written by Claire Miller
The American Physical Society and the American Association of Physics Teachers named Georgia State University one of nine institutions to graduate five or more highly-qualified physics teachers in 2017.
Georgia State joins the likes of Rutgers University, Brigham Young University, Illinois State University and others in what’s known as the “5+ Club,” a significant achievement given the physics teacher shortage that schools in the U.S. face today.
“The great majority of institutions graduate less than two physics teachers a year, and the most common number of graduates is zero. In their 2015-16 report, the American Association for Employment in Education found that the teacher shortage in physics is number three among 59 education fields,” the American Physical Society wrote in a press release. “The 5+ Club institutions are national leaders in addressing the severe nationwide shortage of secondary physics teachers.”
There are two paths to physics teacher certification at Georgia State. Thanks to collaboration between faculty in the College of Education & Human Development and the College of Arts and Sciences, students can earn physics certification through the teacher education concentration in the Bachelor of Science in Physics program. Or, students can enroll in the physics concentration in the Master of Arts in Teaching in Science Education program.
For more information about the “5+ Club” designation, visit https://www.phystec.org/the5plus.