When I was looking for information about teaching credential programs, I didn’t have the best luck finding useful information. As I went into my program, I did feel like I was going in a bit blind. I had so many questions and so few answers. What were the job placement rates? Was it better than other programs? Did that matter? What were the requirements? However, a year later, I had both a credential and a job. Because of this, I wanted to write an article about what you should know about an SDSU teaching credential. Hopefully this helps you either decide to pursue or go into your program with peace of mind!
A Bit of Background
I went through the SDSU teaching credential program in the 2021-2022 school year. I did not always intend to go into teaching. In fact, until the year before, I’d planned to go into something related to International Relations. I majored in International Security and Conflict Resolution (ISCOR) and minored in Honors. Throughout my time at SDSU, I did many extracurriculars, searching for something that felt like the right life path. I also picked up a second minor, English, which made me remember how much I loved the subject. During the summer of 2020, I decided that I wanted to pursue teaching. I debated between teaching English and teaching social studies, but I ultimately decided to teach secondary English because A) I was slightly more interested, B) it’s more applicable in multiple fields, and C) there are more jobs there.
During the summer and fall of 2020, I started to prepare for the credential program. I knew that I wanted to stay in San Diego, and I wanted to stay at SDSU as well. With that in mind, I prepared for the credential program there. I debated between USD’s program and SDSU’s program, but SDSU ultimately made more sense for me. I completed the credential program for a Single Subject Secondary Credential in English. By late June to early July of the next year, I had a job in teaching in San Diego.
Requirements to Get an SDSU Teaching Credential
Before you get into the program, you have to meet all of the requirements. I believe that most California credential programs have fairly similar application requirements. However, I will specifically review SDSU’s requirements here.
First, you need to decide what you’re applying for. The first option is multiple-subject. This is what most elementary school teachers have. Technically, they say that you can teach middle school with it, but I have seen this becoming less and less common. The idea here is that you will have a self-contained classroom where you are the primary/only teacher. The second option is single-subject. This is what most middle and high school teachers have. Here, you focus on one specific subject (i.e., English Language Arts) and train to teach only that subject. It’s important that you pick the right one, as it will dictate which program/tests you proceed with.
Applications are due by February 1, and they open in the fall. SDSU wants all of the requirements completed by time you turn in your application.
Prerequisite Courses
SDSU requires you to take three courses before the credential program. One is a one unit course called TE 280, which is about health education in the classroom. I took it in fall of 2020 at SDSU. At the time, it was only offered in the fall. It was super easy, and the professor was one of my main professors during the credential program. She was amazing! I took the other two classes, ED451 (Introduction to Multicultural Education–3 units) and SPED450 (Classroom Adaptations for Special Populations–2 units) during the summer of 2020. They weren’t hard, but they were a bit more work. If you’re coming from another school, you just need to make sure that you’ve taken the equivalent courses.
One thing to note is that I was not in a teaching major for my undergrad. Some people in my cohort had taken “Social Studies for Single Subject Teachers,” which specifically targeted their coursework toward preparing them to get a credential in that subject area. These majors generally included the classes, so if this applies to you, you probably don’t have to worry about fitting them in.
Exams
There are two main groups of exams that you will need to pass and submit to the program. With both, you should take them as early as possible. If you fail one of them (or a section of one), you have to wait 45 calendar days to retake it. Beyond having to pay for the test twice, you risk not actually having a passing score by the application due date/program start. Because of this, I strongly recommend doing it ahead of time.
Basic Skills Requirement
The first is the “Basic Skills Requirement.” Usually, people pass this by doing the CBEST. While you might be able to pass this requirement by submitting certain standardized tests, AP scores, or coursework, I recommend taking the CBEST. When I was applying for jobs, many districts wanted to see proof of my CBEST scores/passing. For me, it was best to get it out of the way ahead of time.
Subject Matter Competency
The second requirement to apply for an SDSU teaching credential is “Subject Matter Competency.” For anyone who did not have an undergraduate teaching major like I mentioned above (i.e., English for Single Subject Teachers), this means taking the CSET. I won’t lie. This exam sucks. It’s difficult, tedious, and expensive. Now, the California government might be waiving the cost, so I would look into that. When I took it, however, that wasn’t an option. This meant studying for another exam outside of my full-time course load. It’s doable, but it really isn’t fun.
Each subject area requires different numbers of tests. For example, Art only requires two subtests. Math and Social Studies require three. English requires four. You have to take and pass all of the subtests within the subject to “pass” the subject.
