Educational Studies: General

The certificate serves as a career ladder approach to a credential or permit or as a stand-alone entity to document that a student has taken coursework related to subject matter proficiency and has acquired skills for successful employment as a teacher's aide, after-school program assistant, tutoring or other paraprofessional level classroom career.

The certificate is especially appropriate for students following various pathways to classroom teaching or an education-related career:

• The paraprofessional or aspiring paraprofessional teacher aide
• Homeschooling parents
• The aspiring paraprofessional or currently employed paraprofessional teacher- aide seeking a career ladder approach to a teaching credential and/or child development permit.
• The teacher- aide paraprofessional who has decided against pursuing an AA and/or credential or permit but would like to acquire knowledge and skills/ professional development relevant to serving as a teacher assistant or support staff in a classroom or school or related environment, concentrating on providing students support in mathematics.
• Teacher preparation for students on a transfer pathway for a BA and Credential who also desire certificate recognition in Educational Studies: General.
• Independent tutors seeking a certificate to augment their training and expertise.

In order to provide an additional pathway to an education-related career, the certificate is for students interested in an education/ teaching-related career who prefer online classes and/or cannot always attend traditional face-to-face classes due to employment, marital status, family responsibilities, distance, and expenses incurred with traditional education schedules. All certificate classes are online.

Possible employment/ illustrative examples: teacher assistant, especially appropriate for transitional Kindergarten (TK) through grade 6, or higher grades remedial; tutor, homework assistant, assistant in academic enrichment programs; recreation specialist; nanny; entry-level position requiring practical skills and knowledge to work with persons with disabilities in a variety of educational settings (this certificate may support, depending on course selection, the requirements of federal legislation that all paraprofessionals/instructional assistants/aides in Title I schools be “highly qualified”); work with k-12 students in an after-school setting; test preparation assistant or provider (CBEST, CSET SAT remedial, ISSE).

Program Learning Outcomes

1. Work effectively with students, teachers, parents, colleagues, and administrators in a school and classroom setting.
2. Apply knowledge, skills, and experience to make an informed choice to be employed or to continue study in the field of education.
3. Apply the certificate towards entry into a teaching credential or child development permit program, and/or the certificate may serve to document the acquisition of knowledge and skills relevant for employment as a teacher assistant or support staff in a classroom, school, or related environment.

Requirements

Review Graduation Requirements.