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 (cost as of Spring 2018; 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.
