Academic Programs

The Birth Through Five Graduate Certificate is an online program for professionals who work in early care and learning settings, and individuals interested in pursuing careers in the diverse professional field of early care and childhood education.

This certificate program was designed with three specific objectives:

1. Provide a flexible professional development format for the early childhood workforce.
2. Offer a quality, student-centered online teaching and learning approach to early childhood teachers’ preparation.
3. Introduce students to the Early Childhood and Elementary Education Master of Arts in Creative and Innovative Education degree program.

In response to the growing number of Georgia schools with Dual Language Immersion (DLI) programs, the College of Education & Human Development’s Department of Early Childhood and Elementary Education offers a fully online endorsement in Dual Language Immersion. A valuable asset in a world of global connections, bilingualism is an advantage that parents want for their children regardless of their native tongue.

This online endorsement program is designed to prepare teachers like you to meet this need, to be sensitive and responsive to the needs of dual language immersion learners’ and to be advocates for DLI in a variety of educational settings. Coursework is designed to address effective learning environments for bilingual students and methods and materials for engaging DLI students in challenging educational experiences.

The program develops highly prepared teachers who understand DLI education and are teacher-leaders in establishing learner-centered classrooms consistent with the standards of the Georgia Professional Standards Commission and the Interstate Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium. It is open to students who are enrolled in a foreign language certification program at Georgia State University and to current educators who hold a Level 4 or higher induction or professional foreign language education certificate from the state of Georgia. The endorsement qualifies successful candidates to teach in kindergarten through fifth-grade dual immersion classrooms.

Credits earned in this program can be applied to the online Master of Education in Elementary Education with a concentration in Dual Language Education.

Graduate courses in bilingual/English as a second language give teachers additional training to work with non-English speaking or limited English speaking students at the early childhood, middle childhood and secondary school levels.

ESOL endorsement

Successful completion of the coursework and portfolio demonstrating competencies established for English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) teachers by Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) results in candidates being endorsed to teach ESOL in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. Students must be admitted as graduate students to the College of Education & Human Development. Students who do not hold an initial certification in a teaching field may apply to the M.A.T. degree in reading, language and literacy education to receive initial certification in ESOL and a reading endorsement.

View the In-Person Course Information

Online ESOL endorsement

Successful completion of the non-degree online ESOL endorsement coursework and a portfolio qualifies a person to teach ESOL in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. Students seeking only the non-degree online ESOL endorsement must be admitted to the College of Education & Human Development as a non-degree student. All courses in the non-degree online ESOL endorsement must be completed online. No other courses may apply.

View the Online Course Information

Our literacy coach certificate addresses the growing need to support classroom teachers serving diverse populations. There is an increased demand for embedded professional development, as well as coaching and mentoring in school settings. The demand for school-based literacy coaches has increased over the past few years.

The certificate program focuses on specialized coursework to prepare teachers to serve as highly qualified teacher/coaches equipped to collaborate across classrooms, with school administrators, parents and community representatives to improve student achievement.

The Literacy Coach/Instructional Facilitator certificate program is an 18-hour program of study for students who already have a master’s degree or a minimum of nine hours of appropriate reading coursework. This training is restricted to those already employed as a literacy coach in a school setting.

The Teacher Support and Coaching (TSC) Endorsement Program in Early Childhood and Elementary Education is one of six endorsements offered through the Department of Early Childhood and Elementary Education.

The TSC Endorsement is embedded in the M.Ed. Elementary Education program as one of the eight concentrations offered to students. In addition, graduate students may elect to earn a stand-alone endorsement in TSC by enrolling and successfully completing: ECE 8400 Teacher Development and ECE 8680 Internship in Teacher Support.

Candidates must have three years of teaching experience to be eligible to enroll in the six (6) hours of Teacher Support and Coaching Endorsement courses.

One content course focuses on developing a deep and broad knowledge of research on teacher development, induction and retention including the:

• conditions and contexts that may inhibit or promote teacher knowledge, growth and change
• professional learning needs of teachers across their career lifespan
• productive coaching activities

One internship course provides an authentic residency that focuses on coaching and mentoring teacher candidates and other early-career teachers.

If you’re enrolled in a doctoral program at Georgia State, you’re eligible to study for a graduate certificate in Qualitative Research in Education. The program is for those interested in conducting research or gaining expertise in qualitative research.

To earn the certificate, you must complete a minimum of eight 3-credit-hour doctoral-level qualitative research methods courses with a collective GPA of 3.5 or higher in those courses, with no grade lower than a B in any course to be counted toward the certificate.