Certification

Student Developmental Level - Childhood (Grades 1-6)

For Initial and Professional teacher certification through the Individual Evaluation pathway and the Additional Classroom Teaching Certificate (Must Hold a Valid Certificate) pathway, candidates need to complete six semester hours of pedagogical (professional education) coursework that is appropriate for the student developmental level of the certificate title.

Coursework

For the childhood (grades 1-6) developmental level, acceptable coursework includes pedagogical courses that would be required in a childhood education/elementary teacher preparation program. Examples of acceptable courses include, but are not limited to:

  • Teaching methods in the elementary school
  • Assessment in the elementary school
  • Literacy instruction in the elementary school
  • Elementary school curriculum
  • Child development

Pedagogical coursework must address the childhood (grades 1-6) developmental level. The following table lists the acceptable and not acceptable developmental level(s) for childhood pedagogical coursework.

Pedagogical courses that include the following developmental level(s) are
Acceptable

Pedagogical courses that include the following developmental level(s) are
Not Acceptable

  • Childhood only
  • Early Childhood and Childhood
  • Childhood and Middle Childhood
  • Early Childhood, Childhood, and Middle Childhood
  • Early Childhood only
  • Middle Childhood only
  • Adolescent
  • Life Span

If you have a New York State College Recommendation for either Initial Literacy (Birth-Grade 6) certification or Initial certification at the childhood (grades 1-6) level in your TEACH account, the student developmental level coursework requirement will be marked as met on your certificate application at the childhood level.

Additional Information

You could review course catalogs of institutions of higher education that offer childhood education/elementary programs leading to certification to learn about pedagogical courses at the childhood developmental level. New York State institutions that have registered childhood education programs can be found on the Inventory of Registered Programs.

Last Updated: September 29, 2020