In collaboration with the College of Education, the Mathematics Department will offer a new option for the MNS that leads to High School certification.
Background: There is a severe shortage of qualified High School Mathematics teachers nationally as well as locally.  Currently, students in  the Master's program in the Department of Mathematics, who  enjoy teaching and who would like to have the option of teaching at the  High School level, can only achieve certification by moving out of the Master's program in Mathematics and entering a program in the College of Education.  This takes about three additional semesters and serves to discourage many mathematically highly qualified students from pursuing this option.
The Arizona State Board of Education has proposed new guidelines for Certification of future High School teachers which are strictly competency based (meaning students have to pass two competency tests).  The intent of this change is to ease the access to High School teaching for those individuals that are especially competent in the subject matter.
The new option establishes a route for the Certification of highly mathematically competent individuals as High School teachers by the formation of a collaborative program with the College of Education.  The program will use the existing structure of the interdisciplinary Masters of Natural Sciences Degree.
Rational: A typical teaching assistant of the Department of Mathematics has taught  5- 7 sections of Intermediate or College Algebra and Precalculus on campus at ASU by the time he/she graduates at the Master's level.  As TAs these graduate students are responsible for everything that goes on inside their classroom. Multiple sections of these courses are closely coordinated by a faculty or lecturer. All instructors teaching the course, which includes the TAs, take part in syllabus development and test construction.
Over the last several years the Department of Mathematics has made great efforts to improve the instructional competency and training of its teaching graduate students.  For all new TAs a onetime TA training workshop of about 10 fulltime days is mandatory. The workshop provides a variety of training experiences, including full-day or half-day workshops on collaborative learning practices, utilization of graphing calculators for instruction,  effective tutoring skills, and test and curriculum design. Students also give at least 5 microlectures which are taped and critiqued by peers and trainers.  Over the course of the semester the  TA training coordinator organizes additional half-day workshops focusing on appropriate teaching methodologies.
A graduate student who is successful teaching at ASU and has participated in a meaningful way in all the training opportunities offered by the Department is well equipped for a future successful career contributing to the secondary education enterprise of the State.
The New Program.  The program of study follows the guidelines for the MNS degree: 24 credit hours in core mathematics and an additional 12 hours of coordinated study at the graduate level in a related discipline.  Students will take:
24 credit hours of graduate level mathematics courses.
MTE 482 A second course in Mathematics Teaching Methodology, 3 credit hours, taught in the Mathematics Department
EDP 510 Essentials of Classroom Learning, 3 credits, taught by the College of Education
RDG 507 Content Area Literacy, 3 credits, taught by the College of Education
8 credit hours internship to cover the state mandated 8 weeks of High School teaching.
Students taking in addition SED/EED 594, Middle Grades Mathematics Education, will receive Middle School endorsement.

The option for the MNS with high school certification would only be open to students who have: (1) taught at least 3 semesters at ASU; (2) completed the TA training program of the Department of Mathematics; and (3) participated in one TEAMS (Teacher Education for Arizona Mathematics and Science) seminar series (or a comparable series of professional workshops jointly organized by the Department of Mathematics and the College of Education).
The High School internship will be organized through the College of Education.  Reasonable efforts will be made to accommodate the student's schedule for the internship (summer internships are possible).
Students in the MA program or the Ph.D. program in the Department of Mathematics who seek High School certification may participate in this program as an addition to their MA or Ph.D. program of study.
Upon graduation with an MNS with High School Certification option, the College of Education will provide the graduate with an institutional recommendation to the Arizona Department of Education for issuance of the Arizona High School certification.