About the Early Childhood Teacher Certification Bachelor’s Program
The Bachelor of Science in Early Childhood prepares professionals to work with children from infancy through sixth grade. A strong emphasis in child development provides the foundation for understanding the child as an individual within the context of the family, the peer group, and school settings.
The program meets current Texas requirements for teacher certification and is accredited by the State Board for Educator Certification and the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP). State teacher certification is granted for EC-6 (early childhood through the sixth grade). See an academic advisor for updated certification requirements that may occur from recent legislative mandates. Admission to teacher certification is competitive and is based on a GPA of 2.75 or higher. Students seeking teacher certification must meet all requirements outlined in the College of Education section of this catalog. To be recommended for certification, graduates must achieve satisfactory performance on the TExES, an examination prescribed by the State Board of Education.
The university teacher education program includes a full year of student teaching (two semesters of the senior year) for students beginning their teacher education program in spring 2013 or later. Students wishing to obtain teacher certification should consult with the department’s undergraduate advisor.
Communication Literacy Requirement. Students attending Texas Tech University for the first time in the Fall 2017 term or later will complete a Communication Literacy requirement in their program(s) of study.
Texas Tech University’s transition from the Writing Intensive requirement to the Communication Literacy requirement signals the university’s awareness that in addition to the fundamental role that writing plays in enabling students to explore, develop, focus, and organize a message, other types of communication must also be taught as appropriate for a student’s discipline. Throughout each program of study, then, students must be given ample opportunity to develop their skills in forms of communication central to that program.
The Early Childhood major prepares students for many types of communication, including large and small group discussion with young children as well as written analyses of children’s development and plans to support active learning. Students gain experience in collecting, examining, and reflecting upon scientific information and presenting their findings through formal and informal written communications as well as in oral presentations. The Early Childhood Communication Literacy courses are developed to fulfill all of the above needs. The CL courses for this B.S. are EC 3301 (scientific and graphical), EC 3313 (interpersonal/dyadic /small group), EC 3350 (community/organizational/spoken).
