Academic Programs - Early Childhood Education
Specialist in Education (EdS) Degree in Early Childhood Education
Program Planning and Advisement
Upon acceptance into the EdS degree program, students will be assigned to an advisor. Students must communicate with their advisor every semester to plan coursework and to be cleared for registration.
Planning to Graduate
A final program of study must be filed with the Graduate School no later than the first week of the semester in which the student plans to graduate. In addition, an online application to graduate must be completed.
Students are responsible for conforming to published policies and for carrying out procedural requirements such as filing appropriate forms in a timely manner.
Programs of Study and the on-line application to graduate can be found at The Graduate School website.
Course of Study for the Education Specialist in Early Childhood Education
The Education Specialist in Early Childhood Education degree program consists of thirty semester hours of coursework covering five areas: curriculum and teaching in early childhood environments, social foundations, psychological foundations, school subject areas, and research and evaluation. At least fifteen credit hours must have an EDEC, EDMS, ESOC, or ESSE prefix. Students may also include courses that will earn further endorsements, though it is likely that not all courses for a particular endorsement will the fit within the semester hours in the program of study for the specialist degree.
Program of Study
| Area A: Curriculum and Teaching in Early Childhood Environments | 3 courses/15 credit hours |
| Area B: Historical, Philosophical and Social Foundations | 1 course/3 credit hours |
| Area C: Psychological Foundations | 1 course/3 credit hours |
| Area D: School Subject Areas | 4 courses/12 credit hours |
| Area E: Research and Evaluation (Four additional courses) | 1 course/3 credit hours |
| TOTAL: | TOTAL: 3 courses/36 hours
Important additional requirement: 6 courses must have an EDEC/EDMS/ESOC or ESSE prefix. |
Area A: Curriculum and Teaching (5 courses/15 credit hours minimum)
All courses with an EDEC, EDMS or ESSE prefix count toward Area A requirements.
Required Courses:
EDEC 7010: Trends and Issues in Early Childhood Education
EDEC 7020: Theory and Curriculum in Early Childhood Education
Possible AREA A Courses:
EDEC 7050: Teaching in Elementary Schools (P–5)
EDEC 7060: Academic Community Learning
EDEC 7110: The Educational Role of Play in Early Childhood Education
EDEC 7130: Teaching Styles in the Elementary Classroom
EDEC 7160: Instructional Strategies for Early Childhood Education
EDEC 7190: Educational Environments for Young Children: Birth–Eight
EDEC 7420: Organization and Management of Early Childhood Classrooms
ESSE 7120: Children’s Social Lives
ESSE 7130: Teaching Styles in the Elementary Classroom
ESSE 7210: Social Class, Poverty, and Class Sensitive Pedagogy
ESSE 7500: Action Research
ESSE 7550: The History of Teachers and Teaching in the United States
ESSE 8050: Theory and Research on Teaching
ESSE 8070: Research and Perspectives on Teacher Education
ESSE 8110: Methods for Observing Children in Schools
ESSE 8120: Social Constructivist Approaches to Understanding Motivation
ESSE 8140: Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Learning Environments for Children and Young Adolescents
ESSE 8150: Research and Theory in Family-School-Community Interactions
ESSE 8180: Research in Multicultural Teacher Education
ESSE 8190: Mentoring in Learning to Teach
Any other courses at the 7000 or 8000 level with an EDEC, EDMS or ESSE can count as a Curriculum and Teaching requirement. Some other courses may count with permission of your advisor.
B. Social Foundations (1 course/3 credit hours minimum)
EDEC 7120: Children’s Social Lives
EDEC 7180: Understanding Cultural and Linguistic Diversity in Schools (corequisite: EDEC 7180L)
EDEC 8140: Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Learning Environments for Children and Young Adolescents
EDEC 8150: Research and Theory in Family-School-Community Interactions
EFND 7040: History of Education in the United States
EFND 7100: Gender and Education
EFND 7110: Race, Class, and Education
EFND 7120: Sociological Theories of Education
EFND 7140: The Social and Cultural Context of Teaching
EFND 7150: Anthropology of Education
EFND 7200: Multicultural Education in the United States
EFND 7210: Examining Race and Culture in Education Reform and Policy
LLED 7040: Language and Culture in the Classroom
SOCI 6060: Sociology of Education
Other LLED courses and courses from other subject areas may count toward the Social Foundations requirement.
C. Psychological Foundations (1 course/3 credit hours minimum)
EDEC 7110: The Educational Role of Play in Early Childhood Education
EDEC 7200: Developmental Issues of Elementary School Learners
EDEC 8120: Social Constructivist Approaches to Understanding Classroom Motivation
EPSY 6010: Foundations of Human Development for Education
EPSY 6060: Foundations of Motivation for Education
EPSY 6800: Foundations of Cognition for Education
Other course prefixes could be approved to count toward Area C.
D. Elementary School Subject Areas (4 courses/12 credit hours)
ARED 7310: Multicultural and Cross-Cultural Study in Art Education
ARED 7350: Teaching of Art in the Elementary School
CHFD 7130: Creative Activities for Young Children
EDIT 6150: Introduction to Computer-Based Education
LLED 6100: Language Arts, Grades P–5
LLED 6310: Survey of Children’s Literature, Grades P–8
LLED 6631: Bilingualism and Bilingual Education
LLED 7016: Folk Literature, Grades P–12
LLED 7310: Children’s Literature in the Curriculum, Grades P–8
LLED 7318: Culturally Diverse Children’s Literature, Grades P–8
LLED 7320: Writing Pedagogy, Grades P–8
LLED 7330: Storytelling and the Oral Tradition, Grades P–8
LLED 7630: ESOL, Grades P–12
EMAT 6410: Mathematical Learning in PreK–Grade 5
EMAT 6420: Mathematics Methods for Early Childhood Education
ESCI 6200: Science, Technology, and Society
ESCI 6230: Environmental Science Education
ESCI 6420: Science for Early Childhood Education
ESCI 7020: Teaching Science in the Elementary School
ESOC 7420: Social Studies for the Young Child
HPRB 6420: Health Education in Early Childhood Education
PEDS 6300: Physical Education for the Elementary School
PEDS 7060: Human Diversity in Curriculum and Instruction
LLED 6010: Foundations of Reading Instruction
LLED 6020: Children with Reading Problems
LLED 6420: Literacy Development and Instruction in Early Childhood
LLED 7110: Computer-Based Instruction in Reading Education
Other courses in the subject area departments may fulfill Area D requirements.
Research and Evaluation (1 course/3 credit hours minimum)
EDEC 7170: Evaluation of the Elementary School
ESSE 7500: Action Research
ERSH 6200: Methods of Research in Education
EDEC 7650: Literature Review in Early Childhood Education
Other courses may be substituted by advisement.