CSET Time Requirement
As I mentioned, the English test had four subtests. I decided that I wanted to teach English a little late, so I completed these tests during the early fall of my final year of undergrad. The CBEST wasn’t too difficult in my opinion, and I studied for that for maybe a few days to a week before I scheduled it. I passed it on my first try. I wanted to get started early on the CSET as early as possible, so I found some books and advice online and started to study for one subsection at a time. My strategy was to knock out that multiple choice tests (aka the first two subtests) first. I studied super hard for those and took them about two weeks after the CBEST. I’d heard that the fourth subtest was pretty easy, so I took that about a week later. Finally, I took the third subtest within another few days to a week.
I passed all of them on my first try, but I was happy that I did them early. While I crammed beforehand, it was definitely good that I’d left myself time in case I’d needed to retake. It was stressful in the short run, but it was way less stressful (and expensive) than it could have been in the long run. I’d probably study more in advance and take the tests even closer together if I were to do it again. What I would not recommend doing is taking multiple tests at a time. They’re long and brutal, and it honestly just sounds like torture.
Early Field Experience
Before you actually do the SDSU teaching credential, the program wants to make sure you have some experience. I think this is also so that you know what you’re getting yourself into. You need to complete it before your application is due, but you can technically complete it over seven years. They want you to have 45 hours. To complete this, you have three options.
Take a Course at SDSU
SDSU offers some courses that will waive this requirement. This mostly applies to people who did the undergrad teacher preparation programs. There was only one class that seemed accessible for most students, and that was a class called TE 362. If I remember correctly, it’s essentially a structured observation/tutoring program.
Substitute Teach
If you’ve substituted before, you can use this as your experience. This doesn’t apply to most fresh college graduates, but for someone who has already worked in education, it’s a fantastic option.
Independent Observation Experience
Most people do this. You have to figure out your own way to get the experience in a classroom. I volunteered in my former teacher’s classroom. It was great, because I later student taught for her. Many of my friends either did something similar or found someone to do this for. You fill out a form to verify these hours. This is the most time-consuming component of the application process.
Education-Related Things
The education-related application items are fairly simple. They want you to have a Bachelor’s by time you start the program. Your GPA has to be over 2.67. You’ll submit unofficial transcripts with your application. If you’re doing single subject, they want you to submit a form where you basically list the preparation/classes you took related to your subject area.
Clearances
You’ll need to show negative TB test results and a Certificate of Clearance. This is essentially getting a Livescan done. It sucks that you have to pay for it, but it’s usually a quick process.
Personal Narrative
To apply for an SDSU teaching credential, you need to submit a personal narrative essay and a video. The essay asks you two questions and wants you to write a page. The video is two minutes about your teaching background/passion. Neither are too difficult to write, but they’re a great chance to showcase your personality and what you bring to the table.
Application Fee
If you haven’t figured out by now, the state of California loves making prospective teachers pay for a ton of different things to get their credential. This is only $25, but still.
Now You’re In! What to Know About Cohorts
For both Multiple Subject and Single Subject, the SDSU teaching credential program utilizes cohorts. Essentially, this is a group of around 25 teacher candidates that you take all of your classes with. Each cohort has a theme. Mine was Linked Learning, which apparently no longer exists. It looks like the replacement cohort is “Project Based Career Prep.” Other cohort examples for single subject include a hybrid one, a three semester one (the program is two semesters), STEM, and “Generation Global.”
As far as I could tell, there wasn’t a huge difference between cohorts. I could be wrong here, but most seemed pretty similar. I believe that some have partnerships with specific school districts, so if there’s one you’re eying, I would take that into account. Each cohort also has a different leader(s). This is your primary reference person, and they are kind of like your advisor. Other than that, everything seemed similar enough beyond the general theme.
Before the First Week
Before you start, there’s usually a little meet and greet/introduction to the program. It’s a good chance to get to know the people in your program ahead of time. They’ll be going through the same thing that you will. The SDSU teaching credential is a lot of work. Bond with the people who share the experience.
Around this time, your cohort leader will likely also open up the cohort homeroom on Canvas and give you an overview of what the program will look like. They will also start matching candidates and guide teachers. I’m not 100% sure if cohorts do it differently, but in mine, you were placed at a site for an entire year. If you had a serious reason to switch, you were able to. Most of the matches were made based off of location. You may find your guide teacher match out at this point. Some matches were made a bit later, and my situation was a little different because I’d requested mine, but they try to give you enough time to prepare.
One thing that did surprise me was that we were expected to start going to our sites immediately. My school site’s year began before SDSU’s school year. It was a bit strange to technically be “in school” while I was not in school. With that being said, keep an eye on your school site’s calendar and mark the days off, hours, and deadlines.
