Program Quickview
All of the programs described below prepare candidates for NYS initial and professional teaching certification in Adolescence Education (Grades 7-12) as a Specialist in Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and/or Earth Science and are offered at the graduate level only.
- A minimum of 30 credits of coursework in the sciences, including at least 18 credits in each of the sciences for which you are seeking certification.
- Undergraduate degree in a liberal art or science.
- Meets All Coursework and Internship Requirements for BOTH Initial and Professional NYS Teaching Certification: In addition, you will need to pass the required state exams and complete the teaching requirements for professional certification.
- Shortest Program: Preservice teachers can complete the program in 15 months of full-time study (if starting in summer); certified teachers seeking additional certification in a science may require less time.
- Focus on Science Education: Includes four courses as well as internships specific to science teaching (taken concurrently with science methods courses).
- Preparing for Technology-Rich Schools: Includes hybrid-online coursework in technology-rich teaching; options to take some courses online to experience this learning modality.
- Unique Internship Opportunities: Includes innovative teaching experiences in informal settings prior to student teaching.
- Focus on Teaching ALL Students: Includes courses on diversity, students with disabilities, and English language learners (ELLs); these required courses may be transferred in for certified teachers.
- Option to Add Specializations: With only a few additional credits required, you can pursue additional NYS certifications or advanced certificates that can strengthen your effectiveness with diverse learners and make you more marketable; see below for Opportunities for Additional Specializations.
Warner Programs that Prepare Science Teachers
- MS Program: 39 credits, including field experiences and two student teaching experiences.
- MAT Program: 51 credits, same requirements as above plus 12 credits of graduate courses in the chosen science specialization.
- NYS Teaching Certification in Another Science: Only requires prior 18 credits of coursework in the new science.
- NYS Extension to Teach the Same Science(s) in Grades 5-6: Qualifies you to teach your subject with younger children.
- NYS Certification in Teaching Students with Disabilities in Adolescence: Prepares you to better serve students with differentiated learning needs while qualifying you to teach in inclusive classes.
- Advanced Certificate in Digitally-Rich Teaching: Prepares you to make the best use of digital technology in your teaching.
- Advanced Certificate in Urban Teaching and Leadership: Prepares you to teach and lead in racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically diverse urban settings.
- NYS Certification in TESOL: Prepares you to better serve English language learners in your classes and qualifies you to teach ESOL courses.
Licensure in other states. Review licensure and certification requirements for Warner programs.
- Leading to Professional Certification only: Our most flexible option, including 12 credits of electives; allows for possible addition of Advanced Certificates in Digitally-Rich Teaching or Urban Teaching & Leadership, or taking some leadership courses that provide a jump start towards school leadership certification.
- Leading to Extension to Teach the Same Science in Grades 5-6: 30 credits with no internship.
- Leading to NYS Certification in Teaching Students with Disabilities: To be able to better serve your students diverse learning needs and to teach in inclusive classes (requires 35 credits including field experiences and one student teaching experience).
- Advanced Certificate: Fastest path; as few as 14 credits, including specialization courses plus 50 contact hours of field experiences.
- Master’s Program: 32 credits, including 50 contact hours of field experiences; also leads to NYS professional teaching certification in your original area of certification.
- - Biology (SB2)
- - Chemistry (SK2)
- - Physics (P2)
- - Earth Science (SZ2)
Our Approach
Creating Effective Science Teachers Who Can Inspire and Lead Change.
As our world faces increasingly complex environmental changes that require good science to solve and understand, the need for scientifically literate citizens is even greater than ever before. Our graduates become teachers who help make science literacy possible for all students. They give children from all backgrounds the chance to participate in the richness of scientific inquiry—experiences that will help them to become capable science learners as well as give them a rich appreciation for the exciting role science plays in our daily lives. And, they help children discover that science is more than memorizing the facts and procedures.
Field experiences are carefully sequenced to support our students in their development as a science teacher. Starting with non-traditional, highly-supportive, authentic inquiry-based teaching and learning experiences, they learn how to create plans and projects to lead students in exciting research, experimentation, and discovery. As they move into the traditional classroom environment, they apply this knowledge and learn to teach effectively within the contexts of schools, standards, and accountability.
Throughout the program, graduate students engage in rich, structured, ongoing opportunities to reflect on and make sense of their experiences of reform-based education in a community of other science educators. These activities support participants in developing a sense of professional identity through reflection and interaction with various communities, including kids, colleagues, peers, and professors.
The program is committed to issues of equity and inclusion. Many efforts are focused on students in under-resourced school districts and people who are typically underrepresented in science.
A key highlight of our science teacher preparation programs leading to NYS certification is how our faculty integrate urban education into the whole curriculum. We make it a part of every course so that students are equipped and prepared to work in all schools—particularly in some of our most underserved school districts where there is a shortage of high-quality and innovative teachers.
The Warner Advantage
Preparing Graduates to Innovate, Advocate, and Elevate.
- Become a science teacher who can create learning opportunities that are inviting and accessible for all students – engaging with cutting-edge research and educational innovations.
