Early Childhood, MEd
Welcome To Early Childhood
Master's in Early Childhood- Teacher of Children With and Without Disabilities Prek-2- Initial Licensure and Non Licensure Tracks
INITIAL LICENSURE TRACK
The Early Childhood (ECHD) graduate teacher education program leading to initial licensure PreK-2 is a 37 credit program that consists of 13 required courses. The 13 course sequence includes a 1-credit pre-practicum and a 3-credit full-time practicum. The program is designed to be completed full-time in 4 semesters. It is divided into four segments or cores at the end of which students must demonstrate competencies that allow them to pass on to the next level.
For additional information regarding the program please email ECHD@UMB.EDU.
The four CORES are designed to help candidates develop proficiency in the competencies listed in the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s (ESE) Regulations for Educator Licensure and Preparation Program Approval 603 CMR 7.00. Required courses for the program go as follows:
CORE I
- ECHD 601: Foundational Understandings of Early Childhood/Early Intervention and Special Education
- ECHD 611: Development and Characteristics of All Young Learners, Including Those with Special Needs
- ECHD 640: Language Development and Literacy in Early Childhood
MTELs: Communication and Literacy and Early Childhood must be passed to go on to CORE II.
CORE II
- ECHD 690: Planning for Meaningful Early Childhood Curriculum
- ECHD 689: PrePracticum PreK-2 (1 credit)
- EDC 646: Understanding Reading: Principles and Practices
- ECHD 641: Science and Mathematics Instruction for All Young Children
MTELs: Foundations of Reading must be passed to go on to CORE III.
CORE III
- ECHD 622: Observing, Documenting and Assessing in Early Childhood
- ECHD 693: Practicum II – PreK-2
- ECHD 621: Creating Effective Learning Environments Fostering Positive Social Interactions
CORE IV
- ECHD 692: Teacher Inquiry/Capstone Portfolio
- ECHD 620: Instructional Strategies for All Young Learners with a Focus on Creative Arts
- EDC G 606: Sociocultural Perspectives on Education: Building Family Community, And School Relationships
After being fully accepted into the program (which assumes a passing score in the Communication & Literacy MTEL subtest), candidates begin CORE I by taking three courses, At the end of this first core, students are expected to have developed initial understandings of the field of Early Childhood and have succeeded in passing the Early Childhood MTEL subtest (see http://includingallchildren.wikispaces.com/MTEL+Prep+Course for resources).
CORES II and III are designed to help candidates further develop proficiency in the following areas:
- Acquire and/or strengthen the knowledge necessary to successfully complete the Early Childhood and Foundations of Reading MTEL [MA 603 CMR 7.06.5(b)] and [MA 603 CMR 7.06.5(a)].
- Become familiar and utilize consistently in unit and lesson planning the Massachusetts Curriculum Framework in Arts, English Language Arts, Foreign Languages, Comprehensive Health, Mathematics, History and Social Science, Science and Technology/Engineering, and English Language Proficiency Benchmarks and Outcomes (ELPBO).
- Develop familiarity with research-based approaches to teaching such as Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP), Universal Design for Learning (UDL), Responsiveness to Intervention (RTI), & Positive Behavior Interventions and Support (PBIS)
- Develop the skills and dispositions to teach and assess young children in language, literacy, numeracy, and science concept acquisition as well as developing socialization skills, a working understanding of arts integration, health, and physical education issues appropriate for EC settings [MA 603 CMR 7.06.5(c)].
- Solidify assessment understandings developed in previous methods courses.
- Practice the knowledge, skills, and dispositions acquired through previous coursework in a formal, semester long, full-time practicum experience to be completed: 1/3 in a PreK or K classroom; and 2/3 in an inclusive 1st or 2nd grade classroom.
Demonstrate the knowledge and skills gained from coursework and practica in the Preservice Performance Assessment (PPA) tool [MA 603 CMR 7.08].
CORE IV is designed to help candidates:
- Strengthen skills and dispositions to work with young children with and without disabilities in inclusive EC settings by conducting site-based focused observations and activities as part of each of the required courses.
- Work collaboratively with peers in the design of ideal early education settings.
- Identify, interrogate, and critique the multiple social contexts that affect schooling, particularly for learners whose social markers (i.e., home language other than standard English and/or poverty, etc) pose challenges in the transition from home to school.
- Complete a capstone portfolio of best products that address curriculum planning, lesson delivery, command of learning environments, attention to diverse learners, and professional responsibilities, interrogating the confluence of theory and practice completed while in the program.
Practicum Requirements
A full practicum lasts 14 weeks (one full semester) of supervised student teaching. All candidates for Initial Licensure are required to take the full 3-credit practicum. Please note that 100 hours of the EC practicum must be completed in a PreK or K classroom, and the remaining 200 hours in a 1st or 2nd grade classroom. Students wishing to do any form of supervised practicum must apply for approval and placement the semester prior to the one in which the practicum is to take place. Policies and applications are available in the Center for Student Services, or by contacting grad.teachered@umb.edu, or calling (617) 287-7591.
NON LICENSURE TRACK
The Early Childhood (ECHD) graduate teacher education program non licensure is a 36 credit program that consists of 12 required courses. The program is geared to early education and care practitioners with experience in 0-5 settings. The sequence is divided into four segments or cores at the end of which students must demonstrate competencies that allow them to pass on to the next level:
CORE I
- ECHD 601: Foundational Understandings of Early Childhood/Early Intervention and Special Education
- ECHD 611: Development and Characteristics of All Young Learners, Including Those with Special Needs
- ECHD 640: Language Development and Literacy in Early Childhood
CORE II
- ECHD 689- Pre-Practicum PreK-2 (1 Credit)
- ECHD 690: Planning for Meaningful Early Childhood Curriculum
- EDC 646: Understanding Reading: Principles and Practices
- ECHD 641: Science and Mathematics Instruction for All Young Children
CORE III
- ECHD 622: Observing, Documenting and Assessing in Early Childhood
- ECHD 621: Creating Effective Learning Environments Fostering Positive Social Interactions
- Elective
CORE IV
- ECHD 692: Teacher Inquiry/Capstone Portfolio
- ECHD 620: Instructional Strategies for All Young Learners with a Focus on Creative Arts
- EDC G 606: Sociocultural Perspectives on Education: Building Family Community, And School Relationships
