Childhood Master’s Degree Requirements

Degree Requirements

The M.S. in Childhood Education and Special Education (Dual Certification, Grades 1-6) requires the completion of 45 credits.

Total Credits for Graduation – 45

Grades
All courses in the education program are evaluated with letter grades. The pass/fail distinction is used only with the final comprehensive exam

Students enrolled in the graduate program must attain a B or higher in each class and maintain a 3.0 GPA throughout the course of study.

Exit Requirements
All students are required to pass a comprehensive examination. Students take this examination at the completion of the program and must register at least three months before the published test administration date.

Exit Criteria and Certification 
A student who successfully completes all academic and professional requirements will be recommended by the Teacher Education Department for initial/professional New York State certification in childhood education grades 1-6 and special education grades 1-6. Academic requirements include completion of all courses with the prescribed grades and grade point average. Professional requirements include demonstration of effective behaviors appropriate to the profession.

Certification Requirements

In order to receive college endorsement for certification, students must complete the following state mandated workshops:

  • Multi-Subject Content Specialty Test
  • Students With Disabilities Content Specialty Test
  • EAS Certification Exam
  • Child Abuse Identification Workshop
  • Violence Prevention Workshop
  • DASA Workshop
  • Autism Workshop **This workshop is integrated into coursework as approved by New York State Department of Education.**

Undergraduate Requirements

Applicants to this program must meet the undergraduate requirements listed below.  If you have any questions regarding undergraduate requirements, please contact Charles Frank at 718-405-3269 or by e-mail at charles.frank@mountsaintvincent.edu.

  • Have earned a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution
  • Have earned a 3.0 undergraduate GPA
  • Have fulfilled general education requirements needed for certification, including study in artistic expression, communication, information retrieval, history and social sciences, humanities, language other than English, scientific processes, mathematical processes, and written analysis and expression
  • The following majors will have fulfilled the content core requirements for both certificate areas: Psychology, Sociology, Communication, Biology, Chemistry, General Science, Mathematics, History, Spanish, English or an interdisciplinary major that combines any two of the aforementioned areas