Education, Early Childhood License (PreK-3) Major

Professors McClure, White
Associate Professor Glenn-Applegate

Assistant Professor Kaka, Nobel
Instructor Hall

Ohio Wesleyan has been educating teachers for more than 100 years. This experience confirms our belief that the most creative and effective teachers are prepared at strong liberal arts colleges such as ours. Our program emphasizes a solid theoretical base and practical experience. From the first course onward, Education candidates learn about the responsibilities and rewards of their profession by working directly with children in area schools, community centers, and in Ohio Wesleyan’s Early Childhood Center, a laboratory pre-school program.

Ohio Wesleyan offers programs preparing students for teacher licensure at the early childhood, middle childhood, and high school levels. We also offer licensure in Special Education (K-12). Candidates working towards the Early Childhood, Middle Childhood, Special Eduation, or Integrated Science licenses pursue an OWU major in education. Candidates pursuing other Multi-age or Adolescent to Young Adult (secondary) licenses will major in another department at Ohio Wesleyan and minor in education. Ohio Wesleyan’s programs lead to the following State of Ohio teacher licenses:

Early Childhood License: Prekindergarten to grade three

Middle Childhood License: Grades four to nine — preparation for teaching in a middle school setting. The State requires two of the following four concentrations:

Reading and Language Arts
Mathematics
Science
Social Studies

Adolescence to Young Adult License: Grades seven to twelve — preparation for teaching in a high school setting

Integrated Language Arts
Integrated Mathematics
Integrated Science
Integrated Social Studies

Intervention Specialist License - grades Kindergarten - grades 12

Multi-age License: Prekindergarten to grade twelve

Drama/Theater
Foreign Language (Spanish and French )*
Music
Visual Arts

* Students interested in teaching German or Latin should talk with the Education Department Chair.

Education majors are normally admitted to the Teacher Education program by the end of their sophomore year. Minors are normally admitted by the end of fall semester of their junior year. The program admission requirements include successful completion (C- or higher) of foundational courses in Education, (EDUC 105, EDUC 110 ,EDUC 115, depending on licensure area), and EDUC 251, ratings of “3” or higher for the field experiences associated with the foundational courses, two positive recommendations from OWU faculty members, a GPA of 2.8 (overall and, for Education minors, in the subject area major), required SAT or ACT scores, satisfactory scores on the department Dispositional Survey, and “adequate” or above ratings on the application essays. Contact the Education department for a complete description of the admission and retention policy.

Graduates who complete the prescribed coursework in Education and content area fields, student teaching, and other requirements of the State of Ohio, and who pass the State-mandated licensure examination(s), are entitled to an Ohio Four-Year Resident Educator license. The teacher education program is approved by the Ohio Board of Regents, and it has achieved national accreditation through the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) - now called CAEP. The University is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission. Ohio maintains formal reciprocal agreements with 27 other states, thus the Ohio license is recognized by most other states. Candidates desiring a teaching license from another state should consult with the education department early in their junior year to discuss reciprocity and/or organize their programs to meet the requirements of the relevant states.

Beginning with their first foundational Education course, EDUC 105: Introduction to Early Childhood Education, all Early Childhood candidates participate in a field experience working with students (i.e., Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Columbus Initiative Tutoring Experience at Linden Elementary, OWU Early Childhood Center, Autism Equine Ranch). During their third foundational course, EDUC 251 - Psychological Foundations of Education, Early Childhood candidates complete their field experience by tutoring diverse learners in one of two high-poverty urban Columbus schools. These two placements give candidates over 50 hours of field experience. Candidates continue their field experiences during their methods courses. In total, candidates will have completed a minimum of 150 hours observing and assisting teachers, and teaching lessons based on ideas developed in their methods courses before they begin their student teaching experience. All candidates seeking licensure student teach for 15 weeks, resulting in a total of over 450 hours in the classroom. Full-time faculty members in the Education department take part in the supervision of student teachers. In addition, teachers at the Early Childhood Center work with candidates in the PreK-3 licensure program. Student teachers meet for weekly seminars and receive a minimum of six formal observations during the semester. Student teaching takes place through agreements with local schools.

