Alternative Certification Program

To ensure that all teachers have the knowledge and skills needed to be effective with our students, YES Prep has created the Teaching Excellence Program, an alternative certification pathway.

A new teacher development and certification program, Teaching Excellence provides rigorous and relevant training and individualized support that accelerates the development of new teachers. Proven and adopted by schools aiming for higher standards, Teaching Excellence is responsible for certifying more than 350 teachers serving YES Prep, KIPP Texas - Houston, BakerRipley, Elevate Collegiate Charter School and Étoile Academy Charter School.

The How

The Cost

The Requirements

If you are interested in applying to be a teacher in any of the following content areas and are not certified, please review the required credit hours and register for the associated Pre-Admissions Content Test (PACT). In order to be formally admitted into the Teaching Excellence ACP program, the following requirements must be met:

Take and pass PACT Content Exam assigned to you by Teaching Excellence in your initial email

Have a minimum GPA of 2.5 on a conferred degree (or last 60 hours of a conferred degree)
A minimum of 12 semester credit hours in the subject-specific content area for certification sought (unless math or science, which need 15 credit hours)

For more information on the PACT exam, please see below.

Middle School Courses

Middle School Courses

Teaching Assignment or Content	Courses	Required Credit Hours	*PACT Exam
MS Math/Math Enrichment/Math Numeracy Lab	6-8	12 combined hours of ELA, SS, Math, and Science	Core Subjects 4-8 or Math 4-8
MS Science	6-8 MS	12 combined hours of ELA, SS, Math, and Science	Core Subjects 4-8 or Science 4-8
MS Social Studies	6-8 MS	12 combined hours of ELA, SS, Math, and Science	Core Subjects 4-8 or Social Studies 4-8
MS English/Reading Intervention	6-8 MS	12 combined hours of ELA, SS, Math, and Science	Core Subjects 4-8 or ELAR 4-8
Special Education	All grades	12 combined hours of Math and Reading (English/Literature)	Special Education EC-12

High School Courses

Teaching Assigment or Content	Courses	Required Credit Hours	*PACT Exam
HS Science	Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Environmental Science, Life Science	15 credit hours of science course work	Science 7-12 Life Science 7-12 (biology teachers only) Physical Science EC-12 (physics, physical science, chemistry teachers only)
HS English	English I, II, III/AP Lit, IV/AP Lang	12 credit hours of English course work	ELAR 7-12
HS Math	Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II, AQR, Pre-Cal/Cal	15 credit hours of math course work (includes only college-level courses listed as "Math" on your transcript)	Math 7-12
HS Social Studies	World Geography, World History, US History, AP Government, Econ/Gov.	12 credit hours of History course work	Social Studies 7-12 History 7-12
Special Education	All grades	12 combined hours of Math and Reading (English/Literature)	Special Education EC-12

Elective/Foreign Language Courses

Teaching Assignment or Content	Courses	Required Credit Hours	*PACT Exam
Spanish	MS or HS Spanish	12 credit hours of Spanish course work	LOTE Spanish EC-12
French	MS or HS French	12 credit hours of French course work	LOTE French EC-12
Mandarin or Chinese	MS or HS Mandarin or Chinese	12 credit hours of Mandarin or Chinese	LOTE Mandarin Chinese EC-12
PE or Health	MS/HS PE or Health	12 credit hours of Physical Education course work	Physcial Education EC-12
Technology	MS or HS Technology	12 credit hours of Computer Science/Programming Technology course work	Technology Applications EC-12
Music, Orchestra, Choir	MS or HS	12 credit hours of Music course work	Music EC-12
Theater	MS or HS Theater	12 credit hours of Theater course work	Theatre EC-12
Art	MS or HS Art	12 credit hours of Art, Art History course work	Art EC-12
Dance	MS or HS Dance	12 credit hours of Dance course work	Dance 6-12

*The required credit hours can be overridden by the passage of a Pre-Admission Content Test (PACT). If you take and pass the appropriate PACT exam, YES Prep is not guaranteeing you a job offer. Since these admission requirements are mandated by the state and affect all Educator Preparation Programs (EPPs), passing the PACT exam in the subject area that you are interested in teaching will make you a more viable applicant for these types of positions and ensure that you are able to pursue alternative certification.

Formal Admission is only final when communicated to you directly by your Certification Program, which has the ultimate discretion on which exams and credit hours will be accepted towards the Formal Admission requirements. The information on this page is subject to change at any time, without notice.

Join Our Team

We're looking for passionate, qualified candidates to join our team

Apply Today!

Search