Each curriculum, leading to teaching certification, contains three groups of courses, as required by the certification laws of West Virginia: content specialization, professional education, and general education core. In every case curricula followed at West Virginia State University will equal or exceed the minimum requirements established by state laws and regulations.
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Please note that completion of an approved program in teacher in West Virginia does not necessarily qualify a person for a teacher certification in other states. In addition, all candidates for a teaching certificate in West Virginia must be fingerprinted and the results will be sent to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for a criminal background check in accordance with state law. Based on the results of this criminal background check, a certificate may or may not be issued.
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EFFECTIVE FALL 2011: Any transfer or any readmitted student who completed Education 300 and/or Education 316 (or the equivalent courses at another higher education institution) more than 5 years ago must retake the course(s). This is to ensure current information and skills with respect to planning, teaching, and technology integration.
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When West Virginia certification regulations change, all candidates will be expected to meet these regulations at the time they are recommended for a teaching certificate, regardless of when they started the program.
A college student who plans for a career as a teacher must pursue a curriculum in teacher education, which leads to a Bachelor of Science in Education degree and meets the academic requirements for a license to teach in the public schools of West Virginia.
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All options described in the following pages have been organized in such a way that teacher education candidates completing this Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) and West Virginia Board of Education approved program may seek and have granted a West Virginia teaching license.
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If candidates desire to teach in a state other than West Virginia, the CAEP approved program completed at West Virginia State University may qualify the candidates for a comparable initial certificate in the state of their choice. To be certain, the candidates should obtain the requirements of other states by contacting the appropriate state certification agency and use this information in planning their program of studies with their advisors.