The Secondary Education Programs lead to a Bachelor of Science: Secondary Education degree in specific content fields. The content fields include exceptional needs, language arts/English, mathematics, chemistry, earth/space science, life sciences, physics, and social studies. The School of Education, in cooperation with the Media School cosponsors journalism.

Successful completion of a secondary education program requires meeting both academic content and performance-based standards as assessed at different points by the School of Education. The secondary education teacher license in Indiana mandates a content field, a target population based on early and late adolescence or young adulthood developmental levels, and multiple assignments at the middle school/junior high or high school levels (grades 5-12).

The Bloomington campus offers two secondary programs:

• Anchor Program: The program incorporates coursework, a variety of field experiences, and a semester of student teaching. 
• Community of Teachers Program: This program incorporates course work and an extended seminar that sets specific tasks to be documented in a portfolio, and a combination of field experience and student teaching with a mentor teacher in the field.

Both programs consist of general education, content, and professional education courses and require 120 credits to graduate. To be licensed, a student must have at least one of the following major content areas. Credit earned in general education may be used where applicable to meet the course requirements in any major content area.

• Journalism 
• Language Arts/English 
• Mathematics 
• Science/Biology 
• Science/Chemistry 
• Science/Earth-Space
• Science/Physics 
• Social Studies/Historical Perspectives 
• Special Education/Exceptional Needs

In the Anchor Program, students follow a curriculum that combines content knowledge with a solid foundation in the history, theory, and philosophy of education; adolescent development; classroom management; and the use of technology in education. The program culminates in a semester-long student teaching experience in a middle school or high school classroom. There, students manage a class, prepare and deliver lessons, and assess student performance under the guidance of a supervising teacher.

The Community of Teachers (CoT) program is a highly individualized way to earn a secondary teaching license. It features an ongoing seminar that includes intensive, hands-on work in one school. Students complete the program not by earning course credits but by completing a portfolio of evidence documenting their ability as teachers.

• The Seminar: The central requirement of the CoT program is a seminar (EDUC-S 400) that is conducted each semester by the same faculty member. Each seminar group includes students from different majors ranging from beginners through student teachers. Each semester, the seminar’s focus is determined by the students and the seminar leader; and under the umbrella of the seminar, each student organizes and carries out an individualized program of preparation. The seminar replaces nine of the professional education courses of the anchor program: EDUC-A 308, EDUC-G 203, EDUC-H 205/340, EDUC-K 306, EDUC-M 300, EDUC-P 312, EDUC-P 313,  EDUC-W 200, and the first special methods course; as well as all fieldwork courses associated with the program. Completion of any of the courses can be counted as progress toward the completion of the CoT program. 
• The Apprenticeship: CoT students spend one day a week in a school, working with a teacher of their choice who has consented to be a mentor. The mentor relationship continues throughout students’ professional preparations, including student teaching. 
• The Portfolio: The activities of the mentor relationship are guided by a list of 16 Program Expectations that students satisfy by building evidence of their teaching capabilities. The evidence is organized in a portfolio that supports the case students must make to the faculty of their readiness to enter the profession.