Childhood Education Teacher Certification

The elementary certification program is currently offered at both the undergraduate and graduate level. The program leads to New York State teacher certification in grades 1–6. It combines a program of study with both liberal arts and educational coursework. Students are required to obtain 24 liberal arts credits out of a total of 32 in order to be eligible for state certification as an undergraduate.

Students should begin the certification program as early as possible in their academic career at Colgate. Students are required to apply to the teacher preparation program with a suggested deadline of November 1 of their sophomore year. Students will complete student teaching during the fall term of their senior year or in an extended ninth-semester. This professional semester includes two teaching methodology seminars, and an advanced course on the diagnosis and remediation of reading problems.

For more information visit the educational studies department page.

Certificate Requirements

Education as a Social Institution

• EDUC 101 - The American School

Social and Cultural Diversity in Schooling, Teaching, and Learning

One course from Social and Cultural Diversity in Schooling, Teaching, and Learning 

The Nature of Childhood Education and Development

All of the courses from The Nature of Childhood Education and Development 

Professional Student Teaching Semester

• EDUC 451 - Seminar on Curriculum and Instruction in English/Social Studies
• EDUC 453 - Seminar on Curriculum and Instruction in Science/Mathematics
• EDUC 454 - Diagnosis and Remediation of Reading Problems
• EDUC 455 - Student Teaching
• EDUC 456 - Dignity in Schools (0.25 credits), also satisfies DASA training

Course requirements outside of Educational Studies

• One laboratory science course in biology, chemistry, physics, geology, or astronomy
• One American history course
• One mathematics course
• One computer literacy course from the following:
  • COSC 100 Computers in the Arts and Sciences 
  • MATH 105 or CORE S143 - Introduction to Statistics   
  • PSYC 309 - Quantitative Methods in Behavioral Research   

Other Requirements

• Fieldwork — 100 hours
• Child abuse workshop (two hours of training in the identification of suspected child abuse/maltreatment)
• Violence intervention and prevention workshop
• Fingerprinting