Early Childhood Education, B.A.
The Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood Education provides undergraduate students with a solid foundation in child development, methods of teaching and significant concepts in ECE necessary for supporting the education of students ages birth to grade 2. Students who pursue this major are interested in working in a classroom setting with children, typically preschool aged to 2nd grade. Topics in this major include best practices in curriculum, a variety of assessment techniques, culturally relevant pedagogy, methods of teaching in literacy, math, science and social studies, equity-informed practice, and other relevant topics in early childhood education.
Successful completion of the program enables students in Illinois to apply for a Professional Educator License, endorsed for early childhood (B-2). Students may also obtain an additional endorsement in either ESL/Bilingual or Special Education upon completion of the associated concentrations.
For more information on state licensure and certification information please visit NLU’s Public Disclosures page.
Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs)
At the completion of the Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood Education program, students will be able to:
PLO1. Use knowledge of self, students, curriculum content, and effective instruction to develop appropriate learning outcomes and design activities to meet diverse learner needs including students with special needs and diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds;
PLO2. Develop a variety of assessments and explain how they will use them to anticipate varied ways students might perform, make accommodations, monitor student progress, and adjust and evaluate instruction;
PLO3. Demonstrate respectful and responsive interactions with students that motivate, support, and advance students’ development and learning;
PLO4. Establish a culture of appropriately high expectations for student learning and behavior and design a classroom environment that supports all students to be successful;
PLO5. Persist in their efforts to engage all students in content learning through effective instructional discourse, use of appropriate technologies, ongoing performance monitoring, flexibility, and adaptability to support students’ behavior and advance their learning;
PLO6. Apply knowledge of human development and learning to interpret a variety of assessments to inform their instruction and provide meaningful feedback;
PLO7. Use feedback from a variety of stakeholders to develop meaningful professional learning goals and identify appropriate professional activities to continuously improve their practice; and
PLO8. Demonstrate the capacity to collaborate effectively and ethically with colleagues, families, and community members to promote positive and inclusive learning for all students.
Admissions Requirements:
Admission to the Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood Education program is a two-step process. In the first step, students are admitted to National Louis University with a preliminary status in the Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood Education program. In the second step, students must be admitted to the licensure program which updates the admission to full status in the Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood Education. Students must be admitted to the licensure program before beginning their Early Childhood Education Student Teaching courses (ECE 470A and ECE 470B).
Licensure Program Admission Requirements:
- Achieve junior standing (90 quarter hours or more)
- Achieve a GPA of 2.5 or better on all previous coursework, with a grade of "C" or better in all courses
- Creation of account in the Educator Licensure Information System (ELIS)
Program Details:
- Requires 180 QH including 75 QH of General Education for completion
- Requires completion of all courses in the program with a grade of "C" or better, with the exception of ECE 470A and ECE 470B, which must be completed with a grade of "B" or better
- Requires completion of the following courses at NLU: EAL 412, ECE 470A/ECE 470B, EDU 420A, EDU 420B, EDU 477, EDU 480, and EDU 483.
- Requires completion of field hours built into courses across the entire program, taken each term. They are mapped to the following Credentials and Endorsements:
- Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) Early Childhood Education Endorsement.
- ISBE ESL/Bilingual Endorsement (for students who choose to pursue the ESL/Bilingual Concentration; a state exam is required for the bilingual endorsement).
- ISBE Learning Behavior Specialist 1 (LBS1) Endorsement (for students who choose to pursue the Special Education Concentration; a state exam is required).
- ISBE ECE Special Education Approval (for students who choose to pursue the Special Education Concentration).
- Illinois Gateways to Opportunity Level 5 ECE Credential.
- Illinois Gateways to Opportunity Level 1 Director’s Credential (for students who choose to pursue the Early Care and Education Administration Concentration).
- Credit for Prior Learning may be accepted for CAR 202, CAR 203, ECE 302, ECE 495, EDU 210, EDU 305, EDU 470B
- Demonstrate a 2.5 GPA or greater on a 4.0 scale prior to EDU 305 and a 2.75 GPA or greater on a 4.0 scale prior to beginning methods coursework
- Students can apply 15 QH of the following advanced standing courses to certain graduate programs and endorsements: EAL 400, EAL 412, EAL 431, SPE 401, and SPE 440. Students are encouraged to speak to their coach about the details as certain policies apply.
- Candidates may complete one of the concentrations listed below:
Required Courses
General Education Requirements
Communications
| ENG 101 | Beginning English Composition | 5 |
| ENG 201 | Intermediate English | 5 |
| ENG 203 | Effective Speaking for the Undergraduate | 5 |
Note: Students transferring credit from other institutions or applying coursework previously completed at NLU may use any three general education courses in the following disciplines: academic writing, oral communications, and written communications.
