Teacher Education

Claremont Graduate University provides high-quality teacher training and graduate coursework focused on equity and social justice to ensure the region’s most marginalized students have access to effective, diverse, and loving teachers.

From upcoming graduates to career changers, our teacher certification program empowers you with the critical social justice and evidence-based competencies and experiences you need to:

  • Recognize and leverage your own insights, talents, and expertise
  • Improve your students’ agency and achievement
  • Enact critical social justice and cultivate a fertile classroom ecology for all students’ productive activity and learning
  • Be resilient as a new teacher and within a long career in education

We believe that effective teachers come from all backgrounds, so no prior teaching experience is required. Begin your application today to start changing students’ lives.

 

Teacher Education Programs

Pathways to Certification

To accommodate a variety of backgrounds and learning styles, our program can be completed exclusively online, or it can be combined with select face-to-face courses and/or weekend seminars to make it a high-touch hybrid experience. We provide three pathways to certification: 

Program Length: 12-18 Months
Residency Pathway
  • Provides you personalized training to build strong foundational skills.
  • Observe and teach under a mentor teacher, gradually taking on more ownership throughout the school year.
  • Unpaid
Program Length: 18-24 months
Internship Pathway
  • Provides personalized training and an accelerated pathway into the classroom.
  • Complete a year-long internship as the teacher of record in your classroom.
  • Work in a local school district, directly impacting students and communities.
  • Receive a salary during your internship year (average:$45K/year).
Program Length: 12-18 months
Claremont Fellows Program
  • Provides you personalized training under a mentor teacher during a year-long residency.
  • Provides a $45K living stipend.
  • Requires a 3-year teaching commitment at a high-needs school.
  • Receive ongoing support through an induction program available after graduation.

Personalized Support & Critical Practice

In addition to receiving both a master’s degree and a preliminary California teaching certificate, you receive robust, personalized support and the deep, enriching critical social justice knowledge and practices needed to thrive as a first-year teacher and beyond.

  • Gain practical and reflective knowledge gleaned from experience, observation, and discussion.
  • Learn from mentor teachers who model best practices and engage with guided practice in diverse academic and clinical contexts.
  • Engage with high-quality, integrated graduate coursework about the historical, cultural, psychological, sociological, and pedagogical contexts of teachers and teaching.
  • Connect theory and practice and emerge from the program equipped with the skills necessary to implement effective critical social justice teaching strategies.
  • Critically investigate the contexts and factors influencing what is happening in your own classroom and school ecologies.
  • Continue learning while teaching and become confident in using data to inform and adjust your pedagogical approaches to improve effectiveness over time.

 

Eligibility

To be eligible for admission to one of Claremont Graduate University’s Teacher Education Program pathways, you must have:

  • Completed a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution.
  • Met the Subject Matter Skills requirement by passing the California Basic Education Skills Tests (CBEST), or by an alternative option (contact an admissions representative for more details)

You will go through a central interview and reference check process prior to being admitted. Invitations to interview are extended once basic eligibility requirements are confirmed.

 

Induction Program

Within five years of earning a Preliminary Credential in California, a teacher must earn a Clear Credential from an approved Induction Program. CGU has both a Preliminary Credential Program and an Induction Program.

Request more information about the School of Educational Studies
Admissions Representatives

  • Maryam Qureshi

    Assistant Director of Admissions

    T: 909-607-6374 (Direct)

    T: 909-607-7811 (Central Admissions)

    E: maryam.qureshi@cgu.edu

    Programs

    Teacher Education

  • Paige Piontkowsky

    Director of Admissions

    T: 909-607-3240 (Direct)

    T: 909-607-7811 (Central Admissions)

    E: paige.p@cgu.edu

    Programs

    Psychology and Positive Health Psychology, School of Educational Studies