Education, Early and Primary Teacher, BS

Teacher Candidacy Screening

All teacher candidacy requirements are completed using Taskstream. The following outline presents criteria for the teacher candidacy programs.

1. Verification of at least 48 semester hours in order to meet PDE chapter 354.23 regulations.
2. Verification of at least 3.00 GPA in Education, teaching area, and overall, with verification of “C” or above in education and teaching area courses taken by the time of application.
3. Clearances: Valid PA Criminal Record Check (Act 34), PA Child Abuse Clearance (Act 151), and Federal Criminal History Record Information - FBI Fingerprinting (Act 114) indicating “no record,” as well as the Arrest/Conviction Report and Certification Form (Act 24) and TB test results.  Any citation on the Act 34, act 151 or Act 114 will result in unsuccessful screening.
4. Passing scores on the PAPA examinations (Reading, Writing, Mathematics) or Praxis I Core Exam or ACT or SAT examinations.
5. Satisfactory completion of a candidacy interview process as designed and implemented by the Education Department.
6. Completed positive recommendations from two (preferably, full-time) instructors in the Education Department with whom you have taken courses.  (It is the student’s responsibility to obtain the recommendation from each instructor.)

More specific criteria for teacher candidacy for each program is shown below.  More information is provided by the Undergraduate Program Director at scheduled meetings each semester that students are encouraged to attend.

Teacher Candidacy Requirements:

• EDUC 144 - Foundations of American Education  
• EDUC 222 - (S,EPW) Educational Psychology, PreK-4  
• WRTG 107 - (FYW) Composition  (or WRTG 105  +106 )
• ENLT Elective
• MATH 6 credits of college-level mathematics at the 102 or higher level 

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Student Teaching Requirements

“The culminating experience in the Teacher Education Program is student teaching. To apply for student teaching, the student will have: 

• completed or be currently enrolled in all major courses required to be completed prior to student teaching (as noted on specific program guides),  
• earned a grade of “C” or better in major courses completed prior to student teaching,  
• earned a grade of “C” or better in teaching area courses completed prior to student teaching, 
• obtained a GPA of 3.00 or greater in major courses, teaching area courses, and overall. 

(All major courses must be completed prior to student teaching as noted in specific program guides; not all teaching area courses must be completed before student teaching.)

Students must demonstrate that these requirements are still met at the end of the fall or spring semester of application to student teach.”  

Early and Primary Education Program Curriculum

¹This course must meet the FYOC and FYDT designations for Eloquentia Perfecta.

²The selection of a First Year Seminar is likely to fulfill requirements both for the First Year Seminar and a General Education Requirement.  Thus, the First Year Seminar will not add to the total credits for the semester.  Talk with your advisor if you have any questions.

³ Humanities Electives: Students must earn 6 credits in one humanities field: world language (CF), history (CH) or literature (CL). The remaining 6 credits must come from the other humanities fields, with no more than 3 credits coming from the fine arts (CA).

⁴ Students admitted to Accelerated Special Education Program will take a graduate level course towards their graduate degree as a free elective.

⁵ All undergraduate student teachers will be required to complete edTPA as part of the requirements for student teaching seminar. 

⁶ Students may complete student-teaching in the fall semester if the requirements for student-teaching are met at the beginning of the fall semester.