Program Overview
College of Education and Behavioral Sciences
School of Teacher Education
McKee 216, Greeley, CO 80639
Telephone: 970-351-2908
Fax: 970-351-1877
Website: www.unco.edu/ebs/teacher-education/
Program Duration: 4 years
Center for Urban Education
1059 Alton Way #758, Denver, CO 802030
Telephone: 303-637-4334
Website: www.unco.edu/ebs/centers-institutes/urban-education/
Advising Information:
Students must consult with their assigned major advisor each semester prior to registering.
To find your advisor, log into MyUNC; under Student Quick Links, click on Student Profile. If no advisor is listed, contact the major program for advisor information.
The program consists of four parts:
- Liberal Arts Curriculum (LAC) Credits
- Required Major Credits
- Professional Teacher Education Program (PTEP) Credits
- University-Wide Elective Credits
*For Educator licensure majors, PTEP coursework counts towards the minimum of nine upper-division UNC credits (300-400).
Program Description:
Teacher Degree Apprenticeship Program at UNC’s CUE provides practical, hands-on teacher preparation embedded in real classrooms from day one. Students who are apprentices in school settings earn compensation and valuable experience while completing their coursework, making this program both affordable and impactful. The program offers the same curriculum as in a traditional degree licensure program, incorporating participating apprentices’ classroom teaching experiences towards the fulfillment of course and degree requirements.
This TDAP program is open only to school apprentices who are hired in an established TDAP school partnership. It provides a teacher pathway to those hired as school apprentices with a wide range of college experiences from 0 college credits to an earned associate degree.
Early Childhood Education Online Degree Program (Years 3 & 4):
The online program option is designed to support completion of a BA Early Childhood Education with Licensure. Currently, it is intended for students who have completed an associate’s degree in Elementary Education (Degree with Designation (DwD)). UNC currently only guarantees online courses required for the final two years of the program. For the full list of required courses, refer to the Transfer Agreements.
In the future, the program will be expanded to include a fully online 4-year degree program option. More details can be found on this program link.
Program Admission Requirements:
Academic Good Standing
PTEP Program Requirements:
Teacher candidates who complete an approved content degree and the UNC professional teacher education program, as well as pass the appropriate Colorado Department of Education designated PRAXIS exam (if applicable), will be eligible for recommendation from UNC for a Colorado Department of Education teaching license.
Teacher Candidates seeking licensure in this licensure program must complete the following program requirements:
- Maintain program GPA requirement
- Completion of Application for Initial Admission to PTEP - referred to as Checkpoint #1 (This checkpoint requires an out-of-pocket payment - to the chosen approved vendor - to obtain a fingerprint background check, which is required by the Colorado Department of Education.)
- Enrollment in this teacher licensure program results in a one-time program fee (Teacher Preparation Program Fee) assessed the semester of the first field experience course.
- Completion of Full Admission to PTEP - referred to as Checkpoint #2
- Completion of Application for Student Teaching - referred to as Checkpoint #3
- Completion of content specific PRAXIS test the semester prior to Student Teaching (if applicable)
- Candidates may not take extra courses with Student Teaching without prior approval from the Program Coordinator and the Associate Dean in charge of Educator Preparation.
- All PTEP courses, practicum field experiences, and methods courses need to be successfully completed prior to Student Teaching.
- A teacher candidate may be removed from the UNC teacher licensure pathway if they fail to meet professional, academic, or dispositional standards set by the program. In such cases, the student may continue in a different degree program and graduate; however, they will not receive a recommendation for licensure.
- Supervision of Student Teaching outside of UNC Faculty will be considered for approval.
- Teacher Candidates will not be placed in a school where they have a close relative attending and/or working. If teacher candidates need an exception to this, they will need approval from the Associate Dean in charge of Educator Preparation.
- Teacher Candidates placed in a middle or high school they once attended must notify their program coordinator and the Field Placement Officer immediately for a possible change in placement.
- Teacher education and educator preparation licensure programs do not accept Professional Teacher Education Program (PTEP) or field based courses that are more than ten years old. PLEASE NOTE: Teacher Candidates have the right to petition this policy at the discretion of the program coordinator.
