The required coursework falls under three categories:
A. Education course requirements
B. An approved liberal arts major (concentration)
C. General Education requirement
Students must complete all coursework prior to Student Teaching and must meet the following requirements:
- 3.0 GPA overall; 2.5 GPA in academic concentration;
- 4-7 credits in Writing and Rhetoric (1-2 composition courses) with a grade of "B" or better; minimum "B-" or "S" for required EED and SPE courses; minimum “C” for required foundation courses (EDS340, EDS371, MAT140, MAT240, GEO202, foreign language)
- 30 hours of independent fieldwork (classroom observations; paid or volunteer work with children in schools, camps, daycare centers; coaching, tutoring, etc.)
- Passing score on writing sample (to be evaluated by Early Childhood & Childhood Education faculty for organization and appropriate English grammar and usage)
- Fingerprints on a NYS TEACH account
- Completion of State-mandated workshops described here.
- Satisfactory dispositions assessments and "target" or "proficient" lesson/unit planning skills.
A. Education course requirements
The sequence described below is for a full-time student; the program may be taken on a part-time basis, however.
Years One and Two:
General Education requirements (see "C.," below)
Liberal Arts major (concentration) requirements (see "B.," below)
Foreign Language 1 & 2
MAT140 Mathematics for Elementary School Teachers 1 (3)
MAT240 Mathematics for Elementary School Teachers 2 (3)
GEO202 Physical Geography (3)
EDS340 Social & Philosophical Foundations of Education (3)
EDS371 Child Psychology and Development (3)
EED370 Education of Diverse Populations in Early Childhood & Elementary School (3)
EED415 Development of Symbolic Representation, Language & Literacy (3)
EED412 Preschool and Kindergarten Curriculum (3)
EED371 Developmentally Appropriate Practices in Early Childhood & Elementary School (3)
Year Three:
General Education requirements
Liberal Arts major (concentration) requirements
EED375 Teaching Reading in the Elementary School 1 (3)
EED301 Fieldwork I (1 credit, 40 hours)1
SPE350 Creating Inclusive Elementary School Classrooms (3)
EED380 Teaching Mathematics, Science & Technology in the Elementary School (6)
EED302 Fieldwork 2 (1 credit, 20 hours)
Year Four:
Liberal Arts major (concentration) requirements
EED376 Teaching Reading/Language Arts in the Elementary School 2 (3)
EED379 Teaching Social Studies in the Elementary School (3)
EED303 Fieldwork 3 (1 credit, 60 hours)
EED404 Student Teaching, Primary Setting (6)*
EED405 Student Teaching, Intermediate Setting (6)*
EED406 Student Teaching Seminar (1)
1All students are required to have a membership to the adopted assessment platform (Watermark). The cost of the membership is covered by a course fee that will be assessed when you register for EED301 Fieldwork I (Pre-K-2). Instructions for setting up your membership will be sent via email before the midpoint of the semester when you register for this class.
B. Approved Liberal Arts Majors, 29-40 Credits
Students must complete an approved academic major (concentration). Transfer courses for which advanced standing has been given and which are comparable to those meeting major requirements or are appropriate to an individualized major may be acceptable under advisement.
Majors for Early Childhood & Childhood Education (B-6) Students
The majors for Early Childhood & Childhood Education students are in direct accord with New York State Learning Standards:
Art History
Biology
Black Studies (historical core or language arts core)
Earth Science (Geology)
English
French
Geography
History
Mathematics
Political Science
Spanish
These majors provide depth in a content area and a coherent sequence of courses with increased expectations of student performance. The courses are available to students in other programs of study as well as students in the Early Childhood & Childhood Education program.
