Teacher Certification Program

Students seeking teacher certification through the State of Missouri with Post-Baccalaureate status are required to meet requirements and seek admission to the Teacher Certification Program as early as possible. Students who seek admission to the program must have:

• Completed at least six hours of the Post-Baccalaureate core at Columbia College, which must include EDUC 505 . Post-baccalaureate core courses are: EDUC 505 , EDUC 542 , EDUC 550  and EDUC 550  (or their undergraduate equivalents); 
• Attained a cumulative GPA of at least 2.5 (includes all coursework, Columbia College and other) with no grade of less than C in the professional education and content area courses; (Note: State overall GPA requirements will increase from 2.5 to 2.75 and content area and professional education GPAs will increase from 2.8 to 3.0 beginning with the Spring 2017 semester. See Dismissal on Grading and Academic Standing  page for more information.)
• Completion of application materials for admission to the Teacher Certification Program. (Application materials are available on the Education Department website.)

Retention Criteria:

• Complete at least six hours of professional education each year;
• Complete required field experiences (in EDUC 505  and EDUC 563 ) and receive favorable evaluations from cooperating teachers and faculty supervisors;
• Maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.5 or above after acceptance to the program (increasing to 2.75 beginning with the Spring 2017 semester);
• Maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.8 or above in professional education and content area courses (increasing to 3.0 beginning with the Spring 2017 semester).
• Department faculty members and staff will document instances of unprofessional behavior. Unprofessional behavior may make the student ineligible for acceptance in the Teacher Certification Program or may result in the immediate dismissal of a student from the Teacher Certification Program. Additional information regarding candidate dismissal can be obtained from the Education Department.

Other Coursework:

• Content area coursework not completed in BA must also be taken to meet State certification requirements.
• Any content area or professional education course(s) with grade of “D” or lower must be repeated until a grade of “C” or above is obtained (see Dismissal on Grading and Academic Standing  page regarding two grades of C once admitted to the MAT Post-Baccalaureate program).

Other requirements for certification that must be completed prior to recommendation for a Missouri teaching certificate:

• Successful completion of appropriate Missouri Content Assessment (MoCA);
• Successful completion of the Missouri Pre-Service Teacher Assessment (MoPTA)

Cost Information and Suggestions for Teacher Certification Program Students

Teaching is a very rewarding field to pursue but the various costs associated with obtaining teacher certification can be difficult without careful planning. To help with this planning, here are the fees and assessment costs associated with becoming a teacher in the state of Missouri:

Fees: All field experience courses, practicums, and student teaching include a fee categorized as a “lab fee.” These fees could vary but in most cases, lab fees are $40 per field experience/practicum/student teaching course. Students should review their certification checklist to see how many field experience courses are required.

Assessments: Missouri requires various assessments throughout a student’s teacher certification program. Assessment fees are outlined below:

• Missouri Educator Profile (MEP): cost = $22
• Missouri Content Assessment (MoCA): the cost of this assessment varies ($77 to $189 per assessment) depending on the area of certification. Some certification areas require multiple assessments and others may only require one. (This assessment replaced the Praxis II.)
• Missouri Pre-Service Teacher Assessment (MoPTA): cost = $275 (registration fee). If the assessment must be rescheduled, there is a $30 rescheduling fee. If a task needs to be resubmitted, there is an $85 resubmission fee. If test takers feels that their final scores were reported incorrectly, they may request that ETS conduct a review of responses scored; there is a $100 score review fee.

Note: Some testing centers may also charge an exam sitting fee. For additional information about these assessments, go to http://www.mo.nesinc.com/ and http://mega.ets.org/test-takers.

Tuition: Although this may seem obvious, tuition is another cost to plan for. Tuition cost can be especially difficult during student teaching, which is a 16-week placement in a school during which most students are not able to maintain a separate job for income.

How to plan: Since the assessments are not covered by financial aid, students should determine with their advisor the semester/session they plan to take the assessment(s) and save any financial aid refund from previous terms to help defray the cost. A semester with no income while student teaching would obviously take more budgeting, but planning ahead would certainly help reduce the financial stress during that time.