The SDSU Teaching Credential Program’s First Semester
The first semester focuses more heavily on the academics. This is for a few reasons. First, you’ll be completing your edTPA in the spring. The edTPA is a long (awful) exam that you need to pass to get your credential. It essentially requires you to show mastery of planning, teaching, and using results to inform instruction. I call it an exam, but it’s more like a long paper/portfolio with a lot of reflection. During the first semester, you learn the knowledge and theory you will need to justify your decisions in this exam. Additionally, you will be student teaching full time during your second semester. The program aims to balance it.
The student teaching expectation is that you will be observing one class and teaching one class. I was very surprised that they wanted us to fully take over one class within three weeks. In theory, the idea seems to be the main teacher gradually releasing responsibility to you. In actuality, it feels like you’re being thrown into the deep end. I didn’t feel like this expectation was communicated super clearly. This is something I wish I’d known from the start.
First Semester Classes
During your first semester in the SDSU teaching credential program, you’ll take around six classes, one of which will be student teaching. These classes review the basics of teaching. I want to preface that I’m speaking from my experience in the single subject (secondary) program. The multisubject (elementary) program is a bit different in that it teaches you how to teach each subject.
Some classes are focused on behavior and psychology of students. They help you to answer questions like why do students act a certain way? How can I manage this? How can I keep them engaged? Others teach you different learning philosophies and strategies–i.e., problem-based learning, community involvement, etc. Probably the most important class for single-subject candidates is the “methods” class. This is the only class where you are not with your regular cohort. Instead, you meet with all of the subject-area students from across all cohorts. In this class, you learn strategies and theories that will help you to teach your specific subject area. When it comes to your edTPA, this will be extremely helpful.
Work Type
One question I had before entering the program was what the workload would be like. For a vast majority of classes, it was pretty project-based. I do not remember any actual exams. Most of the work was reading literature selections, doing discussion boards, or submitting short papers. It wasn’t a lot of “studying.” It was more reading and applying. Across the board (for single-subject), it seemed like the methods class had the most work. Some sample assignments from my classes included:
- Watch a documentary about the teenage brain and answer questions
- After learning about cloze tasks, create one for a current unit
- Make a presentation about your school’s population and larger community
- Do one section of a practice edTPA (this was the largest assignment, and only for the ELA methods class)
I would not say that the workload was overwhelming or difficult. The professors are generally very considerate and understanding. If anything, balance/time management was the challenge for most people. It is naturally difficult to find your feet in student teaching and balance these assignments, but it is certainly doable.
Student Teaching
As I mentioned above, the SDSU teaching credential program expects you to take over pretty quickly. Because of that, it is so important to develop a good rapport with your guide teacher. You will be spending so much time with this person, and realistically, this is where most of your learning will come from. Theory is great, and it helps for the edTPA, but you learn by doing. Your guide teacher is there to help and give you support, experience, and expertise. In the beginning, it really helps to communicate expectations and ask questions. This goes both ways. For example, you want to communicate the program expectations to the guide teacher, but you also want them to communicate their preferences to you. At the end of the day, you are still in their classroom.
One thing to be cognizant of is establishing boundaries. For people in my program, the vast majority had wonderful guide teachers. I was lucky enough to have two great guide teachers at my site. However, some quickly realized that their guide teachers had only signed up for this so that they had someone else to do all of their work. This is not the program expectation, and if this happens and the guide teacher ignores clearly set boundaries, you should let your cohort leader know.
Observations
Throughout student teaching, you will be observed by your supervisor. This person will probably be assigned to you in September. They are the one who will sit in on your lessons, give you feedback, and assess your teaching within the program. When I did it, there were four observations per semester. Every other one was in person. This meant that on the odd ones, you would record your lesson and receive feedback via an app called Sibme.
It is important to take these observations seriously and to incorporate your supervisor’s feedback. At the end of the first semester, they are the one who will recommend you for continuation in the program. They are also there to help you grow. If you show your talent well, they will also be an excellent reference when you apply to jobs.
The SDSU Teaching Credential Program’s Second Semester
During the second semester of the program, the focus shifts significantly. By this point, you’ve learned most of the basic theory and completed most of the classes. Now, you’re expected to teach at least two classes and observe in one. This is a lot more work than it might seem, as you are creating the lessons, delivering them, grading, etc. Additionally, you’re doing your edTPA, which I will talk about more later. Balance can be tricky during this semester, and it’s totally normal to feel a little burnt out.
The observation part of student teaching stays the same (four per semester), and now, you’re only taking 2-3 classes. It is set up so that the workload is lighter when you are working on the edTPA. Realistically, you will probably be focusing way more on the edTPA than you will be on school.
The Dreaded edTPA
As I mentioned above, the edTPA is a monster of an assignment. It’s a bunch of writing, videos, reflection, and research that you will submit to the Pearson people, who will then score you and either pass or fail you. By passing the edTPA, you have one of the necessary components to be a credentialed teacher in California.
