Early Childhood Education (EE)
This course focuses on the science of learning and the practice of instructional design. This course presents information on child development and learning, including cognitive and linguistic factors that impact learning and development, classroom climate, the integration of play, and the impact of family/community on development and learning. Content will be presented using national/state professional teaching standards, state student learning standards/preschool standards, family/school connections, learning environments, and classroom management techniques. Examples of key concepts addressed include culturally relevant pedagogy, diversity, multilingual learners, Universal Design for Learning (UDL), and social-emotional learning.
This course develops teacher candidates' understanding of the integral relationship of children’s cognitive, linguistic, and cultural development in the acquisition of the English/language arts of reading, writing, listening, speaking, viewing, and representing. Candidates will learn to use assessment data and students’ individual and group strengths and needs as guides for creating developmentally appropriate and evidence-based literacy instruction for literary and informational texts. Candidates will also learn strategies for advancing the literacy skills of students with specific learning disabilities including dyslexia, students who are eligible for special education, students who struggle with age-appropriate literacy skills, and students with diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds.
This course focuses on early childhood mathematics instruction and the New Jersey Student Learning Standards in mathematics. The course uses contemporary research in student motivation, cognition, and comprehension of mathematical processes to inform strategies for differentiated instruction. Candidates will create instructional activities with adaptations for diverse learners, including English language learners, and practice modifying instruction and materials for students with disabilities.
This is the second part of a two-part course sequence that builds on the foundational knowledge gained in EE3115 Instruction in English/Language Arts and Literacy I in Inclusive Early Childhood and Special Education. Candidates will develop interdisciplinary activities demonstrating their knowledge of the New Jersey Student Learning Standards in social studies and English/language arts and pedagogy to build effective and culturally responsive instruction for P–3 students. Instructional planning and accommodation/ modification of instruction and assessment to meet students’ diverse needs are addressed. Instructional strategies based on learning theory in the social studies and English/language arts including children’s literature will be highlighted.
This course focuses on a holistic approach to P–3 science instruction, through a consideration of the Next Generation Science Standards, design thinking, and problem solving. The course uses contemporary research in student motivation, and cognition of scientific processes to inform strategies for differentiated instruction. Candidates will create integrated instructional activities with adaptations for diverse learners, including English language learners, and practice modifying instruction and materials for students with disabilities.
This course will address formal and informal assessment procedures to design and evaluate reading instruction and intervention for early and emergent readers. The foci of the course include the knowledge and skills needed to choose and give appropriate reading assessments for various purposes, data-based decision-making to guide instructional planning and intervention design, and understanding struggling readers, including those with reading disabilities. Emphasis will be placed on creating a multi-tiered support system (MTSS) for all students.
In this course, candidates gain experience applying their knowledge, skills, and attitudes for promoting learning by planning and managing instruction during their clinical experience in an inclusive classroom. The clinical practice serves as a bridge from theory to professional practice. It provides candidates with the opportunity to develop skills necessary to collaborate with families, educators, multi-disciplinary teams, and community partners in IEP and transition planning. Co-teaching and a variety of instructional strategies for students with special needs will be included. Candidates will complete 175 hours of clinical practice in this course.
Concurrent with clinical practice, this course provides students with the opportunity to reflect on their teaching experience to develop the meaning of teaching in a school setting. Candidates will be introduced to reflective practice developed by Donald Schon, an approach to teaching that enables novice teachers as emerging professionals to understand how to use their knowledge in practical situations and combine action and learning to elicit expected outcomes. The conceptual basis for the course is the works of Donald Schon, Chris Argyris, John Dewey, and Kenneth Zeichner, among others. Candidates develop a performance portfolio that addresses the New Jersey Professional Standards for Teachers, guided by the New Jersey Student Learning Standards. Offered at Lakewood campus only.
Concurrent with clinical practice, this course provides students with the opportunity to reflect on their teaching experience to develop the meaning of teaching in a school setting. Candidates will be introduced to reflective practice developed by Donald Schon, an approach to teaching that enables novice teachers as emerging professionals to understand how to use their knowledge in practical situations and combine action and learning to elicit expected outcomes. The conceptual basis for the course is the works of Donald Schon, Chris Argyris, John Dewey, and Kenneth Zeichner, among others. Candidates develop a performance portfolio that addresses the New Jersey Professional Standards for Teachers, guided by the New Jersey Student Learning Standards. Offered at Lakewood campus only.