The Educational Studies and Teacher Preparation Department offers a four-year Bachelor of Arts major in Curriculum and Instruction with certification for aspiring elementary educators (Pre-K–6) in the state of Connecticut. Grounded in reflective inquiry and socially responsible professional practice, this program prepares undergraduate candidates with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed to connect theory and practice meaningfully, support developmental models of human growth and learning, exercise ethical professional judgment and leadership, and advocate for quality education for all learners.

As part of an inclusive community of learners, faculty, undergraduate candidates, and educational leaders collaborate to create and sustain exemplary learning environments that empower Pre-K–6 students to become engaged, productive citizens. The program emphasizes the socio-cultural and political contexts of education, the complexities of teaching and learning, professional teaching cultures, culturally relevant approaches to human growth and development, and the responsible use of technology in schools and society.

The Elementary Education track provides candidates with the theoretical and pedagogical knowledge and skills needed for initial certification in Elementary Education (Grades Pre-K-6) within an advocacy based, culturally responsive framework.

The planned professional comprehensive program in elementary education is presented according to the format of Connecticut certification law and includes courses in the following areas:

• Foundations of education
  • This group includes areas such as: philosophy of education, school effectiveness, history of education, and comparative education.

• Educational psychology
  • This group includes areas such as: growth and development of children from birth through the lifespan, psychology of learning, child-adolescent psychology and mental hygiene.

• Curriculum and methods of teaching
  • This group shall include six semester hours of credit in language arts, which may include reading, writing, speaking, listening, and spelling. This group may include areas such as: effective teaching skills, teaching language arts, teaching mathematics and teaching the arts.

• Student Teaching
  • Supervised observation, participation, and full-time responsible student teaching in an elementary school
• Special Education
  • A course of study in special education which shall include study in understanding the growth and development of students with exceptional needs and abilities and students who may require special education. It shall also include methods for identifying, planning for and working effectively in inclusive classroom settings