About Assembly Bill (AB) 130 Competency Requirements Within California Teacher Education Programs

The California Education Code and Title 5 Regulations specify that for Preliminary Teaching Credential candidates, the basic skills requirement must be met prior to serving as an intern. However, institutions may require the basic skills requirement prior to program enrollment. For more information, please refer to the Commission’s overview of this requirement. The Whittier College Teacher Education Program requires candidates meet the basic skills requirement as a condition of admission into any of its credential programs.

California Education Code requires that all candidates for a teaching credential must demonstrate they are proficient in the subject matter area of their intended credential. For more information, please refer to the Commission’s overview of this requirement. The Whittier College Teacher Education Program requires candidates demonstrate progress towards meeting the subject matter competence requirement as a condition of admission to any of its credential programs.

The Whittier College Teacher Education Program will continue to accept passing scores on the CBEST, SAT, ACT, Advance Placement Exam and/or CSU Placement Test.

If you are submitting multiple exam scores, the Whittier College Teacher Education Program will look to see if a combination of passing scores is possible (e.g., Someone passes one section with the SAT exam and the other sections with the CBEST exams).

If you are a currently enrolled graduate and undergraduate student and believe you have completed undergraduate coursework that can be applied to the Basic Skills Requirement, you can fill out a Degree Audit Form found on Office of Registrar Webpage. When completing this form, you will be required to include a course syllabus and/or description, as well as related transcripts. 

Coursework will be evaluated by the Whittier College Teacher Education Program to ensure that it meets the conditions set forth by the Commission. For example, coursework must:

• The candidate must have earned a grade of "B" or better (“B-” is acceptable) OR earned a “pass” or “credit” in the qualifying coursework
• The coursework must have been taken at a regionally accredited college or university 
• The coursework must provide three semester units (or equivalent quarter units) 
• The coursework must have been taken for academic credit (earned units) 
• The coursework must be degree applicable (AA degree applicable is acceptable) 
• If taken at a college or university outside the United States, the courses must be English based courses and must be deemed as equivalent to coursework taken at a regionally accredited college or university in the United States.

If you have additional questions about this information, please contact the Whittier College Teacher Education Program’s Credential Analyst, Rosa Delia Rosas rrosas@whittier.edu 

While the table below includes course titles for offerings at Whittier College, courses completed at other institutions can still be used to meet the basic skills requirement. 

The Commission will allow the Whittier College Teacher Education Program to apply courses that do not meet the criteria to the basic skills requirement if it meets certain requirements. For example, you should review the course title (listed in the course catalogue and/or transcript) to identify whether it contains key terms like those listed in the center column of the table above. In some cases, verifications from relevant college offices may also be used to document how a course’s content satisfies the basic skills content of Reading, Writing, and/or Mathematics, as applicable. If you think you have completed coursework that satisfies one of the components of the basic skills requirement, please contact the Whittier College Teacher Education Program’s Credential Analyst, Rosa Delia Rosas rrosas@whittier.edu

Previously, to meet the Subject Matter Competence Requirement, candidates must have either received a passing score on the applicable CSET examination or completed a Commission-approved subject matter waiver program. AB 130 expanded the available options to allow candidates to meet the Subject Matter Requirement. Currently, the Subject Matter Requirement can be met by 

• passing the appropriate sections of the CSET 
• completing a Commission-approved Subject Matter Waiver program
• completing an approved undergraduate academic major 
• completing coursework that aligns with each of the domains of the Subject Matter Requirements (SMRs)
• using a combination of exam (CSET) and coursework

For multiple subject candidates

Liberal Studies degrees as well as Liberal Studies degrees that include any focus or concentration in the title. Examples include, but are not limited to, Liberal Studies: Urban Education and Liberal Studies: Elementary Education. Interdisciplinary studies major that includes coursework in the content areas for Multiple Subject (i.e. language studies, literature, mathematics, science, social science, history, the arts, physical education & human development). 

For education specialist candidates

For Education Specialist Instruction Credentials, any degree that meets the subject matter competence requirement for Single Subject or Multiple Subjects is acceptable.

For Single Subject candidates

The major must be an exact degree/credential subject match in one of the subjects named in Education Code section 44257(a). For the single subject credentials offered through the Whittier College Teacher Education Program, these subjects are: 

At this time, the Commission will also accept applied majors in the single subject credential areas (e.g., Applied Mathematics, Applied Physics) and exact majors in one of the single subject areas that may have additional modifiers (e.g., Biology: Environmental Biology; Art: Art History; and Physical Education: Kinesiology). 

Unfortunately no, the child development major is not considered an interdisciplinary studies major and cannot be applied towards the subject matter competence requirement. 

Yes, if you have an approved degree that aligns with your selected credential, you may use it to waive any outstanding sections of the CSET. If you have coursework that aligns with the domains tested by one or more sections of the CSET, this can be reviewed by the department once the processes for doing so have been finalized by the state. 

This webpage will be updated as soon as we have more information. You can also email education@whittier.edu to request updated information. 

Candidates can apply for a preliminary teaching credential as soon as they meet all requirements. Currently, we are able to process applications that include the expanded options for meeting the basic skills requirement. We can process applications for candidates who have demonstrated subject matter competence through passing of appropriate sections of the CSET, completing a Commission-approved subject matter waiver program, or who have completed an approved undergraduate major. We have not yet been given the review criteria for candidates who meet the subject matter competence requirement through coursework. We will implement this procedure as soon as we receive the specifics from the state. We have not been given a timeline for when this will happen.

We are happy to assist you. Please email your questions to use at education@whittier.edu.