Coursework to Satisfy Unmet Requirements

  1. I see on my Notice of Uncompleted requirements that I have a requirement that is deficient/unmet.  Where do I find the description of the requirement that I can compare to a college catalog description?

  2. How do I know if the college course will be accepted?

  3.  I am having a hard time finding a college offering a course that I need, any suggestions?

  4. How do I find out which subject matter is most important to take in my content area so I will be prepared to teach?

  5. What is the most important information to review in a college catalog?

  6. I really need to take a course in a hurry. Are there any alternatives to traditional college courses?

  7. Can I take courses at a community college?

  8. Why should I take a course if I already know the subject matter?

  9. I have already taught a course at the college level that appears to match the requirement. Will this satisfy the requirement?

  10. Can I send a course description to you for approval?

  11.  I am trying to satisfy the requirement for graduate course work for my Professional certificate.  Can you give me some guidelines?

  12. What does S.H. mean?

  13. Why do some requirements have semester hours (S.H.) specified with them and others do not?

  1. I see on my Notice of Uncompleted requirements that I have a requirement that is deficient/unmet.  Where do I find the description of the requirement that I can compare to a college catalog description?

    To view detailed information regarding each uncompleted requirement go to Search Certification Requirements:
    1. From the drop down menus, Select Area of Interest, Subject Area, Grade Level, Title and Type of the certificate for which you have received a Notice of Uncompleted Requirements.
    2. Then click “Search” to view the results.
    3. Scroll to your "Pathway"
    4. Click on the "Requirement" link to view the description.

      For a detailed example, see Notice of Uncompleted Requirements
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  2. How do I know if the college course will be accepted?

     The college offering the course must be a regionally accredited, degree-granting institution.  To determine if a college is regionally accredited and to learn more about regional accreditation, refer to the U. S. Department of Education Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions and Programs website located at http://www.ope.ed.gov/accreditation/ External Link. Courses offered for professional development or for continuing education are not accepted.   All courses for certification must be part of or countable toward a degree program.  

    Coursework falls into one of three categories:

    1. General (liberal arts and science) core course work requirements.  
      General core course work must be completed at a regionally accredited college.

    2. Content (subject) core course work requirements.  
      Content core course work must be completed at a regionally accredited college offering a degree in the content area.  For example, if you want to take a mathematics course, make certain the college offers a degree in mathematics.

    3. Pedagogical core (teacher education) course work requirements.   
      Teacher education courses must be completed at a college with an approved teacher preparation program leading to certification in the state in which the program is offered.

      • In New York you may consult the Inventory of Registered Programs External Link to determine which colleges offer appropriate teacher education programs.

      • Distance Learning: Some of the coursework requirements maybe satisfied by correspondence courses and courses offered on the internet. For details, go to Distance Learning .

      • If the course is part of a specialized pedagogical core, (e.g. special education, literacy, bilingual education, English as a second language, gifted etc.)  the college must have an approved program leading to the certificate in that specialized pedagogical core area (e.g. special education courses must be completed at colleges with special education certification programs, literacy courses must be completed at colleges with graduate literacy certification programs,  etc.).
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  3. I am having a hard time finding a college offering a course that I need. Do you have any suggestions?

     In addition to following the guidelines in Question #2, see below:
    Not every college will offer a course that satisfies every requirement.  You may need to search a number of college catalogs to find what you need. The more catalogs you consult the more likely it is that you will find courses that obviously meet the requirement.

    • Search for a course using an online search engine (for example, Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc).

    • Work with a reference librarian at your local library to help you construct effective online searches for college courses that will match the requirement description.

    • Consult a college professor in the department offering the course. Share the requirement description with the advisor. If needed, we may request verification from the Department Chairperson.

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  4. How do I find out which subject matter is most important to take in my content area so I will be prepared to teach?

    Make sure to view the Content Specialty Test examination frameworks when appropriate as a guide to acceptable course content: http://www.nystce.nesinc.com/NY_viewobjs_opener.aspExternal Link . The Content Specialty Test is linked to the New York State Learning Standards http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/ciai/cores.htmlExternal Linkwhich reflect what PreK-12 students are to learn in each of their subjects.
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  5. What is the most important information to review in a college catalog?
    • To understand what sort of course work will satisfy a requirement, check the college catalog for a college offering a teacher education program leading to the same certificate for which you have applied.

