- Degree Level
- Undergraduate
- Degrees Offered
- Bachelor of Arts, PA Certification
- school/college
- School of Education
Bachelor’s Degree and PA Certification for Working Early Childhood Professionals
Guided by the School of Education’s core mission of fostering inclusion, equity, and social justice through teaching, you will learn how to problem solve, innovate, and design culturally sustaining curricula using inquiry practices.
This fully online program offers the opportunity for those working in early childhood centers to explore a range of electives and earn a comprehensive education. You will develop a broad-based understanding across disciplines through the other elements of Arcadia’s Undergraduate Curriculum.
ECE Working Professionals
Program Features
Convenient
- Accelerated courses with classes running 8-weeks fully online
- Fieldwork completed in your own early childhood setting and a K-4 setting
- Course schedule provides you the ability to focus on only one course and the lab at a time
- Finish Degree Completion and Certification Preparation program requirements in 2.5 years
Relevant
- Courses and fieldwork connect theory with practice
- Courses provide a focus on birth-5 and 6-10 years
Supportive
- Online meetings with a designated Advisor/Coach
- Personalized mentoring integrated into courses and fieldwork
- Engage in professional learning community environment
Affordable
- Special Tuition Rate
- Opportunity to access T.E.A.C.H. scholarship funding
- Financial Aid for students who qualify
Working Professionals Program Admissions
Requirements
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An undergraduate admission application to be completed on our Apply page
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Associate of Arts degree in Early Childhood Education, PreK-4, or related fields from a Community college
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Official Transcripts from all colleges/universities attended
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A full time employee in an ECE setting
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Minimum GPA of 3.0 from all schools attended
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Completed and earned grades of C or better in 6 credits in English. One course in Composition (EN 101 ) and one course in American/English Literature (recommended EN 229 ).
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Completed and earned grades of C or better in 6 credits in Mathematics above the MA 100 level (recommended: MA 117 and MA 118 ).
Transfer and Credit Evaluation
Arcadia University will accept up to 75 credits from regionally accredited two-year institutions.
Transfer credit is granted for college-level work completed at another accredited Institution for course content comparable to that appropriate for the degree program.
Credit will not be granted for courses in which grades below “C-“are earned.
Students may be required to take a placement examination in mathematics and/or Arcadia University Writing Inventory for English composition. Assignment or exemption for English composition is determined by performance on the Arcadia University Writing Inventory or by a transfer credit evaluation.
*Community College Transfer: Specifically for this program, Arcadia University and the School of Education has core-to-core agreements and program-to-program transfer agreements with Bucks County Community College, Delaware Community College, and Montgomery Community College.
Featured Courses
Differentiated Instruction in an Inclusive Classroom
Required Course
This course is designed to help future teachers develop a basic understanding of principles and practices related to effectively addressing academic diversity in contemporary classrooms. The guiding framework for the semester is designed to reinforce the idea that defensible differentiation requires thoughtful and consistent attention to multiple aspects of curriculum, instruction, assessment, and learning environment.
STEAM 2 (Birth to 5)
Required Course
The STEAM 2 course aims to prepare undergraduate students to plan, teach, and assess on integrated Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (STEAM) instruction in early childhood classrooms (0-5 years). In this course, prospective teachers learn STEAM disciplines and practices through problem-based learning, science and mathematical inquiry, technology and the engineering design process. An integral component to this course is having multiple opportunities for prospective teachers to experience, examine, apply and reflect on components of STEAM teaching and learning through fieldwork experiences
Managing an Inclusive Classroom
Required Course
This course is designed to teach future teachers to manage their classrooms and challenging behaviors including noncompliance, disruption, inattention and aggression. Proactive strategies from the basic (routines, rules, attention, consistency) to the instructional (chunking work, grouping, marking corrects) are taught. Students learn to use a problem-solving approach with an emphasis on using observations, interactions, progress monitoring, and teaching social skills. The basics of pre-referral intervention, instructional support teams, Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) and the use of paraprofessionals in the classroom for behavior management are covered.t century classrooms.
Teacher Certification Agreements
Pennsylvania has signed the NASDTEC Interstate Agreement that provides for acceptance of state-approved educator preparation programs between certain states to facilitate educator mobility.
Teacher Certification Reciprocity
Arcadia University School of Education is an approved provider of educational programs leading to Pennsylvania Department of Education Professional Certification and offers certification at the undergraduate and post baccalaureate (graduate) levels. Arcadia University has not determined if our curriculum meets the requirements for teacher certification in other states or US territories.
