Education Department
- (Elementary) Degree Requirements
Elementary Major and Licensure Requirements
Elementary education majors are required to complete the following non-major and major courses. To be licensed they must also complete a student teaching experience. Degree-seeking students follow the Bachelor of Science Liberal Arts Foundation requirements.
Non-departmental core courses (requirements subject to change—see Education Department for most current list):
- ENL 111 Effective Writing
- HPE 115 Chemical Dependency (.5)
Math sequence for non-math specialty students
- MPG 3: MAT 137 Math for Elementary Teachers I (required)
MAT 138 Math for Elementary Teachers II (required)
Science sequence for non-science specialty students
Option A is for weekday students who do not have college-level science courses in their background.
- SCI 110 Natural Science I
- SCI 111 Natural Science II
Option B is for weekday, weekend, and/or transfer students with at least one college level science course accepted in transfer or for weekday students who have already started this sequence.
- PHY 103 Conceptual Physics
or EED 203 Elementary Education Physical Science (summer school only; does not fulfill general education requirement) - EED 200 Elementary Education Earth Science (summer school only; does not fulfill general education requirement) and BIO 102 The Biological World
Major Courses
Foundations Block I
- EDC 200 Orientation to Education in an Urban Setting
- EDC 210 Diversity in the Schools (.5)
and EDC 211 Minnesota American Indians (.5)
or EDC 206 Diversity/Minnesota American Indians - EDC 220 Educational Technology (.5)
- EED 225 Foundations of Literacy
Foundations Block II (courses from this point and on require admissions to the department)
- EDC 310 Learning and Development
Methods Block I
- EED 311 K-6 Methods: Health (.25)
- EED 312 K-6 Methods: Physical Education (.25)
- EED 325 K-6 Literacy Methods
- EED 326 Structured Field Experience (0 credit)
- EED 386 K-6 Children’ Literature (.5)
Methods Block II
- EED 341 K-6 Methods: Visual Arts (.25)
- EED 342 K-6 Methods: Music (.25)
- EED 350 K-6 Methods: Mathematics
- EED 360 K-6 Methods: Science
- EED 370 K-6 Methods: Social Studies/Thematic Studies (.5)
- EED 380 Kindergarten Methods (.5)
- EED 336 Advanced Literacy Methods (.5)
Capstone Block
- EDC 410 Learners with Special Needs
- EDC 490 School and Society
Student Teaching Block
EED 481, 483, 485 Student Teaching (2.0-3.0). Student teaching is required for licensure. Students with an elementary major who do not complete student teaching can graduate through the elementary education non-licensure major.
Middle School Specialty Area (endorsements optional for elementary license)
Communication Arts Specialty
- ENL 220 Intermediate Expository Writing
- ENL 240 Introduction to Literary Study
- COM 254, 329 or 351 or 355
- EED 331 Middle School Writing Methods (.5)
- ESE 300 Reading and Writing in the Student Teaching Content Area
- ESE 350 5-12 Methods: Adolescent Literature/Media Literacy
- Student Teaching
Social Studies Specialty
- POL 121 American Government and Politics
- HIS 120, 121 or 122 US History
- ECO 113 Microeconomics
- Choose 1: HIS 103: HIS 104; PSY 105; SOC 121; ANT 141
- ESE 220 Human Geography
- ESE 300 Reading and Writing in the Student Teaching Content Area
- ESE 311 Middle School Methods: Social Studies (.5)
- Student Teaching
Math Specialty
- MPG 4
or MAT 114 Precalculus - MAT 145 Calculus I
- MAT 163 Introductory Statistics
or MAT 248 Biostatistics - MAT 252 Exploring Geometry
- MAT 271 Discrete Mathematics
- MAT 287 History of Mathematics
- ESE 300 Reading and Writing in the Content Area
- ESE 331 Middle School Methods: Mathematics (.5)
- Student Teaching
Science Specialty
- CHM 105 Principles of Chemistry I
or CHM 115 General Chemistry I - CHM 106 Principles of Chemistry II
or CHM 116 General Chemistry II - BIO 121 Human Biology
- BIO 102 Biological World
- PHY 116 Introduction to Physics
- SCI 106 Meteorology
- Geology (take elsewhere — see Education Department for suggestions)
- ESE 300 Reading and Writing in the Content Area
- ESE 341 Middle School Methods: Science (.5)
- Student Teaching
Preprimary Teaching License (3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds)
Requirement: Must have elementary teaching license
- PSY 250 Child Development (Prereq.: PSY 105)
- SOC 231 Family Systems (Day) or SPE 440 Parent and Professional Planning (WEC)
- ECE 345/545 Foundations of Preprimary Education
- ECE 346/546 Learning Environments for Preprimary-aged Children
- ECE 347/547 Immersion and teaching competence
- ECE 488, 489 Student Teaching for seven weeks in preprimary or Kindergarten, then 7 weeks in a grade (1-6)
A minimum GPA of 2.50 overall, 2.50 in the major, 2.00 in the specialty area, and grades of P in student teaching courses are required for licensure as well as 2.0 or better in all required core, specialty, and education major courses. The equivalent of two full courses graded P/N, plus student teaching, is the maximum allowed within the elementary education major requirements.
Graduation skills in Critical Thinking (CT), Quantitative Reasoning (QR), Speaking (S), and Writing (W) are embedded throughout the offered courses and are met by completing the major.
Transfer students must consult an adviser about potential adjustments to their course requirements to fulfill each of these skills.
A graduate-level elementary licensure option is available through Weekend College. Licensure is obtained through a combination of graduate and undergraduate credits. The graduate credits can be used toward the MAE degree. Contact the Education Department or the Adult and Graduate Admissions Office for information.
