Curriculum and Instruction, MEd Concentration in ASTL: Early Childhood Education
Early childhood is a unique developmental period, requiring similarly unique teaching strategies and styles which you will learn as a student in the ASTL program.
The Early childhood Education concentration provides advanced professional development in preschool through third grade content and includes two required courses and four electives. The concentration focuses on advancing the professional knowledge of practicing teachers who teach young children.
This concentration provides advanced professional development in preschool through third grade content and includes two required courses and four electives. The concentration focuses on advancing the professional knowledge of practicing teachers who teach young children.
The ASTL concentrations are for teachers and other educators with one or more years of teaching or education-related experience who want to continue to grow professionally. The program offers advanced study in a specific concentration area, including Virginia's Standards of Learning content areas, cohort classes, an innovative schedule, and the use of technology. The courses, aligned with the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, help teachers think and practice as board-certified teachers. The program develops teacher-leaders who practice reflection through action-research, problem-based learning, and self-inquiry, and teacher expertise in a concentration that will identify the teacher as a potential leader in that area.
Experienced teachers with or without a master's degree may apply for the ASTL Master's Degree program, which includes 18 credits in the Concentration area and 12 credits in the education Core.
Core Courses (12 credits)
- EDUC 606: Education and Culture (3 credit hours)
- EDUC 612: Inquiry into Practice (2 credit hours)
- EDUC 613: How Students Learn (3 credit hours)
- EDUC 614: Designing and Assessing Teaching and Learning (2 credit hours)
- EDUC 615: Educational Change (2 credit hours)
Concentration Courses (6 credits)
- ECED 601: Frameworks for Early Childhood Education (3 credit hours)
- ECED 685: Applied and Teacher Research in Early Childhood Education (3 credit hours) OR ECED 691: Policy Perspectives in Early Childhood Education (3 credit hours)
Electives: choose four (12 credits)
- EDCI 630: Supporting English Learners in PK-12 Schools (3 credit hours)
- EDRD 630: Literacy Foundations and Instruction for Diverse Populations: Birth through Middle Childhood (3 credit hours)
- Any graduate courses with ECED prefix