About This Program

The Early Childhood Education M.Ed. program is designed for experienced educators who want to advance their careers and take on leadership roles in the field of early childhood education. With a focus on curriculum development, teacher leadership and program administration, you'll gain the skills needed to make a meaningful impact on the field of early childhood education.Read more...

Contact Information

• Program Coordinator:Julia Stoll|jastoll@kent.edu| 330-672-0992
• Connect with an Admissions Counselor:U.S. Student|International Student

Program Delivery

• Delivery:
  • In person
• Location:
  • Kent Campus

Examples of Possible Careers and Salaries*

^{* Source of occupation titles and labor data comes from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics'Occupational Outlook Handbook. Data comprises projected percent change in employment over the next 10 years; nation-wide employment numbers; and the yearly median wage at which half of the workers in the occupation earned more than that amount and half earned less.}

For more information about graduate admissions, visit thegraduate admission website. For more information on international admissions, visit theinternational admission website.

Admission Requirements

• Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university
• Minimum 2.750 undergraduate GPA on a 4.000 point scale
• Official transcript(s)
• Goal statement
• Two letters of recommendation
• English language proficiency - all international students must provide proof of English language proficiency (unless they meet specific exceptions) by earning one of the following:
  • Minimum 550 TOEFL PBT score (paper-based version)
  • Minimum 79 TOEFL IBT score (Internet-based version)
  • Minimum 77 MELAB score
  • Minimum 6.5 IELTS score
  • Minimum 58 PTE score
  • Minimum 110 Duolingo English Test score

For more information about graduate admissions, visit thegraduate admission website. For more information on international admissions, visit theinternational admission website.

Application Deadlines

• Fall Semester
  • Rolling admissions
• Spring Semester
  • Rolling admissions
• Summer Term
  • Rolling admissions

Program Requirements

Course List

Code	Title	Credit Hours
Major Requirements
ECED 60152	APPLICATION OF SELECTED THEORETICAL PRINCIPLES TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF YOUNG CHILDREN	3
ECED 67296	INDIVIDUAL INVESTIGATION IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION	3
orECED 67298	RESEARCH IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
Major Electives, choose from the following:		11
ECED 50093	VARIABLE TITLE WORKSHOP IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
ECED 50153	ORGANIZATION AND SUPERVISION OF EARLY CHILDHOOD CENTERS
ECED 50203	CRITICAL INQUIRY: THE INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE FRAMEWORK
ECED 50301	TEACHING SOCIAL STUDIES IN K-5 CLASSROOMS
ECED 50302	TEACHING PHONICS AND WORD STUDY
ECED 50303	TEACHING MATHEMATICS IN THE ELEMENTARY YEARS I
ECED 50403	TEACHING WRITERS IN THE ELEMENTARY YEARS
ECED 50404	TEACHING MATHEMATICS IN THE ELEMENTARY YEARS II
ECED 54444	DEVELOPMENT AND PEDAGOGY IN UPPER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
ECED 60101	CONSTRUCTIVIST TEACHING IN TRADITIONAL AND NON-TRADITIONAL EARLY CHILDHOOD SETTINGS
ECED 60103	SOCIAL STUDIES AND THE ARTS IN PRESCHOOL
ECED 60113	PRESCHOOL EDUCATION
ECED 60115	SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICS FOUNDATIONS FOR EARLY AND MIDDLE CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
ECED 60151	SOCIOMORAL ENVIRONMENT IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
ECED 60158	RECONCEPTUALIZING EARLY CHILDHOOD CURRICULUM
ECED 60201	TEACHING EARLY READERS
ECED 63333	FAMILY-SCHOOL-COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS IN DIVERSE SETTINGS
ECED 67292	PRACTICUM AND INTERNSHIP IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
ECED 67296	INDIVIDUAL INVESTIGATION IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
ECED 67298	RESEARCH IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
Additional electives with advisor approval
Additional Requirements or Concentrations
Choose from the following:		15
Additional Requirements for Students Not Declaring a Concentration
Early Childhood Leadership: Advocacy, Curriculum and Policy Concentration
Globalization and Intercultural Competence Concentration
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Concentration
Minimum Total Credit Hours:		32

