Early Childhood Education (Birth-Grade 2), B.S.

About the Program

Elementary Education, Literacy and Educational Leadership
Bacon Hall 302
(716) 878-5916
https://elementaryeducation.buffalostate.edu/

Accredited: Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) (formerly NCATE)

Enrollment in all teacher education programs follows the guidelines for "Admission to Teacher Education Programs" found in this catalog. Applicants who do not yet meet all admissions criteria should consult with the department.

Professional Licensure: This program leads to a recommendation for NYS certification; please check for certification requirements in all other states.

Student Teaching
The program is clinically-rich with carefully designed field experiences that culminate in one full semester of student teaching. The culminating courses for the early childhood education majors may vary, but usually include one or two supervised student teaching experiences. Eligibility and placement for each student teaching experience is determined by the department office in cooperation with public schools in the greater Buffalo area. It is expected that students in these majors will have at least one urban teaching experience. Successful Graduates will be recommended for New York State Initial Certification to teach children from birth through grade 2 (early childhood, ECE).

Transfer Students
Most courses taken at an accredited institution and relevant to a Buffalo State degree program will be accepted, but the majority of professional sequence courses applied to the early childhood education major must be courses completed at Buffalo State. Grades for transfer courses are generally used in computing the required 3.0 cumulative GPA for admission to the major. Students planning to transfer as juniors into the early childhood programs and wishing to complete their programs in four semesters must seek advisement at the institution in which they initially enrolled to assure that the prerequisite course equivalencies are met. Candidates should consult the Teacher Certification website for current seminars and workshops.

Early Childhood education majors must complete one year of college-level study of one language other than English. Typically, two years of high school study of one language is equivalent to one year of college-level work. Early childhood education majors must also complete a distribution requirement of at least 6 credit hours in each of the following areas: mathematics, science, social studies, and English (not including CWP 101 and CWP 102).

Many of the courses in our professional sequence are taught in authentic settings for clinically-rich mentored experiences. As a result, the teacher candidates will have observation, tutoring, and teaching experiences in a variety of placements in our Professional Development Schools Consortium. Early childhood education majors are required to complete a 30-credit hour academic concentration in addition to the professional program requirements; the concentration seeks to broaden students’ academic backgrounds. Descriptions of the approved concentrations can be found in the Elementary Education Department Handbook for Majors, available on the department website, or from the department office. Currently, the concentration may be chosen from: American studies, English, Liberal Arts, Spanish, mathematics, science, social studies or urban studies.