Humanities and Fine Arts
| HIS 103 | History Across the Globe | 5 |
| ART 105 | Race, Identity and Experience in American Art | 5 |
Note: Students transferring credit from other institutions or applying coursework previously completed at NLU may use any two general education courses in the following disciplines:
- Humanities: foreign language, history, literature, philosophy, religious studies, interdisciplinary humanities and fine arts, interdisciplinary humanities and social sciences
- Fine Arts: visual arts (including art history, art appreciation, and studio arts, such as drawing, painting, digital art, or film), film and cinema studies, and performing arts (including music appreciation, music theory, and music performance, theatre appreciation and performance, and dance)
Mathematics and Natural Sciences
Note: Students transferring credit from other institutions or applying coursework previously completed at NLU may use courses in the following three general education disciplines:
- Mathematics: college-level and not developmental in nature
- Natural Sciences: coursework which covers at least three areas of science; Life, Physical (Chemistry or Physics), and Earth and Space
- Mathematics or Natural Sciences
Social and Behavioral Sciences
| HIS 102 | Civics and American Government | 5 |
| PSY 101 | Introduction to Psychology | 5 |
Note: Students transferring credit from other institutions or applying coursework previously completed at NLU may use any two general education courses in the area of Social and Behavioral Sciences as long as the following licensure requirements are met: History, Cultural Geography, Civics and Government, and Economics.
Program Specific General Education Requirements
The following courses must be completed with a grade of "C" or better:
| EDU 200 | Applied Educational Psychology | 5 |
| EDU 220 | Children’s Literature for Educators | 5 |
| MTH 115 | Math for Educators II | 5 |
Additional General Education Requirements
| GEN 103 | Student Success Seminar | 5 |
| | or | |
| GEN 203 | NLU & You: Tools & Strategies for Student Success | 3 |
Note: GEN 103 is required for the first-time freshman students only. Students transferring in less than 90 QH are required to complete GEN 203.
Career Development Requirements
First-time Daytime Students - 5 QH
| CAR 214 | Creating and Communicating the Professional Brand | 5 |
| | or | |
| BRV 200 | Braven Leadership and Career Accelerator | 5 |
Transfer Students - 5 QH
| BRV 200 | Braven Leadership and Career Accelerator | 5 |
| | or | |
| CAR 214 | Creating and Communicating the Professional Brand | 5 |
| | or | |
| CAR 202 | Creating Professional Identity | 2 |
| | and | |
| CAR 203 | You The Professional | 3 |
Educator Preparation Core - 35 QH
| EAL 400 | Educational Foundations for Learning English as an Additional Language | 5 |
| EAL 431 | Cross Cultural Education | 5 |
| ECE 334 | Language and Early Literacy Development | 5 |
| EDU 210 | Educational Philosophy- A Historical Account | 5 |
| EDU 290 | Professionalism and Ethical Engagement with Children, Families and the Community | 5 |
| EDU 299 | Child Development | 5 |
| EDU 305 | Equity in Education | 5 |
Early Childhood Education Major- 55 QH
| EAL 412 | Linguistic Considerations for Learning to Read in a New Language | 5 |
| ECE 324 | Integrated Preprimary Methodology in Early Childhood Education | 5 |
| ECE 470A | Early Childhood Education Student Teaching Field Experience | 5 |
| ECE 470B | Early Childhood Education Student Teaching Seminar | 5 |
| EDU 350 | Teacher Preparation Curriculum and Assessment | 5 |
| EDU 420A | Practicum: Professional Practices and Classroom Contexts, Field Experience | 0 |
| EDU 420B | Practicum: Professional Practices and Classroom Contexts, Seminar | 5 |
| EDU 477 | Literacy Teaching Methods | 5 |
| EDU 480 | Methods of Teaching Mathematics | 5 |
| EDU 483 | Inquiry Based Teaching Methods: Science and Social Studies | 5 |
| SPE 401 | Introduction to Special Education and Methods of Teaching Students with Disabilities | 5 |
| SPE 440 | Equity, Advocacy, and Collaboration in Special Education | 5 |
Note: Application to participate in ECE 470A/ ECE 470B must be made two quarters prior to the quarter of the student teaching experience.
Concentration- 15 QH
See links to concentrations above
Early Childhood Education Student Teaching Enrollment Requirements
Admission to and continuance in student teaching are contingent on the following actions.
Candidates must:
- Be accepted into the Undergraduate College of Education Licensure Program (see above).
- File, by the designated deadline, the Office of Field Experience Application for student teaching.
- Pass the Early Childhood Education Content Area Test (206) prior to EDU 420, per ISBE requirements.
- Complete all of the licensure courses except for ECE 470A and ECE 470B (Student Teaching) with a grade of "C" or better.
- Successfully complete necessary program assessments, including the professional disposition assessment.
Graduation and Licensure Requirements:
Completion of the degree requires the following be met:
- All courses leading to licensure must have a grade of "C" or better, except for ECE 470A and ECE 470B: Early Childhood Education Student Teaching.
- Pass ECE 470A and ECE 470B: Early Childhood Education Student Teaching with a "B" or better.
- Have an overall GPA of 3.0.
- Achieve a satisfactory rating on all field assessments during student teaching demonstrating knowledge, skills and dispositions to teach the early childhood grades.
Completion of the Professional Educator License, awarded by ISBE, requires the above, as well as the following:
- Earn a passing score on the appropriate content test.