Penn State Behrend Announces New Degree: Secondary Education in Mathematics
Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, will offer a new bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education in Mathematics beginning Fall 2007. The college sought to offer the degree program, which is accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teaching Education, to address a regional and state need for mathematics teachers with an accredited degree.
“There is a projected need nationwide for well-trained teachers and a particular need in the areas of math, science and special education,” said Antonella Cupillari, associate professor of mathematics and program chair. “This allows Penn State Behrend to help the areas it serves produce additional K-12 teachers to meet that projected need.”
Analysts project that there will be a need for between 2.2 million and 2.4 million teachers in the next 10 years, which equals 150,000 to 250,000 annual openings in elementary and secondary schools nationwide.
Although Penn State Behrend has not offered a certification program in math education, the college has offered a bachelor’s degree in mathematics for more than 20 years through its School of Science. Until now, students interested in teaching math at the secondary level would earn a Bachelor of Science in mathematics at Penn State Behrend and then attend Mercyhurst College for one year as part of Penn State Behrend’s fifth-year certification program. The fifth-year program is still available and includes four teaching certification options: K-12, elementary education, secondary education, and a dual certification/ master’s in special education.
The School of Science at Penn State Behrend offers eight baccalaureate degree programs, a fifth-year teaching certification and six minors. The school has a pre-professional program option for medical, dental or pharmaceutical studies and has affiliation agreements with Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM), the Penn State College of Medicine, Saint Vincent Health Center, the Temple University School of Dentistry, and the State University of New York, University at Buffalo, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Science. Its chemistry program is approved by the American Chemical Society. It is home to the Center for Mathematical Biology and the Mehalso Observatory, and frequently collaborates with Pennsylvania Sea Grant. For more information, visit www.behrend.psu.edu.