Teacher Candidates work with the content advisor and/or Program Coordinator to determine when these requirements will be completed throughout the licensure program.
Degree Requirements — 120 Credits
1. Liberal Arts Curriculum - 31 credits
Written Communication — 6 credits
Select any courses to fulfill this requirement from the currently approved LAC course list.
See Written Communication courses
Mathematics — 3 credits
Select any courses to fulfill this requirement from the currently approved LAC course list.
See Mathematics courses
Arts & Humanities, History, Social & Behavioral Sciences, U.S. Multicultural Studies [MS], and International Studies [IS] — 15 credits
To complete the LAC in the minimum number of credits, be sure to choose at least one course with an IS designation and one course with an MS designation.
ELIT 290 is recommended to fulfill Arts & Humanities and U.S. Multicultural Studies requirement and will fulfill both LAC and major requirements.
SOC 120 is recommended to fulfill Social & Behavior Sciences, but is not required by the major.
See Arts & Humanities, History, and Social & Behavioral Sciences courses
Natural & Physical Sciences — 7 credits
Select any courses to fulfill this requirement from the currently approved LAC course list.
See Natural & Physical Sciences courses
See Liberal Arts Curriculum
2. Required Major — 36 credits
Take all of the following courses:
| EDEC 101 | Introduction to Early Childhood Education | 3 |
| EDEC 102 | Introduction to Early Childhood Education Lab | 3 |
| EDEC 103 | Guidance Strategies and Trauma Informed Practices for Children | 3 |
| EDEC 104 | Child Development in Context | 3 |
| EDEC 205 | Nutrition, Health, and Safety | 3 |
| EDEC 220 | Curriculum Development: Methods and Techniques | 3 |
| EDEC 240 | Administration of Early Childhood Care and Education Program | 3 |
| EDEC 241 | Administration: Human Relations for Early Childhood | 3 |
| EDEC 250 | Diverse Early Language and Literacy | 3 |
| EDEC 330 | Development and Education of Infants and Toddlers | 3 |
| | |
| ECLD 341 | Content-Based Literacies for Equitable Access to PK-12 Instruction | 3 |
| or | |
| ECLD 350 | Teaching Young Bilingual Children | 3 |
| | |
| ELIT 290 | Survey of Culturally Diverse Literature for ChildrenLAA2LAMSGT-AH2 | 3 |
3. Early Childhood Licensure/PTEP — 53 credits
Take all of the following courses:
| EDEC 450 | Family Diversity and Engagement Early Childhood Education | 3 |
| EDEC 455 | Creative Expression and Play in Early Childhood | 3 |
| EDEC 465 | Managing Early Childhood Classrooms | 2 |
| EDEC 475 | Assessment for Primary Classrooms | 3 |
| EDEC 482 | Early Childhood Curriculum II Science | 3 |
| EDEL 220 | Teaching with Writing | 3 |
| EDEL 310 | Reading Assessment Informs Teaching | 3 |
| EDEL 360 | Teaching Foundational Reading Skills | 3 |
| EDEL 420 | Effective Instruction in Early Childhood and Elementary School Mathematics | 3 |
| EDEL 425 | Early Childhood and Elementary Social Studies Methods | 3 |
| EDSE 201 | Culture of Special Education | 3 |
| EDSE 442 | Language and Literacy for Students with Severe Delays | 3 |
| ET 275 | Integration of Technologies in PK12 Teaching and Learning | 3 |
Additional Center for Urban Education Field Requirements:
| EDEC 490 | Early Childhood Student Teaching | 6-12 |
| EDFE 170 | Introduction to Field Based Experience | 1-3 |
| EDFE 370 | Advanced Field Based Experience | 1-3 |
EDEC 490: Must be taken for 9 credits.
EDFE 170: Must be taken for 3 credits; take for 3 semesters, 1 credit each semester.
EDFE 370: Must be taken for 3 credits; take for 3 semesters, 1 credit each semester.
4. University-Wide Electives — 0-3 credits*
Complete additional credits to achieve the minimum credits needed for any degree at UNC; for this program, that will typically be 0-3 credits.
*Note: Students who apply the recommended courses to both the liberal arts curriculum and the major requirements will have an increased number of university wide electives to apply to this degree. See your advisor for details.