Cross-Age: Early Childhood and Childhood General Education

Are you interested in teaching children across a full range of grades? The Early Childhood and Childhood Dual Certification Program has been designed for you!

This program prepares you to teach pre-school through 6th grade. Your coursework, fieldwork, and advisement process will help you build a sound foundation in child development, subject matter pedagogy, and the historical, philosophical, and cultural contexts of contemporary education.

In this program, you will have the option to complete your fieldwork as a working teacher or a student teacher. Student teachers work with experienced mentor teachers in diverse school communities and classrooms throughout New York City where they will have opportunities to create and implement meaningful and engaging curricula for a broad age range of children. Working teachers have the option of using their place of employment as their fieldwork site, provided they receive approval from their program director.

This program culminates in a Master of Science in Education and requires 46-47 credits.

Supervised fieldwork/advisement lies at the heart of a Bank Street education. Through sustained experiences in the field, supervision from core faculty, and close collaboration with peers, our graduate students develop the ability to connect theory to practice and to reflect deeply on their own growth as educators.

STUDENT TEACHERS

In this program, you will:

• Complete one academic year of supervised fieldwork experiences (Fall & Spring semester).
• Have four placements across grades in public, independent and/or childcare settings in New York City.
• Be assigned a faculty advisor once you enter fieldwork.
• Have monthly advisor visits to your fieldwork placements.
• Have at least two meetings per month with your advisor (one at your placement and one at the College; more if needed).
• Participate in weekly Conference Group meetings with your advisor and a cohort of approximately eight graduate students.

WORKING TEACHERS

For those completing fieldwork as working teachers (assistants and head teachers):

• You’ll be supervised by a Bank Street faculty member who is an experienced teacher and advisor.
• You’ll complete one academic year of supervised fieldwork experiences, always starting fall.
• You’ll be supervised at the school where you will be or already are a full-time faculty member, in the pre-K-6th grade range.
• You’ll keep the same job at your school for the entire fieldwork year.
• You’ll participate in an approximately eight member weekly conference group, be observed working with children once a month, and have twice monthly individual meetings with your advisor.
• Your advisor will guide you through coursework.
• Meet NYS age ban requirements by completing your coursework and through two additional supervised fieldwork experiences.