Program Overview

Education (EDU)

The Department of Education at Wake Forest University seeks to prepare future teachers, school leaders, and educational policy makers while informing students across disciplines for caring and effective service in classroom, school, community, nonprofit, and public policy positions.

Overview

The Department of Education offers a major in Elementary Education and minors in Secondary Education and Schools, Education, and Society. The Department of Education also houses the university's College-to-Career Course Series, which provides students with an opportunity to explore personal attributes that influence future academic and professional decisions and to consider the factors that create a meaningful, fulfilling life after Wake Forest.

Teacher Licensure

The state of North Carolina issues the Initial Class A Teacher's License to graduates who have completed an approved program including the specified courses in their teaching fields and the prescribed courses in education, who meet licensure requirements, and who receive recommendations from the designated officials in their teaching areas and from the licensure officer.

Teacher Education Admission Requirements

Admission involves filing an official application with the department's licensure officer, being interviewed, and being officially approved by the department. In addition, the state of North Carolina requires Teacher Education Program applicants to submit qualifying SAT, ACT, or Praxis core scores before being formally admitted. All students are required to have a 2.7 or better GPA before being formally accepted to the Teacher Education Program.

Teacher Education Program Area Goals

The goals and objectives for each licensure area are available on the department website.

Teacher Education Course Requirements

The approved program of teacher education requires candidates to complete successfully a series of professional education courses. The exact sequence of professional and academic courses varies with a student's particular program and is determined by the advisor in conference with the candidate.

Student Teaching

Prerequisites for registering for student teaching include:

• senior, graduate, or special student classification
• completion of prerequisite courses
• formal admission to the Teacher Education Program Students are assigned to student-teaching opportunities by public school officials on the basis of available positions and the professional needs of the student and the public school system. One semester of the senior year is reserved for the student-teaching experience.

College to Career Courses

The College to Career series includes the following courses:

• EDU 120: Personal Framework for Career Exploration
• EDU 220: Options in the World of Work
• EDU 320: Strategic Job Search Processes
• EDU 360: Professional and Life Skills
• EDU 370: Professional Experience in the Engaged Liberal Arts

Major

• Elementary Education, B.A.

Minors

• Schools, Education, and Society, Minor
• Secondary Education, Minor

Courses

The Department of Education offers a wide range of courses, including:

• EDU 101: Issues and Trends in Education
• EDU 102L: Exploring School Communities
• EDU 103A: Preparing for Community Engagement
• EDU 103B: Participating in Community Engagement
• EDU 111: Special Topics
• EDU 120: Personal Framework for Career Exploration
• EDU 201: Educational Policy and Practice
• EDU 202: Field Experience One
• EDU 202L: Exploring Global Schools
• EDU 203L: Methodology and Management Lab
• EDU 204: Integrating Literacy, Technology and the Arts across the Elementary Curriculum
• EDU 205A: Developing Literacy and Communication Skills in Elementary Schools, K-2
• EDU 205B: Developing Literacy and Communication Skills in Elementary Schools, Grades 3-6
• EDU 206: Assessment for Positive Student Outcomes
• EDU 220: Options in the World of Work
• EDU 221: Children's Literature
• EDU 222: Integrating the Arts and Movement into the School Curriculum
• EDU 223: Theatre in Education
• EDU 231: Adolescent Literature
• EDU 236: Creativity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurial Thinking in Education
• EDU 250L: Student Teaching: Elementary
• EDU 271: Geography: The Human Environment
• EDU 272: Geography Study Tour
• EDU 273: Geography: The Natural Environment
• EDU 274: Environmental Geography
• EDU 281: Public Life and the Liberal Arts
• EDU 293: Professional Development Seminar: Elementary
• EDU 294: Teaching Elementary Language Arts
• EDU 295: Teaching Elementary Social Studies
• EDU 296: Elementary Mathematics Methods: Inquiry Teaching and Learning
• EDU 298: Elementary Science Methods: Inquiry Teaching and Learning
• EDU 299: Career Planning
• EDU 300: School Leadership
• EDU 303: History of Western Education
• EDU 304: Social Justice Issues in Education
• EDU 305: The Sociology of Education
• EDU 307: Instructional Design, Assessment, and Technology
• EDU 308: School and Society
• EDU 309L: Introduction to Secondary Education
• EDU 310: Race, Class, and Gender in a Color-blind Society
• EDU 311: Learning and Cognitive Science
• EDU 312: Teaching Exceptional Children
• EDU 313: Human Growth and Development
• EDU 315: Literacy Interventions
• EDU 316L: Elementary Literacy Interventions
• EDU 319: Environmental Education Methods
• EDU 320: Strategic Job Search Processes
• EDU 321: Advanced Issues and Trends in Education
• EDU 330: Fathers and Daughters
• EDU 337: TESOL Linguistics
• EDU 351: Adolescent Psychology
• EDU 353: Language in Education
• EDU 354: Content Pedagogy
• EDU 354A: Teaching Secondary English
• EDU 354B: Teaching Secondary Mathematics
• EDU 354C: Teaching Secondary Social Studies
• EDU 354D: Teaching Secondary Science
• EDU 354E: Teaching World Languages
• EDU 354L: Field Lab III
• EDU 357: Crisis in Higher Education
• EDU 358: Leadership and Assessment in K-12 Schools
• EDU 359: Model of Experiential Learning
• EDU 360: Professional and Life Skills
• EDU 364L: Student Teaching: Secondary
• EDU 365: Professional Development Seminars
• EDU 368: Professional Experiences in Education
• EDU 370: Professional Experience in the Engaged Liberal Arts
• EDU 373: Comparative and International Education
• EDU 374: Student Teaching Seminar
• EDU 377: Literacy in the 21st Century
• EDU 381: Teaching Students with Special Needs
• EDU 382: Teaching Elementary Reading
• EDU 383: Classroom Management Seminar
• EDU 385: Diversity Seminar
• EDU 387: Tutoring Writing
• EDU 388: How We Learn to Write
• EDU 390: Methods and Materials for Teaching Foreign Languages (K-6)
• EDU 391: Teaching the Gifted
• EDU 392: The Psychology of the Gifted Child
• EDU 393: Individual Study
• EDU 394: Internship in Education of the Gifted
• EDU 395: Teaching Diverse Learners

Faculty

The Department of Education faculty includes:

• Alan Brown, Francis P. Gaines Professor
• Patricia M. Cunningham, Professor
• Adam M. Friedman, Professor
• Leah P. McCoy, Professor
• Linda N. Nielsen, Professor
• R. Scott Baker, Associate Professor
• Debbie French, Associate Professor
• Dónal Mulcahy, Associate Professor
• Danielle Parker-Moore, Associate Professor
• Michele Myers, Assistant Professor
• Brian Calhoun, Associate Professor of the Practice
• Heidi Robinson, Associate Professor of the Practice
• Ali Sakkal, Associate Teaching Professor
• Eleni F. Caldwell, Assistant Teaching Professor
• Casey Holmes, Visiting Assistant Professor
• Joan F. Mitchell, Visiting Assistant Professor
• Jeffrey Faullin, Visiting Clinical Professor
• Becca Chase, Adjunct Professor
• Kathryn Pegram, Adjunct Professor
• Sharon Ralston, Adjunct Professor
• Bradley Rhew, Adjunct Professor
• Kathy Wilheit, Adjunct Professor
• Jonathan Williams, Adjunct Professor