The years students spend in middle and high school are pivotal, and the influence of a caring, creative teacher can help young people successfully navigate the path from adolescence to adulthood. As a secondary school teacher, you focus on a specific subject like history, math or science, and share your passion for it with students just as they begin to consider their college and career paths.
At Hofstra, our talented faculty, wealth of resources and high-tech facilities, emphasis on technological literacy, and extensive network among Long Island and New York City public schools, will prepare you for a long, successful career in the classroom.
Why Hofstra?
With a major in secondary education from Hofstra, you will graduate with initial certification to teach grades 7-12 in New York state.
Concentrations are available in English, foreign languages, mathematics, science, and social studies. All our teacher education programs are fully-accredited by the Teacher Education Accreditation Council (TEAC).
Our Programs
If your plan is to teach at the secondary level, your first step is to declare a major in Hofstra College of Liberal Arts and Sciences that is focused on the subject you want to teach. Then, during the second semester of your sophomore year, you declare a co-major in education:
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BA in English Education with a co-major in English and American Literature, or Creative Writing Literature
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BA in Mathematics Education, with a co-major in math
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BA in Foreign Language Education, with a co-major in French, Italian, Spanish, German, or Russian
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BA in Science Education, with a co-major in biology, chemistry, earth science, or physics
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BA in Social Studies Education, with a co-major in history or one of the other social sciences such as anthropology, economics, geography, political science, or sociology
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Also available: K-12 programs in Physical Education, Music Education, Fine Arts Education, and Dance Education
Fieldwork/Student Teaching
The Office of Field Placement accepts and evaluates requests for field observations, clinical experiences, and student teaching. The Dean's Office in the School of Education provides certification information related to Hofstra University's New York state-approved teacher, administrative, and pupil personnel preparation programs. Students in programs that lead to New York teacher certification must complete a minimum of 100 hours of fieldwork as well as student teaching.
Paid Internships
In several school districts on Long Island where Hofstra University's School of Education has developed school-university partnerships, students complete their formal student teaching placements in the fall semester and then segue into a paid internship role for the remainder of the school year through the end of the spring term.
While serving in the spring, interns provide academic intervention services and/or tutorial services to district students while continuing to develop their pedagogical skills under the direction of district teachers and administrators. Employment as interns provides valuable clinically rich experiences at the conclusion of the teacher training program and gives interns solid experience on which to continue building a resume as they work to secure a first teaching position.
Meet the Chair
In addition to serving as Chair and Professor of Teaching Learning Technology, Amy Catalano, EdD, is director of Science Education and Elementary STEM education. She was the School of Education's 2019 Teacher of the Year - an honor voted on by graduating seniors.
She and other Hofstra faculty members and administrators work closely with School of Education students, advise them on how to achieve their professional goals, and help them navigate the certification process.
During Crisis, Finding the Teachable Moments
When New York schools closed statewide in March 2020 to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, Hofstra’s School of Education had approximately 135 student teachers placed throughout Long Island and the New York metropolitan area. Jay Lewis, Associate Dean for External Relations, Field Placement and Recruitment, believed his aspiring teachers could be a critical resource as schools made the transition to digital learning. He started working the phones, making calls to contacts in local school districts to make sure his students could continue their placements.
The result? 100 percent of Hofstra student teachers continued to teach online.
Outcomes
There's an urgent nationwide need for secondary school teachers, particularly in math, science, and foreign languages. As the educational landscape has changed dramatically over the decades, Hofstra's School of Education has not only remained current, but has led the way for changes in curriculum, policy, and applications of technology. For example, with the help of a $1.6 million National Science Foundation grant, our professors are training local high school teachers to use coding in biology curriculum.
Hofstra's School of Education enjoys a high success rate of placing students in jobs after graduation – both in full-time positions and as replacements for teachers on temporary leave. More on alumni outcomes
In a survey of 2020-21 graduates from our School of Education programs:
91%
of these recent alumni reported they were working or enrolled in graduate school within a year of graduation.
96%
of the alumni reporting employment responded that they landed their position within three months of graduation. 100% were hired within six months of finishing their studies.
$52K
was the mean reported salary for these alumni their first year following gradation.
More about our students and alumni ...
A Bronx Tale
Dennis Belen Morales ’20 was inspired to study social studies education at Hofstra by his high school teacher Pablo Muriel, BA ’01, MA ’03, who was mentored by Hofstra Professor Alan Singer. All three Bronx, NY, natives have a bond based on shared experiences and their New York City roots. "One of the things that makes you a good teacher is being able to respect who your students are and where they come from,” Dr. Singer said. “You have to find things in your experiences that connect with theirs.”
Honored for a Stellar Record
Bianca Nicole Saraniero ’19 was the recipient of a Albert I. DaSilva Memorial Endowed Scholarship for maintaining a perfect grade point average of 4.0 throughout her undergraduate studies at Hofstra. Saraniero, who majored in biology, is pursuing an MSEd in Biology Education at Hofstra and plans to be a New York state secondary education biology and chemistry teacher.
Questions?
Amy Catalano, EdD
Chair and Professor, Teaching Learning Technology
Amy.Catalano@hofstra.edu
251 Hagedorn Hall,
119 Hofstra University,
Hempstead, NY 11549
516-463-5956