Elementary Education, B.A.

Requirements:

Graduation Requirements:

1. Achieve a cumulative grade point average of 2.5 or higher
2. Successfully complete all course and degree requirements.

NOTE: Teacher candidates must achieve a grade of C or better in all education courses and in all courses in the certification area. A grade of C- will not satisfy this requirement. Official transcripts for all courses must be submitted to the Department of Education.

Definition of Teacher Education Program Completer

Teacher candidates seeking Bachelor of Arts degrees with a major in elementary education, or a Bachelor of Arts or Science degree with a double major in middle school or secondary education and a chosen certification area, will be construed to be program completers upon successful completion of all education course and degree requirements.

Certification Requirements, Missouri State Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE)

1. A baccalaureate degree from a college or university having a teacher education program approved by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education or from a college or university having a teacher education program approved by the state education agency in states other than Missouri;
2. A recommendation of the designated official for teacher education in the college or university;
3. A grade point average of 2.5 on a 4.0 scale overall and in the major area of study;
4. Completion of the content knowledge or specialty area test (Praxis II) designated by the State Board of Education with a score equal to or greater than the Missouri qualifying score;
5. Completion of professional requirements, as determined by the recommending college or university, which may exceed these minimum requirements; and
6. Individuals who completed their teacher education program outside of the United States shall provide documentation of completion of coursework in the following:
   1. English Composition, two (2) courses, each a minimun of two (2) semester hours;
   2. U.S. History, three (3) semester hours; and
   3. U.S. Government, three (3) semester hours.
7. The State Board of Education requires a current Highway Patrol criminal history background checks, including fingerprints, prior to the awarding of initial teacher certification in Missouri.

The required courses are:

• ED 1320 - Multicultural Clinical Experience (3)
• ED 2500 - Curriculum and Instruction in Health and Physical Education (2)
• ED 3080 - Integrating the Curriculum through the Arts (3)
• ED 3100 - Teaching Elementary School Mathematics (3)
• ED 3200 - Teaching Elementary School Science (3)
• ED 3300 - Teaching Elementary School Social Studies (3)
• ED 3450 - Literature in the Classroom (3)
• ED 4010 - Foundations of Education (3) *
• ED 4020 - Fundamentals of Literacy Learning (3) *
• ED 4021 - Literacy Practicum (1)
• ED 4030 - Technology and Education: Applications and Implications (3) *
• ED 4400 - Assessing Literacy Development and Teaching Struggling Readers (3)
• ED 4411 - Practicum in Assessing Literacy Development and Teaching Struggling Readers (2)
• ED 4600 - Teaching the Language Arts (3)
• ED 4800 - Student Teaching in the Elementary School (10)
• ED 4900 - Integrated Student Teaching Seminar: Classroom Planning, Management, and Assessment (3)
• ED 4910 - The Professional Semester Portfolio (1)
• GE 3300 - Introduction to Human Geography (3)
• MT 1140 - Mathematics for Elementary School Teachers (3)
• PYED 3010 - Educational Psychology (3)
• PYED 3020 - Psychology and Education of the Exceptional Child (3)

Total hours required: 64

Note(s):

The 64 hours includes the minimum of 21 credit hours teacher candidates must complete in the area of literacy.

*Co-listed as a 6000-level graduate course. Courses taken at the 4000-level do not apply to the M.Ed. degree. For the M.Ed., the student must take the course at the 6000-level or take another graduate course in the domain of the M.Ed. core.