B.S. Program in Early Childhood Education and Early Childhood Special Education

Childhood Education and Early Childhood Education

NYU Steinhardt's Early Childhood and Childhood Education programs prepare teachers who recognize the capacities, strengths, and needs of all children and their families in urban settings. To meet this challenge, we have created two dual certification programs that are at the cutting edge of the profession:

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.

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Opening Doors and Supporting the Diverse Needs of Learners

The Certification Program in Early Childhood Education and Early Childhood Special Education is designed to prepare teachers for 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 professionals, as well as professionals from related disciplines to provide learning opportunities for children with varying capacities and needs in a variety of settings.

Focusing on How Children Learn and Develop

Our Teacher Certification Program in Early Childhood Education 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, literature, science, mathematics, and from many other offerings in the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development and the College of Arts and Science. Additionally, through the Steinhardt School, your knowledge of teaching children will be supported by courses in human development, educational foundations, and inquiry-based education.

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 Educators 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 Steinhardt's Undergraduate Student Government.

Education in Comparative Perspectives

You are strongly encouraged to spend a semester abroad in one of NYU's many study abroad sites in Paris, Madrid, Florence, Berlin, London, Buenos Aires, Shanghai, Prague, or Ghana. NYU in London offers a special course for teacher education students that takes them to British schools and classrooms for observation and firsthand learning.

Senior Honors

Qualified seniors who wish to pursue a guided research in an area of educational inquiry may participate in a special yearlong seminar called Honors Research in Teaching and Learning. Working with the faculty instructor, students are guided through the process of selecting a topic of inquiry, developing research questions, choosing and implementing appropriate methodologies, building outlines, developing bibliographies and writing literature reviews, and preparing drafts. The seminar meets regularly during the first semester as students develop their questions and projects. During the second semester, each student works independently on a project under the direction of his or her own faculty supervisor, with whom the student holds regular meetings. Students meet periodically with their seminar classmates to share their research and findings as they refine and complete their final projects.