2016 - 2017 Data

During the 2016-17 academic year, 20 students completed their teacher education program. Of these, 7 were in the Early Childhood education program; 2 in the Middle Childhood education program; 2 in Language Arts, 3 in Music; 3 in Social Studies; 1 in Visual Arts; 1 in Spanish; and 1 in Physical Education. Female students made up 70%; male, 30%. The overall enrollment at OWU was 1,712: 52% female and 48% male. International enrollment was 5.49%; American Indian/Alaskan Native was .06%; Asian was 3.21%; Black, non-Hispanic was 8.64%; Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander was .12%; Hispanic/Latino was 5.02%; White, non-Hispanic was 67.58%; two or more races was 4.73%; and Race/ethnicity unknown was 5.14%.

Of the 20 program completers, 19 took the OAE examination(s) in their teaching area.

Sixty-three students were formally enrolled in the teacher education program in 2016-17. Of those, 30% were male, 70% female. Four full-time Education Department faculty members supervised student teachers along with members of the arts and science faculty. Students completed a total of fifteen weeks of full-time student teaching totaling 450 hours of in-class experience

Student Teaching

Student teaching takes place every spring semester. Students register for 3 credits for student teaching and a half-unit for the student teaching seminar. Student teaching is a full-time commitment involving teaching, planning, and other in-school responsibilities, and various assignments originating from the half-unit courses.

Education Department Policy on Credit/No Entry in all Teacher Education Licensure Programs

Credit/no entry courses may not be taken in the major area of study (Early Childhood, Middle Childhood ,Special Education, or Integrated Science, nor in any courses to be used for the general requirements in English composition, foreign language, professional Education licensure courses or for the University distribution requirements. Only one course taken in the minor area of study or concentration may be taken credit/no entry and must have the approval of the director of the specific licensure program.

Learning Outcomes for Teacher Candidates

We believe that becoming a competent, committed, professional teacher for a diverse democratic society requires the following knowledge, skills, and dispositions:

1) knowledge of human development, motivation, and learning, as well as, the individual and contextual factors which guide one’s ability to develop instruction that is appropriate for all students.

2) knowledge of classroom organization, management, and curriculum, and the ability to design, implement and manage the learning environment in ways that support active student learning and independence.

3) knowledge of a variety of instructional strategies and materials, including technology, that encourage students’ problem-solving and critical thinking and the ability to select and implement instructional strategies that account for and adapt to all contexts, learners, and content.

4) knowledge of a variety of assessments strategies that are embedded in instruction and the ability to use formative and summative assessments to monitor and evaluate student learning, to communicate assessment information to all stakeholders, and to inform one’s own teaching.

5) commitment to teaching as a viable, honorable profession.

6) commitment to the importance of fostering collaborative relationships with colleagues, families and the larger community.

7) commitment to the importance of improving one’s efficacy as it relates to student learning.

8) commitment to the necessity for ensuring that democratic ideals for a multicultural society are the foundation of all teaching and learning.

9) commitment to the importance of engaging in reflective practice and lifelong professional development.

Major Requirements

In addition to courses in education, students must complete a mathematics course, an academic concentration consisting of three courses in one discipline (these courses may also count towards distribution requirements), and the University degree requirements with the distribution requirements as listed below instead of those in the Requirements for All Degrees section of the Catalog.

The following courses in education are required:

Group I (Social Studies)

Three courses including: Intro to Psychology: Applied Atypical Development and one American history or American government course

Group II (Natural Sciences)

Three courses including: one physical and one biological science course

Group Ill (Humanities/Literature)

Two courses including: one literature course

Group IV (Arts)

ART 301 - Teaching Art: Early Childhood
MUS 363 - Teaching Music: Elementary
THEA 259 - Developmental Drama
and one of the following: ART 110 , ART 111 , ART 112 , or ART 113 ; MUS 105 , MUS 347 , MUS 348 ; DANC 115 or DANC 205 ; THEA 101 , THEA 210

Note(s):

Diversity: Students seeking a teaching license must complete two unit courses with the OWU diversity designation.

Endorsement in Teaching Grades 4 and 5: Students may add an endorsement for teaching Grades 4 and 5 by taking the following courses: PSYC 282 , EDUC 330 and EDUC 339 .

License for Early Childhood Intervention Specialist: Students can earn an additional license for teaching special education in grades preK-3. Please see the Education Department for requirements to complete this major.