Additional Requirements for Students Not Declaring a Concentration

Course List

Code	Title	Credit Hours
Major Requirements
CI 60169	UNDERSTANDING EMERGENT BILINGUAL AND IMMIGRANT STUDENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES	3
orECED 60115	SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICS FOUNDATIONS FOR EARLY AND MIDDLE CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
orECED 60158	RECONCEPTUALIZING EARLY CHILDHOOD CURRICULUM
orMCED 60115	SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEERING AND MATH FOUNDATIONS FOR EARLY AND MIDDLE CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
CI 60171	TEACHING EMERGENT BILINGUAL AND IMMIGRANT STUDENTS	3
orECED 60116	SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEERING AND MATH INQUIRY FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
orECED 60163	CONTEMPORARY ISSUES AND TRENDS IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
Additional Major Electives, choose from the following:1		9
ECED 50093	VARIABLE TITLE WORKSHOP IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
ECED 50153	ORGANIZATION AND SUPERVISION OF EARLY CHILDHOOD CENTERS
ECED 50203	CRITICAL INQUIRY: THE INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE FRAMEWORK
ECED 50301	TEACHING SOCIAL STUDIES IN K-5 CLASSROOMS
ECED 50302	TEACHING PHONICS AND WORD STUDY
ECED 50303	TEACHING MATHEMATICS IN THE ELEMENTARY YEARS I
ECED 50304	TEACHING SCIENCE IN THE ELEMENTARY YEARS
ECED 60101	CONSTRUCTIVIST TEACHING IN TRADITIONAL AND NON-TRADITIONAL EARLY CHILDHOOD SETTINGS
ECED 60113	PRESCHOOL EDUCATION
ECED 60151	SOCIOMORAL ENVIRONMENT IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
ECED 60158	RECONCEPTUALIZING EARLY CHILDHOOD CURRICULUM
ECED 63333	FAMILY-SCHOOL-COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS IN DIVERSE SETTINGS
ECED 67292	PRACTICUM AND INTERNSHIP IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
ECED 67296	INDIVIDUAL INVESTIGATION IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
ECED 67298	RESEARCH IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
Additional electives with advisor approval
Minimum Total Credit Hours:		15

¹

Courses fulfilling major program requirements (listed above) may not be used to also fulfill the requirements for the additional major electives.

Early Childhood Leadership: Advocacy, Curriculum and Policy Concentration Requirements

Course List

Code	Title	Credit Hours
Concentration Requirements
ECED 60101	CONSTRUCTIVIST TEACHING IN TRADITIONAL AND NON-TRADITIONAL EARLY CHILDHOOD SETTINGS	3
ECED 60158	RECONCEPTUALIZING EARLY CHILDHOOD CURRICULUM	3
ECED 60163	CONTEMPORARY ISSUES AND TRENDS IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION	3
ECED 60170	WRITING FOR PUBLICATION AND DISSEMINATION IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION	3
Advisor-Approved Concentration Elective		3
Minimum Total Credit Hours:		15

Globalization and Intercultural Competence Concentration Requirements

Course List

Code	Title	Credit Hours
Concentration Requirements
CI 60169	UNDERSTANDING EMERGENT BILINGUAL AND IMMIGRANT STUDENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES	3
CI 60171	TEACHING EMERGENT BILINGUAL AND IMMIGRANT STUDENTS	3
Concentration Electives, choose from the following with advisor approval:		3-6
CI 61130	MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION: STRATEGIES
CI 67005	INTERCULTURAL DIMENSIONS OF TEACHING AND LEARNING
ECED 50123	CRITICAL INQUIRY INTO INTEGRATED CURRICULUM IN THE PRIMARY YEARS
English Education Electives, choose from the following		3-6
ENG 63001	METHODOLOGY OF TEACHING ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE
ENG 63033	THEORIES IN SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
ENG 63038	TEACHING LITERATURE AND CULTURE
ENG 63047	HERITAGE LANGUAGES AND SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING
Additional elective with advisor approval
Minimum Total Credit Hours:		15

Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Concentration Requirements

Course List

Code	Title	Credit Hours
Concentration Requirements
ECED 60115	SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICS FOUNDATIONS FOR EARLY AND MIDDLE CHILDHOOD EDUCATION	3
orMCED 60115	SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEERING AND MATH FOUNDATIONS FOR EARLY AND MIDDLE CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
数学教育选修课,选择从followng with advisor approval:		6
CI 67095	SPECIAL TOPICS IN CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION
CI 67224	TEACHING MATHEMATICS USING COMPUTERS AND CALCULATORS
CI 67225	RESEARCH IN MATHEMATICS EDUCATION
Science Education Electives, choose from the following with advisor approval:		6
CI 61134	RESEARCH TRENDS IN SCIENCE EDUCATION
CI 61140	CULTURE AND MULTICULTURALISM IN SCIENCE EDUCATION
CI 61141	NATURE OF SCIENCE IN SCIENCE EDUCATION
CI 67240	INTRODUCTION TO ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
Additional electives with advisor approval
Minimum Total Credit Hours:		15

Graduation Requirements

学生在教师的引导下,发展of a program of study that satisfies both individual professional goals and expectations of the school, college and university. All students are expected to complete an exit project that involves a practicum or action research project.

Students completing the M.Ed. in Early Childhood Education must take at least 32 credit hours for completion. No more than 50 percent of the program’s coursework may be at the 50000 level

Program Learning Outcomes

Graduates of this program will be able to:

1. Co-construct curriculum as a co-worker with learners and others (parents, families, colleagues and community members) to make sound decisions for learning and teaching experiences, as opposed to being passive receivers of prescribed curriculum.
2. Synthesize conceptual understandings of children, theory, content, technology and socio-cultural contexts into meaningful activities and opportunities for learning with all students in pre-kindergarten to grade three.
3. Engage in the habit of self-assessment in order to continually uncover unknown possibilities in children’s learning, classroom practice, educational theory and one’s own teaching identity in the local and global context.
4. Become committed to the children and their learning, the families and the local community while having an awareness of the global context.
5. Engage in continuous self-improvement and lifelong learning.
6. Apply skills, knowledge and dispositions to challenge “questionable” policies that limit opportunities for all children.
7. Utilize research and theory to develop varied and effective pedagogies and assessments that will positively impact all students’ learning (learning and teaching is a transdisciplinary practice).
8. Advocate as ethical leaders and moral agents striving for social justice.
9. Acknowledge and practice multiple, multi-ethnic, multicultural, multiracial, multi-social, multi-economic and multilingual perspectives in a global society.

Full Description

The Master of Education degree in Early Childhood Education prepares critically reflective teachers with advanced knowledge in pre-school through primary multi-disciplinary curriculum. Students are prepared to be democratically accountable leaders, co-decision makers, pedagogical experts and committed professionals in various early childhood realms. The program emphasizes commitment to equitable and caring learning communities.

Ohio endorsements for pre-school and literacy endorsement or generalist (grades four and five) may be embedded in the program. In addition, students have the opportunity to receive an International Baccalaureate (IB) recognition award in the M.Ed. degree.

The Early Childhood Education major includes the following optional concentrations:

• TheEarly Childhood Leadership: Advocacy, Curriculum and Policyconcentration commonly appeals to teachers who desire to further their own early childhood programs, become master teachers and/or enhance their own leadership on behalf of young children and professionals who work with them. Students delve into issues and trends in the field, reconceptualize practice, understand and deconstruct/reconstruct policy understandings and complete their own independent research as an inquiry exit project or thesis.
• TheGlobalization and Intercultural Competenceconcentration is designed for teachers who are searching for research-based solutions to the learning and teaching of international students and/or who want to build intercultural competence to meet the demands of growing or changing immigrant and refugee populations in the classroom.
• TheScience, Technology, Engineering and Mathematicsconcentration provides students the opportunity to engage children in interdisciplinary instruction; gain experience working with and integrating technology; and integrate STEM to break down traditional boundaries.