The mission of the department is to provide secondary education majors with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions required to succeed for today's changing classrooms in grades 4-8 and 7-12. For certification, prospective middle-level and secondary school teachers are required to take coursework in an academic discipline that is equivalent to a major in that discipline. Secondary certification, except for modern languages, is a 7-12 program. In the state of Pennsylvania, modern language certification is for grades K-12. Middle-level certification is a 4-8 program.