Program Directors: Suzanne Carothers, Maris Krasnow
Address: East Building
239 Greene Street, 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10003-6647
Phone: 212-998-5460
| Program of Study Form (pdf) |
Programs Committed to Teaching All Children
The Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development prepares teachers who recognize the capacities, strengths, and needs of all children and their families. To meet this challenge, we have created two dual certification programs that are at the cutting edge of the profession: one in Early Childhood Education and Early Childhood Special Education (Birth-Grade 2) and a second in Childhood Education and Childhood Special Education (Grades 1-6). This design recognizes that whether our graduates choose to work in general education settings, special education settings, or inclusive settings, they need to share a set of common understandings. Thus, our students acquire a firm knowledge base in human development and variability in development. They acquire knowledge and skills for providing enriching, child-centered educational environments and learn how to adapt those environments to meet the needs of the diverse students in their classes.
Graduates from these dual certification programs share visions for their students. They acquire the collaborative skills to realize those visions with teachers, parents, and other education and health professionals. In short, NYU's integrated, dual certification programs model the process its graduates will use throughout their careers.
Dual Certification: Birth to Grade 2:
We prepare you for two types of teacher certification:
- as a special education teacher and
- as a childhood education teacher.
This certification will enable you to teach in either general education or inclusive or self-contained special education settings.
Opening Doors and Supporting the Diverse Needs of Learners
The Certification Program in Early Childhood and Early Childhood Special Education is designed to prepare teachers to teach in infant-toddler, Pre-K, or Grade K-2 general education or special education programs. Program graduates will be prepared to work in collaboration with families and other education professions, as well as professionals from related discipline to provide learning opportunities for children with varying capacities and needs in a variety of settings.
Focusing on How Children Learn and Develop
Our Certification Programs in Early Childhood and Early Childhood Special Education within the Department of Teaching and Learning is an urban-centered and field-based program that gives a thorough command of an integrated curriculum grounded in a deep understanding of children's growth and development, with an emphasis on human variability. You will have practical experience in the field, and you will gain mastery of the various content areas of the elementary curriculum (mathematics, science, social studies and language arts), as well as learn to create and adapt learning environments that allow all children to grow to their maximum potential.
Strong Emphasis on the Liberal Arts
A solid foundation in a wide range of liberal arts subjects and expertise in one area of the liberal arts are critical to your development as a first-rate teacher. With our liberal arts core and the 30-point liberal arts concentration required by New York State for teacher certification, our baccalaureate program ensures that you will receive the best possible preparation to be a teacher. For your liberal arts concentration, you choose from such areas as history, literacy, science, psychology, and from many other offerings in NYU's College of Arts and Science. Additionally, through The Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, your knowledge of teaching children will be supported by courses in human development, educational foundations, and inquiry-based education.
Introduction to the Field
Throughout your freshman and sophomore years, you will be involved in a variety of educational and community based settings. These field experiences will be supported by course work designed to help you understand children and their diverse learning experiences.
Student Activities
From your first year, your involvement in departmental activities will round out your learning. You may join the Special Education Club, which is a chapter of the Council for Exceptional Children, and the Future Education Club, which is available to all initial students in the department. You may also take advantage of various departmental seminars and social activities concerned with the education of children. Students are also encouraged to join The Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development's Undergraduate Student Government.
Field Experience and Student Teaching
Throughout the program you will be involved in a variety of field experiences. After you begin your specialized program in early childhood and early childhood special education in your junior year, you will have four experiences in various settings with young children. Your student teaching is supervised by a cooperating teacher at your school site and by a member of our faculty. Faculty supervision ensures continuity between your classroom work and field experiences.
Early Childhood Fieldwork
You will begin the program in a placement with infant and toddler aged children in the first semester of your junior year. You will then have subsequent experiences with preschool and kindergarten-age children and with children in grades 1 and 2. In your final semester, you will have the opportunity to complete your student teaching experience by returning to the age range and setting of your choice. To ensure that all students have the opportunity to work with children of varying abilities, two of these placements will be in settings serving children with disabilities. Settings for your placements will be representative of the variety of school, home and center based environments that serve young children and their families, including nursery schools, child care centers, Head Start and Early Head Start, hospitals, recreation programs, and public and private schools.
Career Opportunities
Rising enrollments and the current focus on the value of early childhood and special education point to excellent job prospects for teachers. The Early Childhood Education and Early Childhood Special Education Dual Certification Program prepares you to teach all young children, birth through grade 2, in a variety of settings that include center-based and home-based infant and toddler and early intervention programs, day care, Head Start, and private and public schools and preschools. To qualify for initial certification in New York , you will be required to take the New York State certification examinations. Please see your adviser for more detailed information.
Graduates of our programs also move on to related fields and graduate programs where the skills of teaching in early childhood and special education are valuable assets. These include positions such as counselor, librarian, supervisor and administrator, school psychologist, curriculum specialist, and staff developer.
A sampling of positions graduates have obtained include
- Head teacher or team-teacher
- Resource room teacher
- Consulting teacher
- Itinerant teacher
- Inclusion coordinator
- Head Start director
- Assistant teacher
- Social service agency caseworker
- Children's book editor
- Corporate employee trainer
- Fire Department curriculum developer
- Children's television producer
Student Blog
Steinhardt students do lots of great things -- in the classroom and beyond. Now you can experience Steinhardt first hand -- through the blog of one of our undergraduate students in the Department of Teaching and Learning.
Check out her blog posts below, ask a question, and participate in the conversation.