- Undergraduate Library/Media K-12 Endorsement
SUU offers students several pathways to licensure. Requirements for standard teacher licensure includes content area courses, block courses, and teacher education courses. Dual licensure in special education includes additional courses that number to the equivalent of an endorsement.
SUU’s current teaching licensure options include:
- Administrative/Supervisory License Leadership in Education & Administrative Development (LEAD)
- Secondary Education Licensure
- Special Education Alternate Route to Licensure Program
- Special Education Mild/Moderate Dual Licensure Concentration: K-12
“SUU's programs, with their highly qualified professors and countless hands-on experience in practicums, have prepared me to be where I am today,” Miller said. “Without SUU, I would be struggling in my career and lost with where to go next. They gave me the skills and guidance I need to become the best teacher I can be, which is the only teacher my students deserve.”
Southern Utah University’s Department of Teacher Education offers students the opportunity to major in elementary education or secondary education. With a variety of courses, endorsements, and emphases, SUU graduates are set apart from others in the hiring process.
Tags: Education College of Education and Human Development
