Academic Programs

The elementary education bachelor’s degree program prepares teachers to work with children in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. The program reflects research and evidence-based practice in the field of early childhood education, elementary education and teacher education. We offer two concentrations:

• Early childhood education (pre-kindergarten through 5th grade) certification with an English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) endorsement
• Early childhood education (pre-kindergarten through 5th grade) and early childhood special education (pre-kindergarten through 5th grade) dual certification

Our students receive content and pedagogy in all academic disciplines taught in elementary classrooms. There are also opportunities for teacher preparation in dual immersion settings. The program provides integration of the visual, theatrical and musical arts in the context of digital technology. The broad and extensive field-based experiences effectively develop your knowledge and ability to select and implement developmentally appropriate technology, resources and activities for teaching and learning in diverse settings across grade levels.

The health and physical education bachelor’s degree program offers two concentrations: teacher certification and sport coaching. The teacher certification concentration is designed to prepare graduates for a teaching career in kindergarten through 12th grade schools. After completing a series of activity and content classes, students will have the opportunity to complete methods of teaching classes in four settings (elementary, secondary, adapted physical education and health education) prior to student teaching. The sport coaching concentration prepares sport coaching, physical activity, and heath and wellness professionals to work in community sport and movement settings. These settings include early childhood through later adulthood. This concentration does not lead to initial teacher certification.

The B.S.E. in Middle Level Education prepares you to teach in schools in historically marginalized communities by emphasizing political, historical and cultural community contexts and integrating a strong justice and equity orientation. The Middle Level Education degree program is designed for students who seek a bachelor’s degree and initial teaching certification in Middle Level Education grades 4-8 in two of the following concentration areas:

• English Language Arts
• Mathematics
• Science
• Social Studies

This program leads to a Bachelor of Science in Middle Level Education (B.S.E.) and a clear and renewable (T4) Induction Certificate in Georgia. Throughout the program, you’ll take specialized courses and gain practical teaching experience in the field. Our program features technology integration and offers study-abroad opportunities. Faculty support planning, instruction, assessment and reflection with colleagues, faculty and partner schools who are committed to excellence in education. Students may also complete three additional classes in order to be English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) endorsed to teach the growing population of English language learners by the time of completion. Our urban communities need highly skilled, compassionate and advocacy-oriented Middle Level teachers whose content knowledge and instructional practice honor students’ diversity and promote equity.  

Our Special Education B.S.Ed. is a program that prepares you to teach children and youth with mild to moderate behavior and learning disabilities. Those disabilities may include:

• dyslexia and other specific learning disabilities
• attention disorders
• emotional behavior disorders)
• intellectual disabilities
• autism spectrum disorders
• hearing impairments

We develop highly prepared teachers to be leaders in the field of special education. As a teacher preparation program we are committed to helping teachers ensure all students live up to their fullest potential. The bachelor of science degree program in special education includes rigorous, practical course-work and full-time student teaching. It leads to initial certification at the induction level in one of three concentration areas:

• adapted curriculum
• general curriculum
• deaf education