The primary purpose of the Social Studies Education degree is to prepare secondary (grades 7-12) social studies teachers for the public schools. The degree is designed to prepare students to pass two of the Oklahoma Teacher Certification Tests (OSAT fields 17 and 18), that are requirements for certification to teach social studies in Oklahoma. Successfully completing the degree and passing these two tests will allow a person to be certified to teach American history, Oklahoma history, government, and economics (field 17) and world history and geography (field 18). While the degree is specifically aimed at enabling students to meet Oklahoma standards, the requirements for the degree are similar enough to standards of other states that obtaining certification elsewhere is not a major problem. It is commonly required by many states for social studies teachers to have passed a course or exam in the history of the state where certification is sought.
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