The BAE program in early childhood education prepares students to meet the educational, behavioral and social-emotional needs of children, ages birth to age 8 or grade 3. This program focuses on child development and best practices in early childhood education, including the skills to create inclusive learning environments; conduct instructional design, planning and facilitation; and assess, monitor and report the progress of young children.
Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College has developed a team-based approach to teacher preparation, allowing students to participate in professional experiences (internships and student-teaching residency) with a team of peers while receiving guidance and support from ASU faculty members and highly qualified certified teachers. Team-based professional experiences are designed to prepare students to work with mutually supportive colleagues to address the academic and social-emotional needs of learners. The primary goal of professional experiences is to provide students with multiple opportunities to apply knowledge learned in coursework to practice in the classroom.
Students complete a series of internships prior to a semester-long full-time teaching residency. With the support of a certified mentor teacher and ASU faculty, students are able to practice what is learned during coursework in learning environments.
Graduates are eligible to earn an institutional recommendation from ASU for Arizona teacher certification in Early Childhood, birth--grade 3 or age 8, as well as a Structured English Immersion, P-12, endorsement from the Arizona Department of Education. In order to teach in an Arizona public school, graduates must pass the appropriate Arizona educator exams: National Evaluation Series or Arizona Educator Proficiency Assessments.