Art History (B-6) - 30 credits
Required courses......................................24 credits
ARH201 Art of the Western World I (3)
ARH202 Art of the Western World II (3)
ARH358 Modern Art, 1900-1970 (3)
ARH382 American Art (3) or ARH370 Art of Hudson Valley (3)
ARS105 Introduction to Studio Art (3)
ARS110 Introduction to Ceramics (3) or ARS120 Introduction to Metal (3) or ARS170 Introduction to Sculpture (3)
plus two courses in Asian Art, chosen from the following (6 credits):
ARH210 Images & Ideas Asian Art (3)
ARH340 The Arts of Early China (3)
ARH341 The Arts of Later China (3)
ARH342 The Arts of Japan (3)
ARH343 Japanese Arts of the Edo Period (3)
ARH344 History of Buddhist Art (3)
ARH345 Art in Modern China (3)
ARH378 Sacred Spaces, Divine Images (3)
ARH452 Chinese Painting: Figure in Landscape (3)
Art History electives.................................6 credits
Biology (B-6) - 29-31 credits
Required courses......................................16 credits
BIO201 General Biology I (3)
BIO211 General Biology I Lab (1)
BIO202 General Biology II (3)
BIO212 General Biology II Lab (1)
BIO320 Genetics (3) and BIO321 Genetics Lab (1)
BIO340 Ecology (4)
One of the following....................................4 credits
BIO305 Plant Morphology (4)
BIO307 Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy (4)
One of the following....................................3 credits
BIO301 Field Biology - Fall (3)
BIO412 Evolutionary Theory (3)
BIO418 Animal Behavior (3)
Electives: Two (2) upper-division Biology electives.......6-8 credits
Black Studies (B-6) - 30 credits
Required courses......................................12 credits
BLK100 Introduction to Black Studies (3)
BLK357 Psychology of the Black Child (3)
BLK370 Education in the Black Community (3)
BLK396 Black English: Language and Culture (3)
In addition, each major is required to develop a focus by completing six courses from either the (1) Historical Core or (2) Language Arts Core...................18 credits
(1) Historical Core
BLK200 Introduction to Africa (3)
BLK201 Black History I (3)
BLK202 Black History II (3)
BLK231 Development of Afro-Latin American Civilization 1492-1825 (3)
BLK232 Contemporary Afro-American Civilization Since 1825 (3)
BLK301 Survey of Pre-Colonial Africa to 1800 (3)
BLK302 Survey of Contemporary Africa: Nineteenth Century to Present (3)
BLK309 Introduction to Afro-Brazilian History (3)
BLK311 Blacks in the Caribbean (1492-Present) (3)
BLK325 History of Slavery in Americas (3)
BLK331 The American Civil Rights Movement (3)
BLK347 History of South Africa (3)
BLK369 History of Terrorism Against Blacks & Native Americans (3)
BLK401 Blacks in New York History (3)
BLK450 The Portuguese in Africa (3)
BLK460 West African Kingdoms in the Nineteenth Century (3)
BLK522 African/African-American History (3)
(2) Language Arts Core
BLK268 Survey of Black American Literature
BLK269 Black Poetry and Drama (3)
BLK272 Rap and Spoken Word (3)
BLK310 Blacks and the Media (3)
BLK315 Black & Latino Children's Literature (3)
BLK320 Contemporary Black American Literature (3)
BLK323 Black Poetry (3)
BLK328 Black Drama in America (3)
BLK333 Black Rhetoric (3)
BLK412 Critical Analysis of Black American Literature (3)
BLK415 Recurrent Themes in Black Literature (3)
BLK510 Contemporary Black Women's Literature (3)
Earth Science (Geology) (B-6) - 34-35 credits
Cognate courses.......................................7 credits
PHY205 Exploring the Solar System (3) or PHY206 Exploring the Universe (3)
CHE201 General Chemistry I (3) and CHE211 General Chemistry I Lab (1)
Geology courses....................................27-28 credits
GLG120 Weather and Environment (4)
GLG201 Physical Geology (3)
GLG211 Physical Geology Lab (1)
GLG202 Historical Geology (4)
GLG305 Paleontology (4)
GLG311 Mineralogy and Crystallography (4)
GLG331 Stratigraphy-Sedimentation (4)
One 300-level geology course by advisement (3-4)
English (B-6) - 31-33 credits
- At least one-half of your courses for the English major must be completed at New Paltz.
- Credits for Composition courses (ENG160, ENG180, ENG206, ENG207) are not included in the major requirement.
- Courses taken S*/U* or graded below C- cannot be counted toward the major.
- Students who transfer 3-credit English courses considered equivalent to 4-credit English courses at New Paltz may need to take additional English electives to make up missing credits. All Childhood & Early Childhood Education students majoring in English must complete at least 31 credits.
Literature requirement...............................12 credits
ENG303 Introduction to British Literature (4)
ENG333 Introduction to American Literature (4)
plus one of the following courses:
ENG353 Multiethnic & Diasporic Literature (4)
ENG343 Transnational Literature (4)
Writing requirement..................................12-13 credits
Choose any four of the following courses:
ENG224 Expository Writing (3)
ENG226 Practical Grammar (3)
ENG300 Seminar in Critical Practice (4)
ENG345 Creative Writing Workshop I (3)
ENG385 Theories of Writing (3)
LIN201 Introduction to Linguistics (3)
Elective courses.........................................7-8 credits
One of the following upper-division courses in literature before 1800 (3-4 credits)*:
ENG355 The Bible (4)
ENG356 Greek and Roman Literature (3)
ENG404 Medieval Literature (4)
ENG405 Elizabethan Literature (4)
ENG406 Shakespeare I: Selected Works (4)
ENG407 Shakespeare II: Selected Works (4)
ENG408 Seventeenth-Century English Literature (4)
ENG413 Eighteenth-Century English Literature (4)
ENG414 The Rise of the Novel (4)
ENG435 Early American Literature (4)
ENG470 Major Authors (4), if appropriate
ENG493 Selected Topics (4), if appropriate
plus one 400-level course in English (4 credits), excluding ENG420, ENG423, ENG445, ENG448, ENG451, ENG452, ENG453, ENG454, ENG455
*Note that ENG303 Introduction to British Literature is a prerequisite for most of these courses.
