For teachers in the state who are hired by their school systems under a Provisional Certificate in a Teaching Field (PCTF), Athens State University offers undergraduate coursework to meet course requirements these teachers take, as set by the Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE).
Why Athens State
- Most of the coursework for PCTF at Athens State is offered 100% online, unless otherwise noted, granting access to all teachers across the state.
- Athens State offers the lowest tuition rate in the state.
Teaching Fields that Courses are Offered
PCTF requires the completion of four courses. Athens State offers at least 3 of the 4 classes for all fields and 4 of 4 for most of the fields, details are below:
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*All four courses offered.
**Three of four courses are offered.
State guidelines do not require all four classes to be completed at the same university.
Please note, the steps to apply correctly, to enroll correctly, and courses offerings are outlined below.
*Teachers under PCTF are responsible for understanding their specific requirements for acquiring and maintaining their teaching certification. Please be sure to reference the Alabama State Department of Education’s website for the most up-to-date information.
- A teacher is only eligible for a PCTF if they are hired by their employing school system under the PCTF path.
- PCTF teachers should direct their specific certification questions to the Alabama State Department of Education and/or their hiring school board’s certification officer.
- Athens State University only offers the required courses to meet the Alabama State Department of Education’s guidelines for the PCTF, it does not issue the certificate, teacher license, or set the requirements for eligibility.
For most teaching fields, three of these courses are the same. There are some specific instances where there are different options based on the teaching field, these options are listed below under “Exceptions.”
The fourth required class that is by teaching fields is listed in the next section titled “4th Required Class ‘Methods of Teaching in the Teaching Field’ at Grade Levels for which Certification is Sought.”
*The following information is pulled from the Alabama State Department of Education’s produced document for Athens State:
Most PCTF in K-12 Complete the Following Three Classes with the Exceptions Listed Below: (Courses are 100% Online)
- SC 331 Issues & Management for Secondary Education (Category: Classroom Management)
- SC 362 Assessment & Evaluation for Secondary Education (Category: The Evaluation of Teaching and Learning)
- SE 301 Introduction/Survey to Exceptions Learners (Category: Strategies for Teaching Special Needs Students in Inclusive Settings)
Exceptions
Exceptions for the Elementary Education (EL) (Courses are 100% Online)
*Note: For first PCTF issued 2012-2013 and thereafter, PCTF enrollment is limited to the following teaching fields: visual arts, choral or instrumental music, dance theatre, and languages other than English, may not be used for physical education 6-12.
- *EL 352 Curriculum and Instruction: Management Strategies OR SC 331
- *EL 351 Assessment Strategies for the Elementary Classroom OR SC 362
- SE 301 Introduction/Survey to Exceptions Learners
Exceptions for Career Tech (CE): (Courses are 100% Online)
- CE 438 Classroom/Laboratory Management OR SC 331
- CE 440 Testing and Evaluation for Technical Education OR SC 362
- CE 305 Meeting the Needs of Exceptional Vocational Students OR SE 301
*A PCTF teacher maintains responsibility for knowing the most up-to-date information for their certification.
*The following information is pulled from the Alabama State Department of Education’s produced document for Athens State:
These courses are offered online/distance learning format unless otherwise noted with a star*.
Art (K-12)
- *AR 455 Materials and Methods of Teaching Art in 6-12
Agriscience Education and Career Technologies
- See “Career Technical”
Biology (6-12)
- BI 456 Materials and Method of Teaching Biology in MS/MS
Business/Marketing
- See “Career Technical”
Career Technical
- CE 432 Teaching Career/Technical Information
Notices for “Business/Marketing Education” and “Family and Consumer Sciences Education,” “Agriscience Education and Career Technologies” as stated on the 2021-22 ALSDE document at https://www.alabamaachieves.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/1st-PCTF-Form-ZTF.pdf on page 10.
Computer Science
- As stated on the ALSDE 2021-22 document at https://www.alabamaachieves.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/1st-PCTF-Form-ZTF.pdf on page 10.
Chemistry (6-12)
- CH 456 Materials and Method of Teaching Chemistry in MS/MS
Dance (K-12)
- According to the Alabama State Department of Education, any Physical Education course satisfies the methods course requirement for provisional cer-tificates in dance. **HPE 440 Teaching, Assessment & Management of PE in HS
General Science (6-12)
- GS 456 Materials and Method of Teaching General Science in MS/MS
History (6-12)
- HY 450 Materials and Methods of Teaching History in MS/HS
English/Language Arts (6-12) - EH 457 Materials and Methods of Teaching English/Language Arts in MS/HS
Family and Consumer Sciences Education
- See “Career Technical”
All Foreign Languages (K-12) Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Russian and Spanish
- According to the Alabama State Department of Education, EH 457 Materials and Methods of Teaching English/Language Arts in MS/HS satisfies the methods course requirement for provisional certificates in foreign languages.
