Additional Certifications and Endorsements

Applied Behavior Analyst
If you want to become a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA®), you can complete the M.Ed. in Applied Behavior Analysis to meet the course and supervised experience requirements to sit for the BCBA® exam.

English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL)
If you want to add the South Carolina ESOL add-on certification, you can either take the approved five-course sequence (available online) or complete the 100% online M.Ed in Language and Literacy or the 100% online M.Ed in Teaching with a specialization in English for Speakers of Other Languages.

Gifted and Talented
Take the approved two-course sequence to add the beginning-level Gifted and Talented endorsement to your South Carolina teaching certificate.

Literacy Teacher, Literacy Coach, and Literacy Specialist
You can either take the approved course sequence or complete the M.Ed. in Language and Literacy to meet current course requirements for the Literacy Teacher and Literacy Coach add-on certifications in South Carolina. As a student in the M.Ed. in Language and Literacy, you can also meet the Literacy Specialist add-on course requirements with just one additional course.

 

Online Teaching
If you want to add the South Carolina Online Teaching endorsement to your certificate, you can either take the approved four-course sequence (available online) or complete the 100% online M.Ed. in Learning Design and Technologies.

If you are ready to pursue a doctorate degree, our 100% online Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) with a Learning Design and Technologies concentration has the courses required to meet the requirements of the Online Teaching endorsement.

 

Project-Based Learning (PBL)
If you want to add the South Carolina Project-Based Learning add-on endorsement, you can either take the approved three-course sequence (available online) or complete the 100% online M.Ed. in Teaching with a specialization in Project-Based Learning.

If you are ready to pursue a doctorate degree, this endorsement can also be met through the 100% online Ed.D. with a STEM Education concentration.

 

Play Therapy
If you want to become a Registered Play Therapist (RPT), you can complete our Certificate of Graduate Study in Play Therapy to meet the educational/course requirements for RPT.

 

Read-to-Succeed (R2S)
Current teachers seeking to meet the in-service Read-to-Succeed Literacy Teacher Endorsement or Read-to-Succeed Literacy Requirement Endorsement can choose one of three options:

• Take the appropriate course work (all courses available online).
• Complete the 100% online M.Ed. in Teaching with a specialization in Literacy and Reading.
• Complete the M.Ed. in Language and Literacy.

Both degrees meet the current in-service Read-to-Succeed course requirements.

 

Special Education
Current teachers wanting to add an area of Special Education can complete the M.Ed. in Special Education. If you are specifically interested in the Early Childhood (ages 3-5) Special Education add-on certification, you can take the seven-course sequence or complete the M.Ed. with the Early Childhood Special Education Concentration.

 

STEAM Education
Take the approved four-course sequence to add the STEAM Education endorsement to your South Carolina teaching certificate.

 

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Other Career Options and Degrees

 

Course Revalidation

Course Revalidation Process for SC Department of Education Certification Advancement (if you are not a current USC student)

For former students who are working with the South Carolina Department of Education to have a course revalidated for educator certification advancement, contact Lauren Sanborn (brownlw@mailbox.sc.edu or 803-777-6732). The process described here is a revalidation for course content stability and relevance to current educational practice for courses completed more than seven years ago using the SC Department of Education Course Revalidation Form [pdf].  It is NOT the process to be followed for courses to be included on a program of study for a current student at USC.

All requests should be sent to Lauren Sanborn, USC Certification Officer, at brownlw@mailbox.sc.edu. Courses taken within the last 10 years are reviewed for approval. Independent study courses, special topics courses, and courses older than 10 years are sent to the appropriate department chair to determine if the course is relevant to current educational practice and has content stability. Department chair decisions are final. Approval may be denied if a course does not have content stability.

 

Course Revalidation Process for the USC Graduate School for Current Students

For current students who have courses taken at USC that may expire before graduation (six years old for certificate, master’s, and specialist programs; ten years old for doctoral programs), the Graduate School provides the Permit for Revalidation Examination [pdf]. This process of revalidation ensures that the courses can be included on your current program of study. Contact the Gamecock EdQuarters office at coestudy@mailbox.sc.edu or 803-777-6732 to be routed to the graduate staff advisor who works with your program in the EdQuarters office. If you already know your graduate staff advisor, you can contact them directly:  Lawona Hill (hilll@mailbox.sc.edu ) or Ruth Roberts (rroberts@mailbox.sc.edu ).