Don’t quite your job just yet. This is going to take some time. Yes, if you already have a bachelor’s degree, you’re in good shape. What you need to do is seek out an alternative certification program. You did not say where you live in Texas, so I can’t steer you a specific program. However, I have some ways for you to look them up. Go back to the SBEC website and at the top select “how to become a teacher in Texas.” About a third the way down, there will be information about if you already have a degree, then at the end of the paragraph it will have a “click here” to get a listing of alternative certification programs. It will list programs at colleges and at education service centers, but these are separated by region, so if you don’t know what region you live in, you’ll have to look at the addresses. Then just look at the programs available to you.

The reason I said don’t quite your job yet is because it will probably take you the next year to apply, get accepted, go through the trainings, then seek a job. This school year is about the begin, so there is no way you will be qualified to start in two weeks, so your goal is for next school year.

Another thing, you say you are interested in teaching math at the secondary level. What’s going to happen is when you apply to the program, they will review your college credits and tell you what certification areas you will qualify for. Of course, each program is different, but they will have the same basic requirements. I don’t know how many credit hours you have in math, but you may not have enough to do just secondary math. They may tell you that you qualify for a generalist certification. Don’t rule this out; it is still possible to become a math teacher this way. Secondary is actually middle school and high school. They may steer you to get certified as a 4-8 generalist – this is a good thing and makes you very marketable. This will qualify you to take a middle school math position, and it will qualify you to also teach science, social studies, and reading/language arts. And once you start applying for jobs, you can be selective and say you only want math positions.

Another thing, once you have certification in one area, you can easily get certified in any other area by simply taking the certification test, passing it, then paying to have it added to your certification. If you really want to teach high school, and don’t have enough college credits to do the alternative certification that way, go the generalist route, then take certification tests for high school math.

If you want to teach at a junior college, you will need a master’s degree at a minimum. I’m pretty sure that you don’t need teacher certification to teach at a junior college. However, if you are going to work on a master’s and you would like to teach, there are master’s programs that also get you teacher certified. You need to go to the Department of Education at the universities you are looking into and look at their master’s programs. They will tell you if the programs include teacher certification. Or just give them a call. But a master’s will take you about two years, less if you can take more hours at a time. I don’t know what your financial situation is.

Another option – get the alternative certification, get a job teaching, then start working on a master’s. Sometimes the district you work for will pay for some or all of your master’s classes. If you do this, you will not need a master’s program that includes teacher certification. And if you want to teach at a junior college, they will probably require your master’s be in the subject you want to teach – so a master’s in mathematics.

OK, I hope I’ve steered you in the right direction.

Good luck.

To teach at the secondary level, go to an alternative certification program or a university with a post-baccalaureate certification program. UT Arlington’s program is completely online, for example.

To teach at a community college, you will need a Master’s degree and at least 18 graduate hours in your teaching field.

Math teachers are in high demand these days!! You are needed everywhere in Texas!!

You’ll need to get a teaching certificate. It’s an endorsement on your degree that effectively says you’ve had the appropriate education courses to be a teacher. Once you’ve had the courses, you have to take the certification test for the subject and grade level that you want to teach. There are literally dozens of colleges and universities that offer the certification courses that you need. The SBEC web site has a list of them, including some that are online.

Good luck – we need all the good teachers we can get!