DirecTrack to Teaching
Get on the path to teaching licensure as an undergraduate through DirecTrack to Teaching. The program gives undergraduates early exposure to the culture of teaching and schools through in-school experiences and prepares you to enter our MEd and Teaching License programs.
- Learn as part of a select group of future teachers from multiple disciplines.
- Participate in guided experiences (volunteering, observing, tutoring) with youth and in classroom settings.
- Focus on the subject area you want to teach.
- Earn preferred admission status into the MEd and Teaching License program in your focus area when certain benchmarks are met (but admission is not guaranteed).
DirecTrack to Teaching is a non-degree program. You will maintain your current University of Minnesota undergraduate college and major status (e.g., CLA, history major) while in the DirecTrack to Teaching program.
Contact us
Email the program coordinator Jehanne Beaton.
Admission information
For detailed admissions information visit the DirecTrack to Teaching Admissions page.
Teaching content areas
You'll find it easiest to fulfill all your major and DirecTrack to Teaching requirements if you choose an undergraduate major that is directly related to the teaching licensure area you want to pursue. See the licensure areas below and corresponding recommended majors to ensure you have the prerequisites to enter the graduate-level MEd and teaching licensure program after completing DirecTrack:
- Art education (licensure in visual arts education) Recommended majors: art, art history, studio art
- Dance education Recommended major: dance
- English education(licensure in communication arts and literature) Recommended major: English
- Mathematics education Recommended major: math
- Science education Recommended majors: astrophysics, biology, chemistry, engineering, environmental sciences, fisheries and wildlife, genetics and cell biology, geology, neuroscience, physics
- Second Language education(licensure in world languages and English as a second language) Recommended majors: language studies (French, German, Japanese, etc.), international relations, linguistics, speech-language-hearing sciences
- Social Studies education Recommended majors: African American and African studies, American Indian studies, American studies, anthropology, ChicanX and LatinX studies, economics, gender and sexuality studies, geography, history, philosophy, political science, psychology, sociology
- Theatre education Recommended major: theatre arts
Program experience
After acceptance into the DirecTrack to Teaching program, you will attend a spring orientation. DirecTrack to Teaching advisers will work closely with you to help you choose the proper coursework to meet DirecTrack to Teaching requirements.
Program Coursework and Requirements
You will be required to meet the following benchmarks to continue participating in the DirecTrack to Teaching program:
- Achieve and maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.0 throughout the program
- Maintain full-time status and good academic standing in the major, and adequate progress towards graduation.
- Take at least one course in the DirecTrack to Teaching sequence per academic year after admission to DirecTrack to Teaching.
- Earn grades in DirecTrack to Teaching courses of B or higher.
- Stay on track toward successful completion of area prerequisite courses for the MEd and Teaching licensure program.
- Participate in at least two DirecTrack to Teaching professional development events per semester (when not enrolled in a DirecTrack to Teaching course).
- Participate in the DirecTrack to Teaching learning community via the online networking site.
- Complete at least 100 hours of practicum/service-learning experience through enrollment in Exploring the Teaching Profession coursework: CI 3901 and CI 3902 (two 2-credit course sequence: 4-credit total).
Earn your teaching license
After you've completed your undergraduate degree and met all DirecTrack to Teaching benchmarks, you will be eligible to begin the graduate-level teaching licensure program in your field. If you graduate and complete DirecTrack to Teaching in the spring semester, you will begin your teaching licensure program that summer.
Through DirecTrack, I have had several meaningful service-learning experiences, made great friends who are as dedicated about teaching as I am, and have found a community I feel I belong in.
Quynh Van, BA 2018