French (B-6) - 30 credits
Required courses...............................30 credits
FRN202 Intermediate French II (3)1
FRN301 French Composition and Conversation I (4)
FRN302 French Composition and Conversation II (4)
FRN319 French Civilization (4)
FRN320 Francophone Cultures (4)
FRN375 French Literature before 1800 (4)
FRN376 French & Francophone Literature after 1800 (4)
FRN3xx/4xx Upper-division French elective (3)
1Successful completion of the following basic language courses, or French Placement Level 3, is required to advance to FRN202 Intermediate French II:
FRN101 Elementary French I (3)
FRN102 Elementary French II (3)
FRN201 Intermediate French I (3)
Geography (B-6) - 31-33 credits
Required courses......................................10 credits
GEO213 Economic Geography (3)
GEO201 Human Geography (3)
GEO342 Cartography (4)
Electives.............................................21-23 credits
Each major candidate is required to complete, by advisement, seven courses in geography selected from systematic and/or regional courses, at least five of which shall be at the 300-level or above.
History (B-6) - 30-34 credits
- You must have eighteen (18) upper-division credits from this plan of study.
- All majors are required to write a 2-3 page "exit essay" as a requirement of graduation.
- Grades below C- do not count toward the major.
- All majors must take, with the approval of the adviser, at least one course 'pre-1500' and at least one course 'post-1500.'
- It is expected that at least one course will focus on race, gender, and ethnicity.
Required courses......................................30-34 credits
I. UNITED STATES HISTORY: Two (2) courses (6-8 credits)
II. WORLD HISTORY: Four (4) courses (12-14 credits)
You must take courses in at least two (2) geographic areas of the world outside of the United States - that is,
Africa, Asia, Europe, South America and the Caribbean.
III. NEW YORK STATE: One (1) of the following courses (3 credits)
HIS303 The Empire State
HIS308 Indians of New York State
HIS325 History of New York City
HIS461 Hudson Valley Culture
Or alternative by advisement
IV. UPPER-DIVISION HISTORY ELECTIVES: Three (3) courses (9 credits)
Mathematics (B-6) - 32-34 credits
Required courses......................................29-30 credits
MAT140 Mathematics for Elementary School Teachers I (3)
MAT240 Mathematics for Elementary School Teachers II (3)
MAT241 Introduction to Statistics (3)
MAT251 Calculus I (4)
MAT252 Calculus II (4)
MAT260 Intro to Proof (3)
MAT331 Axiomatic Geometry (3)
MAT304 Foundations of Algebra (3)
One of the following:
CPS104 Visual Programming (3)
CPS210 Computer Science I: Foundations (4)
Upper-division mathematics elective...........3-4 credits
Political Science (B-6) - 36 credits
Required courses......................................12 credits
POL216 American Government & Politics (4)
POL227 Introduction to International Politics (4)
POL229 Introduction to Comparative Politics (4)
Upper-division electives..............................24 credits
No more than six credits of POL480 Government Internship may be credited toward the upper-division electives.
Spanish (B-6) - 31 credits
Required courses......................................31 credits
SPA202 Intermediate Spanish II (4)1
SPA301 Spanish Composition and Conversation I (4)2
SPA361 Spanish Composition and Conversation II (4)2
SPA365 The Culture and Civilization of Spain (4)
SPA372 The Culture of Latin America I (4)
SPA375 Survey of Spanish Literature (4)
SPA376 Survey of Latin American Literature (4)
Plus one of the following:
SPA363 Spanish Phonetics and Oral Practice (3)
SPA461 Advanced Spanish Composition (3)
SPA4xx Spanish elective (3)
1Successful completion of the following basic language courses, or Spanish Placement Level 3, is required to advance to SPA202 Intermediate Spanish II:
SPA101 Elementary Spanish I (3)
SPA102 Elementary Spanish II (3)
SPA201 Intermediate Spanish I (3)
2Students whose home language is Spanish may substitute SPA315 Spanish for Native Speakers (4) for either SPA301 or SPA361.
C. General Education requirement
Early Childhood & Childhood Education students take selected course work under advisement to meet the College's General Education requirement. Some General Education courses also fulfill prerequisites of the Early Childhood & Childhood Education program. See the Education Advisor (Old Main Building, 115A) to ensure that all curricular requirements are met.
