Field Experience and Student Teaching

York College of Pennsylvania is a Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) approved program. YCP students who successfully complete all courses in their education program (including student teaching) may apply for teaching certification in Pennsylvania if they possess a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher upon graduation.  Students must wait until the month of their graduation to apply for certification through PDE, utilizing the Teacher Information Management System (TIMS) certification system.  Click on this link for all information about certification, including the certification tests and scores required for each major and the TIMS certification application 

link: https://www.education.pa.gov/Educators/Certification/Pages/default.aspx

We recommend that students register for their certification exams the semester prior to student teaching. The exact tests needed for each major can be found at the link above (click on "Certification Testing Requirements" to access the spreadsheet, then click on the "Instructional" tab). Note that you can achieve a "Passing Score" or "GPA Qualifying Score". If you do not achieve the passing score for your major, you may be eligible for certification depending upon your GPA (see "Qualifying Score" column for your graduating GPA).

Certain certification areas can be "added-on" to your original certification. You must first possess certification in the area for which you majored in at YCP in order to add-on another area. Additionally, you cannot use the GPA qualifying option to add-on another certification area. The GPA qualifying option is only for the certification in the area of your college major. Only certain areas are eligible for add-on. More information on instructional add-ons can be found here: https://www.education.pa.gov/Educators/Certification/PAEducators/Pages/Instructional-Add-Ons.aspx

Links to the testing companies are below:

• ES Pearson-PECT Exams: Required for certification in Early Elementary PK-4
• ETS-PRAXIS II Exams: Required for certification in Middle-Level Education 4-8, Secondary Education 7-12, Music Education PK-12, Spanish Education PK-12‌, and Special Education PK-12.

**It is IMPERATIVE that you review all resources (links, manuals, videos) on the website prior to initiating your online certification application!

York College of Pennsylvania is a Pennsylvania Department of Education approved program. YCP students who successfully complete all courses in their education program (including student teaching) may apply for teaching certification in Pennsylvania if they possess a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher upon graduation.  Because York College of Pennsylvania is a Pennsylvania-approved program, students wishing to apply for out-of-state certification must work directly with the Department of Education at each respective state.  We recommend that all students apply for and acquire certification through Pennsylvania prior to applying for out-of-state teaching certification.  Many states will convert a candidate's Pennsylvania certification to their own state's certification upon application.  It is the student's responsibility to work with the out-of-state licensing agency.  For a listing of each state's Department of Education website, refer to the U.S. Department of Education listing found here: httpa://www2.ed.gov/about/contacts/state/index.html