Introduction
As outlined below, the post-baccalaureate licensure program in early childhood education consists of three components: general education requirements, prerequisites to the professional education sequence, and professional education requirements. The program is designed to prepare college graduates of 4-year institutions with little or no formal course work in education for teaching children ages 3 to 8 (grades pre-k to 3), including children with special learning needs. Graduates of highly specialized undergraduate degree programs (such as music, fine arts, and business administration) may need to complete additional general education requirements in order to qualify for early childhood licensure. Without exception, recommendation for provisional licensure further requires the successful completion of any applicable PRAXIS II examinations prescribed by the State Board of Education.
Portfolio: All teaching license students are expected to maintain a portfolio while completing their professional coursework and field experiences. The portfolio will evolve from a working portfolio to a professional portfolio and finally to an employment portfolio. In it, students are responsible for housing various required and optional artifacts that demonstrate their level of competency in each of the outcomes of their program.
At various portfolio checkpoints, students must meet specific portfolio criteria in order to be eligible to continue to the next phase of their program. For complete information on portfolios, students are strongly encouraged to access the Student Portfolio Handbook available at: http://www.csuohio.edu/cehs/students/portfolios/.
As of Fall semester, 2007, all students entering teacher license programs are required to maintain their portfolios in the Cleveland State University ePortfolio System.