Education Specialist (Certification) Early Childhood Education

All students seeking certification in any field shall be required to complete a general survey course in Special Education (3 semester hours) if such a course was not a part of their undergraduate program or another graduate program. A research component including research and/or field work will be an integral part of all specialist programs in education.

A candidate who took a course for credit in a master’s level program cannot take the same course for credit in the education specialist program. Completion of sixth-year programs requires at least 30 semester hours of credit not used for prior level certification in the same teaching field.

Program Admission Requirements

The candidate shall:

Meet all requirements for admission to the School of Graduate Studies.
Provide verification of background clearance/fingerprints.
Hold the master’s-level professional educator certificate in Early Childhood Education.
Have had recent experience in the area of specialization.

I. Conditional Admission Required Courses: 9 hours

Professional Courses

II. Unconditional Admission Required Courses: 24 hours

A. Professional Course: 3 hours

ED 601 . Curriculum Design (3)

B. Teaching Field: 21 hours

Total Required: 33 hours

Note(s):

Students who have not previously met the special education requirement must take a general survey course in special education (SE 500 ) in addition to the above requirements.
This program is also offered online.

Program Completion Requirements

The following requirements must be met prior to completion of the sixth-year programs.

The candidate shall:

Maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.25 in all courses in the approved program as verified on an official transcript with no grade less than "C."
Make a satisfactory score on a written comprehensive examination documenting mastery of the curriculum of the teacher education program.
Demonstrate leadership ability in his or her area of specialization.

Additional Information. If an individual completes an Alabama Education Specialist program based on a master’s level certificate from another state and applies for Alabama certification at the Class AA level, the individual must earn an Alabama Class A (master’s level) Professional Educator Certificate prior to applying for the Class AA certificate.

Governance

The Teacher Education Program and the Teacher Certification Program are governed by the Alabama State Department of Education, and the College of Education reserves the right to change requirements in these programs at any time when such changes are mandated by the State Department.