Below is a sample outline for how you could complete your degree in Early Childhood Education or Childhood Education.

Fall Semester 1: Three courses

Spring Semester 1: Three courses

Summer Semester 1: One course

Fall Semester 2: Three courses

Spring Semester 2: Final course and your student teaching semester

One of the three components of New York Tech’s mission and vision is field relations. You will complete between 10-15 hours of field observation for each course that you take. These field observation hours will put you in a classroom to observe certified teachers at work and make connections between theory and practice.

The final course in each program is the student teaching semester, a six-credit course. Three credits are the work you will do in the classroom, and three credits are a seminar component to tie it together.

While student teaching, you will be in the classroom every day for your final semester, following the progressive steps of teaching and putting everything you learned into a real-world scenario. The university has a Director of Field Placement and Certification who is there to help you find schools to complete your field experiences.

New York Tech is committed to diversity. Your educational experiences are designed to prepare you for success in the 21st-century global environment. You will learn to recognize the individual needs of diverse P-12 student populations and create and customize the educational experiences they need, all within the context of a global perspective. 

Your clinical experience will include checkpoints to ensure that you work with diverse student populations and get a well-rounded experience. New York Teach also offers a bilingual extension certificate for those looking to gain additional certification in bilingual education.

You will be assigned a faculty member as your academic advisor during the program. They will:

• Work with you 1-on-1 each semester to track your progress
• Help you map out your future semester
• Ensure you are completing all of your degree requirements

At the university, The Director of Field Placement and Certification is available to assist you by:

• Finding placements for your clinical experiences
• Providing guidance on the New York State requirements for certification, including testing and workshops
• Assisting you in completing your New York State teaching certification application

During your final semester of student teaching, you will have two mentors: your student teaching seminar instructor and a university site supervisor, who will visit you in the classroom. Your site supervisor will observe your lessons and provide feedback on your performance.

The teacher education department values your feedback as it is integral to the improvement of programs. Your voice, heard through feedback on your student teaching experience and an exit survey upon graduation, is crucial. The university will also consult you in the future through alumni surveys, recognizing the importance of your perspective in shaping programs.

The university requests feedback from partner schools and cooperating teachers during their service to student teachers. The education department also holds advisory board meetings and leadership forums with local stakeholders, including partner schools and superintendents, to assess what changes are happening in the field so you are prepared.

Examples of recent changes made to the program based on feedback include adding AI to your coursework, increasing chances for you to work on your presentation skills to better prepare you for job interviews, and creating mock interviews for student teachers.