UA Secondary Mathematics Alternative Master’s Degree Teacher Certification Program
The University of Alabama’s College of Education and Secondary Mathematics Education programs will carry out the mission to prepare teacher professionals who appreciate and exhibit reflective practice and moral decision making through professional growth, dedication, and valuing the practice of educating all students to their maximum potential. Coursework and experiences in secondary mathematics education programs are designed to institute leaders among their peers and colleagues, become advocates of research-based ‘best practices’, while mentoring pre-service and in-service mathematics teachers into becoming teachers who are leaders in the state and nation.
Our initial teacher license programs at the undergraduate and master’s degree levels are both national recognized by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Specialized Professional Association. This is a rare distinction and the work towards the honor is strictly voluntary, as less than 10% of teacher preparation programs nationally have this distinction. This demonstrates our faculty’s commitment to our students and their futures as mathematics teachers!
Our program also is a partner in the Association of Public and Land-grant University’s Mathematics Teacher Education Partnership, another strictly volunteer service to be part of the national movement for the strongest program nationally.
UA Secondary Mathematics Program receives National Recognition from the Specialized Professional Association of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, press release.
The Need for Mathematics in a Changing World
“We live in a time of extraordinary and accelerating change. New knowledge, tools, and ways of doing and communicating mathematics continue to emerge and evolve. Calculators, too expensive for common use in the early eighties, now are not only commonplace and inexpensive but vastly more powerful. Quantitative information available to limited numbers of people a few years ago is now widely disseminated through popular media outlets.
The need to understand and be able to use mathematics in everyday life and in the workplace has never been greater and will continue to increase.” —National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 2000
Secondary mathematics education at The University of Alabama prepares professional practitioners at the highest level with high expectations of our graduates. Our program produces some of the highest license examination average scores on the Praxis II Mathematics and EdTPA portfolio. For information about one of our undergraduate or graduate programs, please contact our lead faculty member, Dr. Jeremy Zelkowski.
Our Program
Our program embraces the idea of support by faculty for students in a cohorted, collaborative sequential structure of advanced courses. The strength of our program is the close-knit community of faculty and students enrolled in courses specifically designed for producing strong relationships among students, with their faculty, and with teachers in the field in our partner schools. We also excel nationally by our partnership between our department in the College of Education and the mathematics department in the College of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Jeremy Zelkowski and Dr. Jim Gleason have led this partnership since 2008. In the last five years, Dr. Zelkowski has also partnered with Dr. Jeff Gray, a Computer Science Educator at UA, who is recognized in his field as a leader nationally. This new partnership has provided opportunity for SEMA students (if they so choose), to add experiences in computer science education as they pursue their mathematics teaching license.
Our alternative certification master’s degree program follows the vision and national recognition by providing two years of coursework and experiences to enter the mathematics teaching profession. The University of Alabama’s SEMA programs do not compromise program integrity for fast track or a skinny curriculum to graduate new mathematics teachers more quickly and underprepared to meet student needs in their first classrooms. Our program is well-structured and well-supported by faculty to produce well-prepared beginning mathematics teachers. Cooperating teachers in our partner schools have spent many years working with our students and in a professional development capacity with our program faculty. This triad relationship between program faculty, our students, and local teachers has grown to a model being recognized nationally. See some of the research regarding our programmatic outcomes in the research page of this site.
Alternative Master’s Degree Program Information
Our alternative master’s degree program serves individuals who already possess or will posses soon, a bachelor’s degree either in mathematics or another related field.
For individuals considering this program, we strongly suggest reaching out to Dr. Zelkowski, program coordinator, discuss how your undergraduate level coursework may help speed the admission process. The Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE) requires candidates for alternative certification master’s degree programs, to possess:
- An undergraduate GPA of 2.75 or higher
- A mathematics major, degree, or 32 of undergraduate mathematics (19 of which must be at the upper division level 300-499; some may be completed when beginning the MA)
- Professional studies education coursework (referred to in the ALSDE state code as undergraduate deficiency coursework for program admission)
- A complete application and transcript evaluation
The SEMA program at UA requires additionally:Interested students can contact Dr. Zelkowski if you have questions.
Alternative Master’s Degree Program of Study
Program of Study
Alternative Certification Master’s Degree Checklist