Early Care and Early Childhood Studies (Teacher Certification), Bachelor of Science
Program Overview
This program leads to a profession which requires an occupational license as defined under Texas Occupations Code 58.001 This requires that all applicants seeking to become licensed must undergo a criminal background check prior to licensure. Students in this program should check with the College of Education and P-16 Integration on the requirements for a criminal background check prior to student teaching.
To prepare highly skilled professionals to assume roles and positions in teaching, research, educational leadership, and human development to contribute to the educational achievement of children in elementary settings.
Admission requirements for this program beyond university admission requirements.
Progression requirements for this program.
- Students must apply and be accepted into clinical teaching prior to their last semester in the program.
- Teacher Education Program progression requirements include GPA, course grades, certification courses, benchmarks/key assessments and testing.
Core Curriculum - 42 hours
The Core Curriculum serves as a broad foundation for the undergraduate degree. All candidates for a bachelor’s degree must achieve core student learning outcomes, including communication, critical thinking, empirical and quantitative skills, teamwork, personal responsibility and social responsibility, by completing courses within each category or component area of the Core Curriculum as outlined below.
The University has approved specific courses that satisfy Core Curriculum Requirements. Approved courses can be found on the Core Curriculum Page. Students seeking the most efficient way to complete the core curriculum and major or minor requirements are advised to take approved courses that can fulfill both requirements. Although core curriculum courses can also be used to fulfill major or minor requirements, earned credits hours are only applied once.
The courses listed below fulfill core curriculum and major requirements. Students who have completed a core curriculum category with courses other than those listed below will still be required to take the listed course(s) to meet major requirements.
020 Mathematics - 3 hours
Major Requirements - 75 hours
Required Courses - 51 hours
Academic Content - 27 hours
| EDSL 3310 | Emergent Bilingual Students in Schools | 3 |
| HIST 3309 | History Foundations for Elementary Social Studies Educators | 3 |
| MATH 1350 | Fundamentals of Mathematics I | 3 |
| MATH 1351 | Fundamentals of Mathematics II | 3 |
| READ 3320 | Early Literacy Development | 3 |
| READ 3324 | Reading Comprehension and Assessment | 3 |
| SCIE 3301 | Science for Elementary Teachers I | 3 |
| SCIE 3302 | Science for Elementary Teachers II | 3 |
| SPED 4310 | Inclusion and Differentiated Instruction in Special Education | 3 |
Must apply for admission and be accepted to the College of Education and P-16 Integration for EDSL 3310 and SPED 4310.
Early Care and Early Childhood Studies Specialization - 24 hours
| ECED 4391 | Foundations of Early Childhood Education | 3 |
| ECED 4392 | Guidance of Young Children | 3 |
| ECED 4314 | Dynamics of Play and Play Environments in Childhood | 3 |
| ECED 4315 | Linguistically-Diverse Early Childhood Students | 3 |
| ECED 4394 | Principles of Curriculum Design in Early Childhood | 3 |
| ECED 4395 | Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math for Young Children | 3 |
| ECED 4312 | Administration of Child Development Centers | 3 |
| ECED 3310 | Quality Programs for Infants & Toddlers | 3 |
Teacher Certification - 24 hours
Complete all of the following:
| EDCI 3331 | Human Development and Student Learning | 3 |
| Or | |
| EPSY 3331 | Human Development and Student Learning | 3 |
| EDCI 3332 | Designing and Implementing Instruction and Assessment | 3 |
| EDCI 3333 | Teaching Science to Elementary Students | 3 |
| EDCI 3334 | Teaching Mathematics to Elementary Students | 3 |
| EDCI 3335 | Teaching Social Studies to Elementary Students | 3 |
| EDCI 3336 | Teaching English Language Arts and Reading to Elementary Students | 3 |
| EDCI 4637 | Student Teaching for Elementary Teachers (EC-6) | 6 |
| Or | |
| EDCI 4331 | Clinical Teaching Residency I for Elementary Teachers (EC-6) | 3 |
| And | |
| EDCI 4332 | Clinical Teaching Residency II for Elementary Teachers (EC-6) | 3 |
Students will complete a 6-credit hour clinical teaching experience through EDCI 4637 or EDCI 4331 and EDCI 4332.
The EDCI 4331 and EDCI 4332 course sequence is only for students completing the Clinical Teaching Residency Pathway. The two courses are to be taken the last year of the program.
Free Electives - 3 hours
Free elective credit hours at the advanced level may be needed to achieve the institutional minimum of 42 advanced hours.
Total Credit Hours: 42
Total Credit Hours: 120
View this program’s recommended roadmap to graduation.
UTRGV Roadmaps are a suggested sequence of courses designed to assist students in completing their undergraduate degree requirements. This is a term-by-term sample roadmap of courses required to complete the degree. Students must satisfy all requirements in their catalog including, but not limited to course prerequisites, grade point average and course grade benchmarks, progression requirements, and graduation requirements.
Students should meet with their academic advisor every semester to discuss their individualized path toward completion. Degree progress within this roadmap depends upon such factors as course availability, individual student academic preparation and readiness, student time management, work and personal responsibilities, and financial considerations. Students may choose to take courses during summer terms to reduce course loads during long semesters.