Subject Matter Competency

In addition to the sequence of education courses, students wishing to become secondary teachers in Social Science must prove subject matter competence via a state-administered test OR subject matter waiver program.  The SSCSSP encourages students to pursue the subject matter waiver program and to seek advising to see how best to count past coursework toward the waiver and to enroll in future courses that count toward the waiver.  Students pursuing the subject matter waiver have until the beginning of student teaching to complete the required SMP coursework.

The courses for the subject matter program are listed below (and in PDF form at the end of this page).  The advisor can give you additional information regarding the courses that may be counted in the upper-division breadth section.  Students must receive a C or better in all courses. In EDSS 300 and HIST 401, students must receive a B.

Please note that in spring 2012 the CSU changed its policy regarding subject matter waivers.  We may now only grant subject matter waivers to students who are enrolled in CSULB's credential program.  Students with undergraduate degrees from other universities who enroll in CSULB's credential may apply their undergraduate coursework to the subject matter.  Students from CSULB will find that much of their undergraduate coursework in social sciences such as history, political science, economics, and geography aligns to the subject matter.