The Rice Undergraduate Teacher Education Program

The Rice Teacher Education Program seeks to recruit Rice undergraduates from a wide range of disciplines into the profession of teaching. The majority of Americans recognize with increasing urgency that education must become a national priority. It is the conviction of our program that bright and motivated Rice undergraduates have the talent and the vision to inspire middle and high school students with a life-long love of learning. Whether you are motivated by your love of a discipline, enthusiasm for students, or a broad commitment to human development, the Teacher Education Program at Rice seeks to engage you in a series of conversations and courses that will enable you to leave Rice with both the necessary intellectual and practical preparation to make a lasting contribution to contemporary youth, their schools, and our society.

Texas and all of the other states in the United States require public school teachers to be certified and to have passed a series of courses that will prepare teachers to understand students well, to develop challenging and creative curricula, and to work respectfully and collaboratively with parents and a school's broader community. Recognizing the importance of a solid foundation of knowledge in teachers' major disciplines, the Teacher Education Program at Rice encourages undergraduates to achieve breadth of study in the liberal arts and depth in disciplines that can become the students' areas of teaching concentration. You can elect to pursue secondary certification (grades 8-12) in any of the following fields:

Teaching fields offered include:

The sequence of courses in the Teacher Education Program packs a wealth of philosophical, historical, and applied perspectives on teaching and learning into an 18-hour course sequence followed by students in their junior and senior years at Rice. Twelve of those hours prepare undergraduates to teach, and six of those hours are earned by students who actually do teach for two consecutive summers in the six-week program of the Rice University Summer School for Grades 8 through 12.

The preparatory courses include extensive study of the developmental psychology of children and adolescents; the structure, culture, and curriculum of secondary schools and their diverse students; and study of the historical, philosophical, and political facets of American education. Students acquire extensive field experience in Houston's impressive variety of schools. The Summer School teaching experience enables undergraduate student teachers to design courses which emphasize creativity, small group work, and alternative forms of assessment.

To understand our program at a glance, first envision yourself pursuing your chosen major(s) at Rice without participating in the teacher education program. Then integrate the following sequence of activities and courses into your schedule:

• apply to the program during your sophomore, junior, or first semester of your senior year (if enrolled in fall classes) and gain admittance;
• pass or be exempted from the Texas Higher Education Assessment (THEA, formerly TASP) tests, Reading, Mathematics, and Writing, prior to enrolling in any teacher education courses. Contact the Education Certification Office about exemptions from the THEA tests;
• take "Philosophical, Historical and Social Foundations of Education" (Education 301) or "The American High School" (Education 330) during the fall semester of your junior year;
• also during the fall semester of your junior year, take "Methods of Teaching" (which varies by discipline and carries one to three credits);
• take "Educational Psychology" (Education 305) during the spring semester of your junior year;
• also during the spring semesters of your junior and senior years, take "Curriculum Development" (Education 420);
• teach Summer School courses during the summer between your junior and senior years;
• teach Summer School courses after you have graduated;
• pass the ExCET or TExES examinations in Professional Development (Secondary) and in each teaching field. These tests can be taken during the last semester (spring semester if finishing in summer) or after all requirements are satisfied. (Forms are available in the Education Certification Office.) and
• with the assistance of the Education Certification Office, apply for a teaching certificate from the Texas Education Agency. Our program may require a teaching internship and eligibility for state certification, which are contingent on a student having eligibility to work in the United States.

There is some flexibility in this schedule. For example, you may elect to take Education 305 in your senior rather than your junior year. It is possible to begin the program in the senior year, but the above schedule is followed by the majority of our undergraduate students. In addition, there are supplementary requirements such as passing state-mandated tests and maintaining a strong grade point average which all students must fulfill to be recommended for certification by the Department.

In addition to course work leading to teacher certification, the Program also offers research seminars and colloquia on major issues in contemporary education. We encourage you to visit the Education Certification Office to discuss any questions you may have about the application process.

Certfication Information

Education Certification - MS 146, Rice University, P. O. Box 1892, Houston, TX 77251-1892
Physical Location: 30 Herman Brown Hall, 6100 Main Street, Houston, TX 77005-1892
Voice: 713- 348-4826, Fax: 713-348-5459, E-mail: educ@rice.edu