Secondary Teacher Education (Alternate Route) - Master's

Become a Teacher: Explore our Alternate Route Programs!

Do you want to teach and already have a bachelor’s degree in something other than education? USM’s Secondary Education Alternate Route programs may be for you! Secondary Licensure can be earned through two alternate route pathways—the Master of Arts in Teaching 33 semester-hour (MAT) degree or the JumpStart pathway for undergraduates. Earn your teaching license at Southern Miss!

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What Will I Learn?

Alternate licensure programs focus on the following knowledge, skills, and dispositions:

• Professional ethics, legal obligations, and education advocacy
• Using research to inform teaching and learning
• Building a positive classroom environment
• Best practices for instructional planning and design
• Effective teaching strategies for secondary students
• Assessment of student learning
• Meeting the needs of all learners
• Supporting struggling readers and writers
• Contemporary challenges in secondary education  

What Do Classes Look Like?  

Future master’s students/secondary teachers will primarily experience the program through weekly, live, online synchronous “chat” classes. This means classes meet using a virtual conferencing application (like Zoom), utilizing web cameras and audio devices for interactive class sessions. Classes meet in the evenings. During class meetings, we analyze and synthesize crucial educational knowledge and skills. Students prepare for class sessions and arrive to virtual class meetings ready to contribute to the MAT learning community. Our program prioritizes and models engaging and relational professional learning experiences so that students will be able to facilitate engagement and critical thinking within secondary education contexts. Our graduates tell us that a sense of community and faculty support distinguishes the Secondary Education MAT program; they felt prepared for life as a successful secondary teacher. 

 

 

Faculty are dedicated to preparing effective teachers for Mississippi.

Faculty provide evidence-based instruction that prepares highly qualified and effective teachers in their respective subject areas while consistently modeling professionalism. Candidates receive personalized attention from faculty throughout the program to assess candidate strengths and areas for professional growth. Experts in secondary education mentor candidates during their first year of teaching thereby helping them transition smoothly to the teaching profession.

Professional Licensure Disclosure

Programs at the University of Southern Mississippi that prepare students for initial licensure in the field of secondary education in a specific subject area are designed to meet the licensure standards set by the Mississippi Department of Education. 

Students seeking licensure in another state are advised to contact the appropriate licensing board in that state to determine specific requirements of guidelines for reciprocity. For information about professional licensure determinations made to comply with federal regulations requiring disclosures as to whether a program that is marketed or designed to lead to licensure or state certification leads to professional licensure or state certification, see the following:

General professional licensure/state certification information

https://www.usm.edu/professional-licensure-certification-disclosures/index.php

For questions regarding professional licensure, contact the program coordinator for your specific program.  Program coordinators are grouped by college.  To access the list click the 'Professional Licensure and Certification Boards by USM College' button at the top of the main Professional Licensure and Certification web page (https://www.usm.edu/professional-licensure-certification-disclosures/index.php).

For questions, please contact Dr. Jay Howell at James.B.HowellFREEMississippi

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