Start Your Teaching Journey
The elementary school classroom ignited your current love of learning. Your teacher captured your attention, no matter if they were instructing everyone in math or showing you how to read and write. Their methods opened the door to exploration and curiosity, setting you on the path toward earning a bachelor’s degree. Now you feel like it’s your turn to do the same — create an invigorating, inclusive learning environment, and guide the journeys of the youngest learners regardless of ability.
Start this new and exciting endeavor with an online elementary and special education teaching certificate from the University of Missouri-St. Louis’s Teach in 12 program. Building off your existing bachelor’s degree, this 58- to 62-credit hour program equips you to foster excitement for learning and elementary school students’ mastery of academic and social skills. Four courses dedicated to special education topics prepare you to welcome and encourage all learners’ progress.
Completing this teaching certificate combining online learning with in-person practicum assignments helps you fulfill requirements to apply for a Department of Education/Secondary Education (DESE) Missouri Initial Teacher Certificate in Elementary Teaching 1-6, along with a Mild/Moderate Cross-Categorical Disabilities, K–12 Special Education endorsement. To get started, speak to an adviser about completing the Missouri Content Assessment in the appropriate subject area.
Discover your purpose in the classroom
UMSL’s College of Education perceives teachers not as founts of knowledge but rather as individuals who invest in the next generation and their schools’ communities. In turn, the Teach in 12 program aims to develop devoted classroom instructors who engage all students, devise learning environments that help everyone grow socially, culturally and developmentally and connect with staff members, parents and the community to encourage success.
This approach emerges not just in your course work, but also in assignments that are immediately applicable to your practice as a teacher in Studio Schools. Here, you’ll have the opportunity to employ the theories you’ve acquired in traditional and non-traditional environments to captivate younger students, prepare lesson plans and assess their progress.
Program type:
Graduate Certificate
Format:
Hybrid
Take the next step
Elementary and special education teaching graduate certificate
Course work is blended, some campus visits are required. Courses are held online. Internships are completed in-person for teacher certification that meets the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education requirements.
Students have some flexibility in completing their certification. Teach in 12 encourages you to complete all requirements in three semesters plus one summer session. However, many opt to take one to two classes per semester to finish the program in two years.
In addition to course content, certification involves spending time in school and community agency settings to practice and strengthen your skills:
- 20 clock hours in a community agency
- Two site-based practicum courses in a Studio School
- Two days per week in a school environment as a Triton Teacher
- Four days per week in a school environment as a Triton Teacher
Outcomes and Career Outlook
The College of Education designs the elementary and special education teaching certificate for individuals who have completed at least a bachelor’s degree and wish to obtain the necessary classroom credential or who seek to transition from an industry to an instructional role. The program introduces techniques that not only help you develop curriculums and lesson plans but excite students, encourage them to retain and use their knowledge and realize their potential. You’ll:
- Discover tactics for improving student learning and related outcomes
- See how you can successfully and meaningfully integrate technology into the classroom
- Connect pedagogical theories with methods for introducing and reinforcing concepts and creating more authentic learning experiences
- Learn about developing, implementing and evaluating curriculums based on state standards and learning science principles
- Explore ways you can create a more inclusive and respectful learning environment that nurtures all students socially and intellectually
- Understand how curriculums and assessments can introduce and strengthen all learners’ critical-thinking and problem-solving skills
- Become a better communicator and change agent who strives to improve student learning and wellbeing through connection and support
This combination of skills equips you to pursue:
- DESE Elementary (1-6) Certification: The College of Education will recommend you for certification after you complete the course sequence and if you meet all state requirements.
- DESE Mild/Moderate Disability Endorsement: You’ll apply to add this special education endorsement after receiving your initial certification and passing all corresponding exams.
Career Outlook
Elementary educators play a crucial role across all school systems, sparking students’ interest in learning and setting them up for success through high school, college and eventually the working world. Illustrating this consistent demand, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has identified 7% growth of kindergarten and elementary school teachers through 2030.
Plan of study
Non-Missouri Residents: Prospective students are responsible for reviewing the UMSL state authorizations page to see if this program is offered in their state throughout their program and to review the licensure or certification requirements for the state in which they reside.