    • Then, look for the general course-by-course description of the program, which is usually displayed as a list of courses with course number, title and number of credits.

    • Once you find a course that may meet the requirements for your deficiency, compare the course description to the requirement description.  If the information is a close match, then the course will likely be acceptable.

    • For Content Core or General Core courses, look for courses offered by the Department in question (Biology Department, English Department, etc).
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  6. I really need to take a course quickly.  Are there any alternatives to traditional college courses?

    • New York State United Teachers (NYSUT)
      http://www.nysut.org External Link offers courses that may satisfy some of your requirements.

    • United Federation of Teachers (UFT)
      http://www.uft.org External Link  offers courses that may satisfy some of your requirements.

    • The  SUNY Learning Network
      http://sln.suny.edu/index.html External Link also offers a number of teacher education, content, and liberal arts and science courses.

    7. Make sure that any course offered conforms to the guidelines offered in course requirement descriptions. Review question #2 to make sure that you take the courses at an appropriate institution.
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  7.  Can I take courses at a community college?

    • Content and general core (liberal arts and science) courses may be taken at a community college if they would count toward a degree in the subject of the course. 

    • Teacher education courses can only be accepted if the course could be transferred into an approved teacher certification program at an acceptable 4-year college. 

    • To determine whether a community college teacher education  course is acceptable:
      • Refer to http://www.suny.edu/student/cmpCreditEquiv/courseEquivSearch.cfm External Link .
      • Enter the Course Prefix (e.g. EDU) in the “From Campus Discipline Abbreviation” field
      • Enter the Course Number in the “From Campus Course Number” field  
      •  Select the community college offering the course in  the “transferring from” dropdown field
      •  Select: ALL in the  “transferring to” dropdown field.
      • If the course appears in the “course equivalencies list” it is acceptable.
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  8. Why should I take a course if I already know the subject matter? 

    We have no way of knowing your level of competence in any particular subject. However, a possible alternative to taking formal course work would be to demonstrate your knowledge of a subject through obtaining an acceptable score on credit-bearing examinations offered by one of the following organizations:

    Information regarding which requirements can be satisfied taking exams is available in the requirement description that can be found when you follow the links from your online evaluation or Search Certification Requirements.  Tests taken for certification must not duplicate courses or other tests completed for college credit.
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  9. I have already taught a course at the college level that appears to match the requirement. Will this satisfy the requirement?

    If you have taught a course that would satisfy a requirement, please submit a letter from the department chair verifying the course number, course title, number of semester hour credits given for the course, the semester that the course was taught and that the course was taught satisfactorily.  If the course is determined to be appropriate in content, you would then be credited with the competency and or number of semester hours for the course.Go to top

  10. Can I send a course description to you for approval?

    We are not staffed to provide timely responses to individuals needing to register for a course. If you carefully read the requirement description and follow the above guidelines you should find a course that will satisfy the requirement. Go to top

  11. I am trying to satisfy the requirement for graduate course work for my Professional certificate.  Can you give me some guidelines?

    If you need graduate course work to satisfy the graduate content course work requirement for Professional certification go to Professional Certificate - Master's Degree Requirement .

    • Please note that we consider courses in methods of teaching the subject area of the certificate to be acceptable.

    • If you completed a Master’s degree program registered as leading to any New York State certificate through institutional recommendation, you do not need to take the 12 additional semester hours of graduate course work in the content area of the Initial certificate. Master’s degrees from other states will be evaluated based upon the same principal. Review the guidelines regarding distance education if you are considering completing a Master’s degree outside New York.

    • If you already hold any Permanent or Professional you do not need to take additional graduate coursework.  Go to top

  12. What does S.H. mean?

    S.H. means Semester hour of college credit. Go to top

  13. Why do some requirements have semester hours (S.H.) specified with them and others do not?

    When a requirement specifies a number of semester hours, this mean that coursework shown on your transcript(s) must total at least the number of semester hours specified in the requirement. If the requirement does not specify semester hours, any college course that includes study in the competency and that results in college credit will satisfy the requirement. Go to top
Last Updated: December 19, 2011