- Be challenged to be an agent of change, who can effectively introduce new ideas and practices that will enhance students’ learning and address current inequities.
- Leverage the reputation of a leading research university to strengthen recognition of your degree.
- Network with the best and the brightest future colleagues.
- Make yourself stand out when applying for teaching positions by pursuing additional specializations for a few additional credits.
- Learn from an accessible, supportive faculty of researchers and accomplished practitioners who will prepare you to become adaptive experts today’s K-12 schools.
- Shorten your path to a doctoral degree by earning transferable credits.
- Benefit from a guaranteed 50% scholarship.
- Take advantage of online learning options to help reduce trips to campus.
- Be ready to teach the school year following enrollment, as the program can be completed in as little as 15 months, even by those new to the teaching profession.
All About Experience
East High School Partnership
Our students have the opportunity to observe and learn from the reforming of an urban high school. As the Educational Partnership Organization (EPO) for East High School, we are overseeing a radical transformation affecting all aspects of the school – including the implementation of innovative mathematics curricula and teaching practices.
Get Real Science! Research and Innovative Practice
The Get Real Science! program provides Warner students with the opportunity to get involved in comprehensive science-education research and community outreach initiatives. This teacher preparation program is designed to engage students in real science through an inquiry-based approach. The program is the brainchild of April Luehmann, associate professor and program director.
$1.5 Million Grant to Support Justice-Centered, Ambitious Science Teaching
Project capitalizes on new COVID-19 science unit developed by Professor April Luehmann, in collaboration with teachers and doctoral students from Rochester, to teach science concepts, aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), to build students’ understanding of the science around the pandemic.
Career Opportunities
Advancing Education and Your Career to the Next Level.
Unlike graduates of an undergraduate teacher preparation program, our graduates will have already met all the coursework requirements for NYS professional teaching certification. This means they will only be required to complete three years of teaching and some state exams in order to obtain this additional level of certification – a NYS requirement within five years from beginning a teaching job.
At the same time, some of our graduates have chosen to pursue careers other than teaching in K-12 public schools. These include teaching in private schools and other educational settings, including informal and after-school environments, community-based organizations, and private industry.
Faculty
An Accessible, Supportive Faculty of Researchers and Accomplished Practitioners.
April Luehmann, Ph.D.Science Teacher Preparation Program Director and Advisor
LeChase Hall 472
(585) 275-3010
aluehmann@warner.rochester.edu
Core Program Faculty
Michael Daley, PhDMichael Occhino
Andrea Cutt, EdD
Additional Program Area Faculty
Scholarships
Making Warner Affordable
Byron Williams Teaching Scholarships – Guaranteed 50% Tuition Savings
All new students starting their master’s programs in teacher education leading to New York State teaching certification are guaranteed a minimum 50 percent tuition scholarship, provided they commit to teach in a United States school for a minimum of two years after graduation.
Try Us Out
Get a Taste of What Warner Has to Offer.
- Get Real! Science Summer Camp: A weeklong intensive summer program for middle school urban students, where they engage in an authentic scientific inquiry around a local environmental problem, and communicate their findings to relevant audiences.
- East High: This Rochester City School District secondary school is undergoing major transformation under the oversight of the University of Rochester as an educational partnership organization, and has adopted innovative science curricula that are consistent with the New Generation Science Standards.
Testimonials
Meliora Means 'Ever Better.' To Our Graduates, it Means Making a World of Difference.
"The growth I’ve realized in myself is something I will be forever grateful for. I’ve learned to question, analyze, think and create in ways I never considered. I’ve changed as an educator and as a person."
Laura Van Laeken, Teacher, Midlakes, NY
“It was more than I expected. Not only what I learned in the program, which I’ve been able to put into practice every day since, but also the connections I was able to make and the relationships I was able to form."
Beatriz M. Folch-Torres, MD, Rochester, NY
“When it came time to interview for jobs, it was very easy for me to talk about anything in the field, and that set me apart,” he says. “You name it, and I had at least one experience in it—largely due to Warner.”
Jeremy Friedman, Research Associate, Harlem Children's Zone, New York, NY
"The most important thing I received there was the opportunity to be immersed in the study of education and leadership with very talented people, that think-tank mentality of being surrounded by the best of the best. The intellectual stimulation from both the staff and fellow classmates really did allow me to think about things differently."
Dawn Santiago-Marullo, Superintendent, Victor, NY
“As educators, it’s our job to make sure we’re giving students the knowledge to be successful when they move on in their life….Warner was the best grad school experience I’ve ever had because it prepared me extremely well to jump into my career, and I will forever be grateful for that.”
Jody Goodman, Program Director, UMass Amherst
“I had a very unique situation. I wasn’t going down the typical path of a Warner student, and the school was just so flexible and supportive.”
Shannon Walton, Sports Performance Counselor, Rochester, NY
Contact Admissions
Application Deadlines
Request more information
Complete our inquiry form and receive a $70 application fee waiver.