The Department of Educational Theory, Policy & Practice
Division of Elementary Education
The Division of Elementary Education comprises three programs focusing on the education of children from the pre-school through the elementary years. Faculty research areas within the division include curriculum theory; cognition, complexity, and chaos theory; global studies of curriculum; instructional strategies; interdisciplinary reading and writing; visual literacy; multicultural education; at-risk and special populations; gifted education; spirituality and religion in children’s literature; religion and the public schools; and reader response to literature. The Division of Elementary Education offers both undergraduate and graduate programs.
Early Childhood/PK-3
- Provide an interdisciplinary teacher education program with faculty from the College of Education’s Department of Educational Theory, Policy, and Practice along with the College of Agriculture’s School of Human Ecology;
- Develop PK-3 educators who will become effective professionals certified to teach in all Pre-kindergarten, Kindergarten, and Primary-grade settings;
- Utilize a structured, pre-program planning procedure which includes a meeting with PK-3 faculty, a video of teaching, written essays, qualifying scores on the Praxis, and documented completion of all prerequisites before the teacher education program begins; and
- Use a standards-based team approach for assessing project-based, field-based experiences and student teaching.
Elementary (Grades 1-5)
- Prepare and further educate teachers to be effective educational leaders;
- Integrate content knowledge, teaching methodologies, and technology to stimulate reflective learning and critical thinking;
- Engage in research and dissemination of knowledge on the graduate levels; and
- Become leaders in local schools and school systems, colleges, and universities.
Elementary Holmes Program
The Elementary Holmes Program integrates the academic/theoretical with the professional/practical in a five-year teacher preparation program in which students earn both the B.S. and M.A.T. degrees in education as well as elementary school teacher certification. The Elementary Holmes Program prepares teachers to be reflective practitioners, inquiring pedagogues, and effective professionals through an 18 semester-hour academic concentrate in an Arts and Sciences field of study organized in cohorts, weekly seminars, and full-year, paired field experiences in a school setting. This unique program also provides an opportunity to acquire middle school or additional teaching area certifications.
Focus Areas
Division Leader
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