The Early Childhood Education major earns a certificate to teach in Illinois that spans birth to age eight. This program provides students with the professional knowledge, skills, and experiences needed to become highly effective parent-infant educators, special education preschool educators, child care, or kindergarten through third grade teachers.
The Early Childhood PDS program places students in classrooms for one full school year while also completing their last semester of professional courses. The final semester, student teaching placements are in classrooms that students were in the previous semester. This yearlong experience gives students a perspective of the entire school year from setting up the classroom at the beginning of the year to school year's end.