Our Mission
The goal of the UC-wide Cal Teach Initiative is to encourage the diverse group of UC students majoring or planning to major in Math, Science and Engineering to consider teaching as a career. Learn more about UC-wide CalTeach.
There is a great need for teachers in the state of California, particularly for science, math, and special education. The shortage of highly qualified, credentialed teachers in these subjects is particularly acute in high-needs schools throughout the state.
The UCLA Cal Teach program is committed to encouraging and supporting students interested in K-12 math and science teaching. Our courses include observation, participation and assisting in K-12 schools, and seminars to support those field experiences. Through our program students explore teaching in the elementary, middle and high school settings. We offer guided exploration of teaching as a career, personal advising as students' explore and prepare for a teaching career, and assistance and financial support for subject matter preparation.
Our program wants the best and the brightest to experience, first-hand, the amazing impact that they can have on teaching and that teaching can have on them. We look forward to hearing from you!!
Program Overview
Want to explore teaching?
For those students interested in exploring teaching without any long-term commitment, we offer 2- or 3-unit pass/no pass seminars with an associated 20- or 24-hour per quarter internship (field experience) that combine the theoretical learning in the seminar with the practical application of the hands-on internship. Exploratory seminars are offered at the elementary, middle, and high school levels.
We offer both a science focus (Science Education 1XP, 10XP, 15XP) and a math focus (Math 73XP, 74XP, 75XP), depending upon your interest. These exploratory courses are lower division and are considered to be community engagement/service learning courses. They include 20 hours of internship in a local school. These courses are open to all science, engineering and math students regardless of class level (including graduate students).
For science, we also offer an upper division high school seminar and associated 24-hour field experience that is our capstone service-learning course and is offered for 5 units with grades (Science Education 100XP). The math department also offers an upper division sequence of courses in math pedagogy that include associated field experiences at the high school level (Math 105 A, B, C) for those students with a math focus.
During the summer, we offer a one-week paid internship ($400) in high needs schools throughout the Los Angeles area. This opportunity is open to UCLA science, math, or engineering undergraduates who would like to continue to explore teaching, and generally takes place the week before Fall Quarter begins.
To learn more about the above opportunities, go to the "Teach Science" and "Teach Math" drop down menus above.
Already decided to teach?
Students who have made the decision to become either a science teacher or a math teacher have the opportunity to combine their undergraduate and graduate studies and accelerate the timeline to becoming a middle or high school teacher (receive both credential and Masters of Education). These programs allow you to begin your credential work during your senior year, and then complete your masters degree in the year following graduation. For science, you may apply for the Science Teacher Education Program (STEP). For math, you may apply for the Joint Math Education Program (JMEP). Acceptance into either of these accelerated credential programs makes you eligible to apply for up to $18,000 in forgivable loans for your senior year, and a $2,000 scholarship for the summer session between your undergraduate and graduate year. Science students may also be eligible to apply for some additional scholarship support during the Spring Quarter of their junior year after being accepted and committing to the program.
For those who would like to receive a math credential as an undergraduate, the math department also offers the four-year Integrated Pathway program. For more information on the two accelerated math credential programs, please see the UCLA Curtis Center for Mathematics and Teaching.
Other opportunities:
The Science Education Minor is a free-standing, interdisciplinary program bridging teaching and learning in the sciences. Students interested in an interdisciplinary background in science and who also want to learn how they and others learn science should find this minor beneficial. This minor is useful both for helping you prepare for a teaching assistantship in grad school, and/or to jump-start a career in secondary school teaching. It is also useful to those potentially pursuing a career where teaching is an important component, such as in academia at a University, Four-Your College, or Community College, or other science-related outreach.
The Mathematics for Teaching Minor, offered through the math department, is designed for students majoring in fields other than mathematics who plan to teach secondary mathematics after graduation.
The Math for Teaching Major, offered by the math department, provides a rigorous degree in math that makes you eligible either to continue graduate studies or pursue a career teaching secondary math.
Please contact Connie Jung at connie@math.ucla.edu for more information about either the Math for Teaching Major or Minor.
Administrative Structure:
The UCLA Cal Teach program is housed in the Chemistry Department as part of the Division of Physical Sciences, with the Dean of Physical Sciences as the campus lead. Professor Arlene Russell (Chemistry) has been the Faculty Director since the program’s inception in 2005. Cal Teach courses, associated minors, and undergraduate credential pathways involve various collaborations with UCLA School of Education and Information Studies and UCLA Curtis Center for Mathematics and Teaching in the Math Department.