Southeastern NEWS
Southeastern Louisiana University
Public Information Office
publicinfo@selu.edu
SLU 10880, Hammond, LA 70402
985/549-2341/fax 985-549-2061
Date: 5/23/02
Contact: Christina Chapple 25
SLU PROGRAM OFFERS TEACHING CERTIFICATION, PLUS MASTER'S DEGREE
ONLINE AND ON-CAMPUS
HAMMOND -- A teacher in India who wants to teach in the United States; a speech
pathologist who works with autistic children; a medical sales office manager who dreams of
helping high school students develop communication skills; a nurse in Canada, who hopes to
teach English in her multi-cultural country.
Those are just some of the people who are asking about Southeastern Louisiana
University's new Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) degree.
"We've heard from five or six lawyers, an anthropologist, criminal justice and math
majors, an accountant," said Bill Neal, assistant dean of the Southeastern College of Education
and Human Development. "I have a stack of e-mail messages, some of them from as far away as
Alaska and Japan."
The new graduate degree, one of four advanced degrees added at Southeastern this year,
debuts this summer, when the first two courses will be offered on campus and online.
The MAT will lead to dual certification in elementary education and special education or
certification in secondary education in 11 specialty areas. The new program is already attracting
the attention of both classroom teachers who need public school certification and non-education
majors who want a career change, Neal said.
The MAT will be an asset to uncertified classroom teachers, who can take the entire two-
year program via the Internet, said Rossana Boyd. Boyd, who helped design the degree program,
is project coordinator of the $1.8 million federal grant project, "Teachers Anytime Anywhere
Partnership." The project is funding the development and offering of the Internet courses.
"Southeastern is the state's second largest provider of distance education," said President
Randy Moffett. "This new program will allow us to reach a greater number of potential teachers
in a manner that conveniently allows them to meet their academic goals. This will not only
impact the need for qualified, certified teachers in Louisiana, but in the nation as well."
"Under Southeastern's old alternative teacher certification program, non-certified teachers
had to leave their classrooms, even quit their jobs, while they completed program requirements
such as methods for teaching classes and student teaching," Neal said.
Neal said the first two courses -- MAT 610 and MAT 620 -- will be available via the
Internet for anyone. However, the rest of the program will be available only to uncertified teacher
candidates who have full time teaching jobs. Most on campus courses will be offered at night, a
convenience for professionals switching to the teaching profession, Boyd said.
"Whether they are currently in the classroom or want to be in the future, those interested
like the fact that the program offers both certification and an advanced degree at the same time,"
Neal said.
Southeastern, along with all Louisiana universities, was directed by the state's Blue
Ribbon Commission on Teacher Accountability to redesign its alternative teacher education
programs. Some universities have chosen to adopt practitioner teacher programs, but
Southeastern chose the master's degree route, Neal said. Southeastern's program is the only one
in the state that will be offered via the Internet to uncertified classroom teachers.
Neal said the Board of Regents has authorized the university to waive out-of-state tuition
fees on six hours of coursework for Internet participants. "It expands the academic credibility of
our certification program," Neal said. "We had the opportunity to completely design a new
program from the ground up."
The MAT degree offers a 39-hour program in elementary education (grades 1-6) and
special education (grades 1-12) and a 36-hour program in secondary education (grades 7-12) in
the areas of English, Spanish, French, music, social studies, health and physical education, home
economics, chemistry, physics and general science, biology and general science, and
mathematics.
To be admitted, would-be certified teachers must apply for admission to the university,
have a bachelor's degree with a minimum 2.5 grade point average, and must pass the PRAXIS I
examination and the PRAXIS II exam in the subject matter they wish to teach within the first two
semesters in the program, and before student teaching or internship.
"Candidates from foreign countries must have the equivalent of a regionally accredited
United States baccalaureate degree and must submit credentials to the American Association of
Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO), Office of International Education
Services," Neal said.
Neal said Southeastern plans to market the program nationwide, where some 300,000
new teachers will be needed over the next three years. In Louisiana it is estimated that more than
14 percent of the teaching force has not completed teacher certification requirements and are
teaching in fields for which they are not appropriately certified.
For additional information on the MAT degree, contact Dr. Bill Neal at 985-549-2311,
wneal@selu.edu or Boyd at 985-549-5736, rboyd@selu.edu. Information is also available on the
College of Education and Human Development 's webpage, at www.selu.edu/MAT.
-SLU-
Press release available online at www.selu.edu/news/spring02.html