Secondary Teacher Preparation in Social
Studies: Oklahoma

Analysis of Oklahoma's policies

Oklahoma does not offer secondary certification in general social studies. However, the state does offer certifications to secondary teachers that combine content areas. For example, candidates may choose from the following: U.S. history/Oklahoma history/government/economics; world history/geography; and psychology/sociology. They are required to pass the corresponding OSAT content test, which combines these subject areas and does not report subscores.

Middle school social studies teachers in Oklahoma may opt for certification in middle level social studies. Candidates must earn a major in a content-related area, and, commendably, they must also pass the OSAT "Middle Level Social Studies" test. Unfortunately, Oklahoma allows middle school social studies teachers to teach on a generalist 1-8 license (see Goal 1-E).

Citation

Full (Subject Matter) Competencies for Licensure and Certification http://sde.state.ok.us/teacher/profstand/pdf/Competencies.pdf Certification Examinations for Oklahoma Educators www.ceoe.nesinc.com

Recommendations for Oklahoma

Require secondary social studies teachers to pass tests of content knowledge for each social studies discipline they intend to teach.
States that allow combination social studies certifications—and only require combination social studies exams—are not ensuring that their secondary teachers possess adequate subject-specific content knowledge. Oklahoma is on the right track in not offering a general social studies certification; however, its certification policy falls short because the required assessments combine subject areas and do not report separate scores for each subject area. 

State response to our analysis

Oklahoma asserted that middle level social studies teachers are required to meet the highly qualified criteria as defined by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. They must either pass the appropriate social studies subject-area test or meet the requirements for building a HOUSSE. The state also contended that subscores for the social studies subject-area exams are reported to both the examinees and teacher preparation programs.

Last word

Since Oklahoma's subject-area exams already provide subscores, the state should consider using this information to ensure that teacher candidates with obvious weaknesses in particular areas are not licensed to teach those areas.