Major requirements include:
Elementary teacher candidates major in Education Studies: Elementary Education. These candidates will be eligible for K-6 certification. Candidates must successfully pass Praxis I and Praxis II (elementary). Candidates will complete a field experience in one of each of the following grade groupings: (K-2), (3-4), and (5-6).
Students considering studying abroad, which is not required for the Elementary Education major, must decide by the end of the fall sophomore year. It is critical for planning purposes.
Students will complete core and major requirements. There are five clinical or field-based experiences that are embedded in each of the following courses offered by the department: ED 130 - Principles of Teaching and Learning , SEFE (Sophomore Early Field Experience), 30 hours; ED 322 - Inclusion, Equity, and Diversity in Education , 20 hours; ED 375 - Theory and Methods of Teaching Elementary Reading , 30 hours; ED 430 - Methods of Teaching Elementary Reading and Mathematics , Bridge Experience, 20 hours; and ED 432 - Supervised Student Teaching , 15 weeks. Each placement will be in a school with an experienced licensed elementary teacher. It is highly recommended that a variety of sites are used: parochial, urban, and suburban.
The Education Department does not allow service learning hours to count for more than one course at a time. Therefore, Education students are able to take one service learning or field placement course per semester.