Elementary Certification

Certification in Pre-K 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 $3530 (cost as of Spring 2017; students on financial aid can apply for support). Students may choose to receive 1 Swarthmore College credit for these courses.

Students must consult with Swarthmore's chair of Educational Studies regarding their program of study to insure that it includes a representative distribution of English, social studies, math, and science coursework for the 4-8 certificate.