The setup here is a little weird. The edTPA is not done through the school. You do this and pay for it on your own. They forbid receiving outside help on it, so it has to be 100% your own work and you can’t get feedback from others. Because of this, it’s a little frustrating, since you can’t ask professors or colleagues direct questions. However, they really do their best to set you up to pass. During this time, you’ll see how many assignments from first semester were set up to make this a little easier on you. You will also have a class where the professor sets up a general road map for completing the edTPA. This was very helpful for me.
It Will Be Painful
I don’t want to lie. The edTPA sucks, and it is by far the worst part about an SDSU teaching credential. It’s so much work, and you have to start early. There are different windows when you can submit the edTPA, usually about 2-3 weeks apart. For us, the ideal submission date was March 24th. The reason here is that if you don’t pass for some reason, you have time to remedy it. You need to pass this in order to receive your credential.
The good news is that only one person in my cohort didn’t pass their first time. They passed their second time and were able to get their credential on time. Nobody sees the score (and they score pretty harshly, but there is wiggle room), so all you need to do is pass.
However, with that being said, the program encourages you to start early and film the required part by late February. This means that you essentially start working on it as soon as you come back from Winter Break. I spent about a month to a month and a half working on mine. I submitted it on the first date and received my passing results about three weeks later. Once you get this out of the way, everything else feels so much easier.
Other Requirements and Notes
Besides the edTPA, student teaching, and the classes, there are only a few other requirements for an SDSU teaching credential. You have to pass a CPR class (which can be taken online) and a constitution class. Don’t ask me why, but the constitution class is a requirement for a teaching credential. It can also be taken online, and it’s pretty easy.
As long as you are in good standing, your supervisor and guide teacher give you passing marks for student teaching, and you pass your edTPA, you are cleared for graduation and graduate with a California preliminary credential. It’s a ton of work (way more than my Master’s program in all honesty), but it is so rewarding to see the fruits of your labor.
Job Placement
I am not an ambassador for this program, nor can I speak formally to its overall success. A lot of job placement depends on circumstance, who you know, and where you are. For me, this was a big stressor when researching programs. I can only tell you what I have heard and seen anecdotally, but it has been very positive overall.
Everyone who I talked to from my program found a job by the end of the summer. Many of us found jobs in San Diego, which was where we wanted to stay. Others found jobs outside of San Diego. You might have to apply for a lot, and you might not get your first choice, but it seemed to work out for everyone. The SDSU teaching credential program also seemed to have a good reputation, especially in San Diego.
Traditionally, if you don’t find a job by the end of the summer, you can become a substitute teacher. This, along with student teaching and networking, helps you to make a connections. Generally, this leads to a job. I will say that success depends on your subject area to a degree. It’s going to be a lot harder to find a job as an art teacher than it will be as a math teacher. The good news is that there’s still a teaching shortage, so situationally, things look good for job prospects.
A Day in My Life During the SDSU Teaching Credential Program (Brief Overview)
If it helps, here is a quick breakdown of a day in my life while I was in the program. Everyone has different work styles, and I did teach an Honors English class, so I naturally had more grading and planning than most. Teaching math looks way different from teaching English, so keep that in mind. Multisubject might also vary. One thing to keep in mind is that I student taught the year before California enacted the “healthy start times” law.
Here was my schedule for Spring semester:
6:20-7:00= wake up, get ready, drive to school site
7:30-9:00= teach first class
9:00-12:30= observe and prep
12:30-1:00= lunch
1:00-2:30= teach second class
2:45-3:30= go home, relax (or, more likely, just do work)
4:00-6:40= classes (2-3 times a week, usually Tuesday and Wednesday)
6:40-9:00= dinner, grade, plan for tomorrow, edTPA (from February to March)
9:00-11:00= hopefully have some downtime, more likely work on something
11:00= time to sleep
A Final Word
If you’re considering an SDSU teaching credential as part of your journey to become a teacher, this is a fantastic first step. This year of your life will be filled with many challenges, but it will also be filled with so many rewards. This article can only capture the logistics; it can’t show you the joy you will have when interacting with students or the pride you will feel when a student gets something for the first time because of you. Teaching itself is incredibly stressful and draining at times, but it also has so much meaning and adds so much purpose to your life.
At the beginning of my first semester, one of my professors encouraged us to find our “why.” Why did we want to go into teaching? Why was this our goal? They warned us that the year would bring its difficulties and that this was something we needed to return to constantly. Despite these difficulties and despite the overwhelming nature of the program, it was worth it for me. I am grateful for my time here and my experiences in student teaching. Additionally, I felt prepared for my first year teaching. Overall, all of these things made the time and effort worth it.
Do you have any questions or concerns? Let me know in the comments!
