General Undergraduate Admission Requirements
All applicants must meet the general admission requirements for Concordia University Chicago undergraduate programs as published in the Concordia University Chicago academic catalog.
New students are accepted into undergraduate degree-seeking programs for online (ADP) and on-campus (Traditional) study in the fall and spring semesters. If you have any questions please work with your admissions advisors.
Major Requirements
The 120 credit-hour minimum is achievable by using specific courses that meet both general education requirements and the Early Childhood major curriculum requirements. A course in the approved program must have the grade C or higher with the exception of student teaching. No course in the approved program may be taken on the Pass/Fail grade option with the exception of the student teaching internship.
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| General Education Content Courses Required for the Early Childhood Licensure Program | ||
| History of the American People to 1877 | ||
or HIS-1250 | History of the American People since 1877 | |
| World Geography: Culture Patterns | ||
| Concepts in Life and Physical Science (With Lab) | ||
| American Government and Politics | ||
| Foundational Courses in Education | ||
| EDUC-1050 | Introduction to American Education 1 | 3 |
| EDUC-1070 | Media and Technology in the Classroom | 3 |
| EDUC-2020 | Human and Cognitive Development (This may satisfy a general education requirement) | 3 |
| EDUC-2050 | Teaching in Diverse Classrooms | 3 |
| EDUC-2090 | Characteristics and Instruction of Exceptional Learners | 3 |
| Early Childhood Education Courses | ||
| EDEC-3000 | Curriculum Instruction - Early Childhood | 3 |
| EDEC-3200 | Home, School and Community Relations (May be applied to SBS requirement in General Education) | 3 |
| EDUC-2300 | Theoretical Foundations of Teaching ESL Students | 3 |
| EDUC-2500 | Foundations of Literacy | 3 |
| EDUC-2700 | Linguistics and Language Development for Diverse Learners | 3 |
| EDUC-2400 | Literature for Children, Adolescents and Young Adults (This may satisfy a general education requirement) | 3 |
| MAT-1411 | Mathematics for Teachers: Number and Measurement (Double counts in General Education) | 3 |
| Professional Education Courses for Teacher Candidacy in Early Childhood Education 2 | ||
| Early Childhood Methods Block I 3 | ||
| EDEC-3500 | Emergent Literacy | 3 |
| EDEC-4800 | Content and Methods of Early Childhood Movement | 2 |
| EDEC-4801 | Content and Methods of Early Childhood Art | 2 |
| EDEC-4802 | Content and Methods of Early Childhood Music | 2 |
| EDEC-4803 | Content and Methods of Play in the Early Childhood Classroom | 3 |
| EDEC-4804 | Content and Methods of Teaching ESL | 3 |
| Early Childhood Methods Block II 3 | ||
| EDEC-4805 | Content and Methods of Early Childhood Social Studies | 3 |
| EDEC-4806 | Content and Methods of Early Childhood Math | 3 |
| EDEC-4300 | Management and Assessment in Classrooms with Bilingual Learners | 3 |
| EDEC-4807 | Content and Methods of Early Childhood Science | 3 |
| EDEC-4808 | Content and Methods of Caring for Infants and Toddlers | 3 |
| Student Teaching Internship Semester | ||
| EDEC-4910 | Student Teaching Internship: Early Childhood Education | 15 |
| EDUC-4985 | Student Teaching Seminar | 0 |
| Electives | ||
| As needed to meet the 120-hour degree requirement | ||
| Total Hours | 81 | |
- 1
LTE Candidates should take EDUC-1060 Intro to American Education for Public & Lutheran Teachers.
- 2
Must be admitted to Teacher Candidacy to enroll in the professional methods coursework. The professional coursework sequence focuses on the professional formation of the teacher.
- 3
Blocks I and II contain coursework required to be taken together in the same semester.
- 4
At least one course in science must include a lab. All Early Childhood majors must complete coursework in three of the following areas:biology, chemistry, physics, earth science.
The total hours for the program is 120 credits. This includes general education, electives and major requirements above.
Student Teaching Internship
The Student Teaching Internship is a supervised experience in two levels of school settings (Pre-K to grade 2 classroom) every day for the 16-week semester under the guidance of a classroom cooperating teacher and University supervisor. Candidates must meet the requirements for Transition Point Two: Admission to the Student Teaching Internship Semester to begin the internship. Subsequently, candidates must meet the requirements for Transition Point Three: Completion of the Student Teaching Internship Semester. Attendance at scheduled edTPA seminars and Colloquium is required. The College of Education Manual provides details and guidelines for meeting the criteria for successful completion of the Internship Semester and the process for obtaining the Illinois Professional Educator License.
Graduation Requirements
Students in the College of Education must meet all University requirements found in the Academic Information section of this catalog. Specific requirements of the College of Education include the following:
- Earn a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.75 for all college-level coursework completed at CUC.
- Earn a grade of C or higher for courses serving as prerequisites for other courses.
- Earn a grade of D- or higher for general education courses that are not prerequisites for other courses.
- Earn a grade of C or higher in coursework applied to Professional Program requirements.
- Earn a grade of C or higher for Professional Instructional (Methods) course(s).
- A passing score on the Illinois State Licensure Test(s) (taken prior to student teaching for those seeking licensure).
- A passing score on the EdTPA (for those seeking licensure).
- A passing grade for the Student Teaching Internship and a passing grade for both semesters of the DCE internship.
The College of Education Initial Licensure Program has a stipulation indicating that students in the COE may not take any course as Pass/Fail without permission of the Division Chair or College Dean. Students may not take a course as Pass/Fail if the course is mandated by their licensure program through ISBE. Students may not take a course as Pass/Fail including courses with the following course codes - EDEC, EDEL, EDMG, EDSC, EDSP, EDKS and EDUC. The student teaching internship course and the edTPA course are excluded from this policy because they are automatically Pass/Fail. General education courses outside of the required licensure programs may be taken as Pass/Fail if they are in alignment with the University policy.
In addition to the overall minimum credits for the degree major, minor, endorsement, and special programs (Honors Program for example) requirements are also necessary if they have been declared. Deficiency in any area of the program will delay awarding of the degree and will require filing of a new intent to graduate. Students may elect to drop minors, additional endorsements, or other special programs if they present an obstacle to graduation.