Elementary Certification
Certification in Pre-K-4 elementary education is granted to Swarthmore students through Eastern University. Students complete the majority of their coursework at Swarthmore, including student teaching, but must also complete spring/summer coursework at Eastern University in order to receive elementary certification.
The department recommends that students pursue additional instructional add-on certifications through testing for Grades 5/6 and/or Grades 4-8 through the State's testing requirement options.
Required coursework
Students must fulfill all of the state general distribution requirements. In addition, students must take the following Educational Studies courses:
- EDUC 014. Pedagogy and Power: Introduction to Education
- EDUC/PSYC 021. Educational Psychology
- EDUC 042. Teaching Diverse Young Learners
- EDUC/PSYC 026. Special Education
- EDUC 053. Educating Emergent Bilinguals
- Recommended: EDUC 023. Adolescence
- Elementary Certification candidates complete one semester of student teaching, which consists of EDUC 092: Curriculum and Methods (2 credits) and EDUC 093. Practice Teaching (2 credits)
- Eastern University Courses: The Eastern University summer school program consists of two elementary methods courses in Language Arts and Reading. The course work (which combines online and in-class work) begins in mid-May and ends in early June for a total cost of approximately $4235 (as of Spring 2018; students on financial aid can apply for support). Students may choose to receive 1.0 Swarthmore College credit total for these courses.
Students must consult with Swarthmore's chair of Educational Studies regarding their program of study to ensure that it includes a representative distribution of English, social studies, math, and science coursework for the 4-8 certificate.