Mathematics (6-12)
- MA 454 Materials and Methods of Teaching Mathematics in MS/HS
Social Science (6-12)
- SS 450 Materials and Methods of Teaching Social Science in MS/HS
Theatre
- Theatre is consider part of English Language Arts and take: EH 457 Materials and Methods of Teaching English/Language Arts
Physical Education (6-12)
- **HPE 440 Teaching, Assessment & Management of PE in HS
A Music Methods Couse is not offered at Athens State.
*Only offered on campus (usually the Decatur, AL, Center for the Arts Campus)
**Traditionally, it been a blended class with a few campus class meetings in a semester.
*A PCTF teacher maintains responsibility for knowing the most up-to-date information for their certification.
To be eligible to take classes at Athens State in the provisional/ABC path, you must be eligible to obtain a PCTF through your employing school district. An inquiring teacher will be required to provide proof of eligibility with a copy of their PCTF certificate of a letter from their school system.
The very first step in the process is to submit an application for admission following the instructions below:
How-to Apply Correctly for PCTF
Follow these step-by-step instructions
- To start your application for admission, go to https://beartracks.athens.edu/ to create BearTrack portal account
- You will receive an email to confirm your account and password
- Complete your online admissions application via the BearTrack portal by
- Selecting Degree Type: “ Certificate”
- Selecting Program: “Provisional ABC/Cert (online)”
- You will upload a copy of PCTF certificate or letter of employment that must clearly state teaching subject to your documents in the application.
*This category of student falls under non-degree seeking and does not require the submission of previous college transcripts.
*When speaking with a representative from Athens State please identify yourself as a teacher needing classes for a Provisional Certificate in a Teaching Field.
Course Planning
There is no specific order to complete these four courses. The “methods” course is usually only offered online once an academic year during the summer term, which starts in May. After enrolling, it is suggested students complete the “methods” course when it is offered next online if the online format is desired.
To access course offerings by term and format, please review the online class offerings and select the desired term.
Course Codes:
| AR = Art | BI = Biology | |
| CE = Career & Technical Education | CH = Chemistry | |
| EH = English | EL = Elementary Education | |
| GS = General Science | HPE = Health and Physical Education | |
| HY = History | SC = Secondary Education | |
| SE = Special Education | SS = Social Science |
Course Registration
Many of the courses will produce a prerequisite error when registering that will only be overridden with proper supporting documentation, please contact Tricia Oleyte for registration and other schedule-related questions.
Important notices:
- Please note, the first step is to submit an application for admission and it must be processed, reference the “How to Enroll” section above.
- If the submitted support documentation with your application does not state the teaching subject, additional documentation may be requested before prerequisite overrides can be provided.
Tricia Oleyte, Success Coach
Tricia.Oleyte@athens.edu
256-233-81739
Financial Aid
- The minimum credit hours to qualify for financial aid will be 6 credit hours in a given semester and it will be only in the form of student loans, if a requesting student has not maximized their student loan allotment. A studentaid.gov for the correct aid year is required to determine eligibility.
- All students can also take advantage of the payment plan option to spread tuition payments over payments.
- Teachers on a PCTF will have to complete the same State Department of Education’s requirements for certification such as edTPA and Praxis Content, this is a matter dealt with the teacher and the hiring school systems’ certification officer/ALSDE.
- Athens State University only offers the required courses to meet the Alabama State Department of Education’s guidelines for the PCTF, it does not issue the certificate, teacher license, or set the requirements for eligibility.
- The only item Athens State will supply, upon request from the teacher completing classes, is an official copy of their academic transcript to show proof of coursework completion, which is ordered by the student at https://www.athens.edu/resources/student-services/registrar/transcript-requests/
- Completing these classes without being sponsored on a PCTF by a hiring school system does not result in teacher certificate/license.
- This coursework is at the undergraduate level.
- These courses will also include other degree-seeking students who are on track to complete a bachelor’s degree with Athens State.
- Proper documentation is required to be granted enrollment access to coursework.
- A teacher is only eligible for a PCTF if they are hired by their employing school system under the PCTF path.
- PCTF teachers should direct their specific certification questions to the Alabama State Department of Education and/or their hiring school systems’ certification officer.