Education - Elementary Education Major

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The Department of Education offers state-approved academic and field experiences that prepare students to enter the teaching profession. Program completers are eligible for professional teacher certification in the state of Florida.

Students can major in Elementary Education (grades K-6) or minor in Secondary Education (grades 6-12) by completing a selected major in the intended teaching area and the Secondary Education minor.

Students must apply for admission to the Teacher Education Program as soon as they declare an Elementary Education major. Students can find and file applications on the Department’s website. The Director of Teacher Education notifies applicants of acceptance or reason for denial. Florida requires that students have a passing score on the General Knowledge Test (GK) of the Florida Teacher Certification Exam (FTCE) to be admitted to any state-approved program.

All students completing a Florida state-approved teacher education program must pass all portions of the Florida Teacher Certification Exam (FTCE), including the General Knowledge, Professional Education and Subject Area Exams prior to graduation, and have an overall GPA of 2.5.

Students must declare the Elementary Education major before enrolling in courses limited to majors and certification students.

Foundation Courses (4)

All students completing Rollins’ Florida state approved programs must take the equivalent of a college math course unless they have achieved a grade of C or higher in high school calculus. Students also need a course in U.S. History. Consult with an advisor in the Department of Education for assistance meeting these requirements. Elementary Education majors must complete all of the following:

foundation courses in professional education,
elementary or secondary course sequence, and
clinical experiences, including student teaching.

Sociological Foundations

Psychological Foundations

EDU 272 Educational Psychology

Curriculum Foundations

EDU 324 Curriculum and Educational Assessment for Diverse Learners

Required Courses

* courses require concurrent registration: EDU 406, RED 409, and RED 409L.

# courses require concurrent registration: RED 309 and RED 369.

Elective Courses:

EDU 310 - Teaching in a 21st Century Classroom
EDU 345 - Orientation to International Studies
EDU 346 - International Field Study
EDU 347 - Global Perspectives of Education
EDU 385 - Teaching Children with Exceptionalities
RED 311 - Teaching Writing in Elementary Schools

Student Teaching

All students seeking a major in Elementary Education or a minor in Secondary Education must complete a teaching internship in the area of certification. Graded on a credit/no-credit basis, Student Teaching involves working full time for fifteen (15) weeks in an approved area school. Students are not permitted to take additional coursework during the student teaching semester and are discouraged from working beyond student teaching.

Juniors may apply for Student Teaching only after meeting the following requirements:

completion of prerequisites for EDU 490 , Student Teaching and
overall GPA of 2.5.

Undergraduates must submit applications for Student Teaching to the Director of Field Internships by February 20 for Fall placement or September 20 for spring placement.

After approval for Student Teaching, seniors enroll in the following courses concurrently:

Anyone not approved for Student Teaching has the right to appeal to the Education Review Committee. In exceptional cases when a student needs to take a course during student teaching, the student must submit a written appeal explaining the circumstances. This appeal must be submitted to the Director of Field Internships at the same time as the student teaching application.

All Elementary Education majors must successfully complete the coursework required for the Florida English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) endorsement. Coursework for Elementary Education majors includes EDU 271 , EDU 280 , EDU 324 , EDU 406 , RED 409 , RED 409L , and EDU 490 . These courses are part of the already existing state approved teacher certification programs in Elementary Education.