Elementary Certification

Students at Bryn Mawr and Haverford Colleges who want to pursue elementary teacher certification through the joint program of Swarthmore and Eastern Colleges must meet the following requirements:

Required courses in the tri-college community

• EDUC 014. Introduction to Education (at Swarthmore) or Education 200: Critical Issues in Education at BMC/HC
• Developmental Psychology (either campus) or Psychology and Practice (Swarthmore)
• EDUC 021. Educational Psychology (at Swarthmore)
• EDUC 042. Teaching Young Diverse Learners
• EDUC 053. Language Minority Education (or equivalent hours)
• EDUC 026. Special Education: Issues and Practice or EDUC 210: Special Education at Haverford, including fieldwork in Special Education
• EDUC 016. Practice Teaching (2 credits) (at Swarthmore)
• EDUC 017. Curriculum and Methods (at Swarthmore)
• 6 credits of college level English* (BMC/HC courses are 4 credits each)
• 6 credits of college level mathematics*

Practice teaching and Curriculum and Methods must be taken together one semester of your senior year. We strongly recommend that you do not take any other courses during the student teaching semester.

*This state requirement can be fulfilled with AP credits or college courses (BMC, HC, and Swarthmore College courses are 4 credit hours each). In addition, math scores of 560 or better on the SAT II Math Level 1C or IIC exam and scores of 600 or better on the SAT II Writing exam will be accepted as the equivalent of three credit hours in the respective areas.

Required summer courses through Eastern College (on Swarthmore’s campus)

• EDU 380 Communication Arts for Children
• EDU 401 Teaching of Reading

These courses are offered on Swarthmore's campus and usually run mid-May to mid-June for five weeks, meeting twice a week. Students normally take them between their sophomore and junior years or between their junior and senior years. The cost for the two courses is $2,925 (spring 2009 rate).

Additional fees

Bryn Mawr and Haverford students must pay Swarthmore College a fee of $1,500 to cover the costs of supervision and honoraria for cooperating teachers. All other costs will be covered by Swarthmore.

Praxis exams

Students normally take the state PRAXIS exams during their senior year. Students pursuing elementary certification must take the following exams:

• 10710 PPST Reading OR 5710 Computerized PPST Reading
• 20720 PPST Writing OR 5720 Computerized PPST Writing
• 10730 PPST Math OR 5730 Computerized PPST Math
• 30511 Fundamental Subjects: Content Knowledge
• 10011 Elementary Education

Interested?

Contact Ann Brown, Bryn Mawr/Haverford Education Program Adviser, for a preliminary conversation. She will then direct you to K. Ann Renninger, Chair, Educational Studies Department, Swarthmore College.