Program Description
The Social Studies concentration of the Bachelor of Science in Education in Middle Level Education degree prepares students to teach social studies to children in grades 4 through 8. Upon successful completion of this program, students will earn a bachelor's degree and be eligible for Pennsylvania teaching certification.
Qualified undergraduate students in this concentration may be eligible to participate in the accelerated B.S.Ed.-to-M.Ed. program, which enables them to take graduate courses that apply to both their bachelor's degree in Middle Level Education: Social Studies and (thereafter) a Reading Specialist master's degree.
The Reading Specialist Master of Education program at Cal U is designed for students who want to earn a Master of Education degree and reading specialist certification on their Pennsylvania teaching certificate.
Through the accelerated program, students can complete both degrees at Cal U with a total of 148 credits.
Program Coordinator
Dr. Diane Fine
Accreditation
These programs are approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Cal U's education programs have also been accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) since 1954, and we are continuing with the successor organization, the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP). The reading specialist program is also nationally recognized by the International Literacy Association (ILA).
Curriculum
The following curriculum shows the requirements for completing the bachelor's degree under the accelerated B.S.Ed.-to-M.Ed. program. Additional graduate-level courses are required to complete the master's degree; refer to the graduate academic catalog for these requirements.
| Course | Credits |
| General Education Courses | 40-41 |
| CHD 250 Health and PE Methods for PreK-4 | 3 |
| CHD 350 Family and Community Collaborations | 3 |
| EDU 333 Technology for Teaching and Learning | 3 |
| EDU 350 Supporting Eng. Lang. Learners | 3 |
| ESP 210 Special Education Foundations and Collaborations | 3 |
| ENG 101 Composition I | 3 |
| GEO 100 Intro to Geography | 3 |
| HIS 101 U.S. History to 1877 | 3 |
| MAT 120 Elementary Topics I | 3 |
| MAT 130 Elementary Topics II | 3 |
| UNI 100 First-Year Seminar | 1 |
| British/American Lit Course (from approved list) | 3 |
| Fine Arts Elective | |
| Natural Science Course with Lab | 3 |
| Required Major Courses |
45 |
| CHD 413 Content Area Literacy Field Experience* | 3 |
| CHD 450 Assessment and Data Literacy* | 3 |
| EDU 375 Intro to Integrated STEM Education | 3 |
| ELM 200 Intro to Middle Level Ed. | 3 |
| ELM 220 Inst. and Assess in 4-8 Class. | 3 |
| ELM 301 Read Methods Assess.* | 3 |
| ELM 302 Lang Arts Methods Assess.* | 3 |
| ELM 311 Math Methods Assess.* | 3 |
| ELM 321 Science Methods Assess.* | 3 |
| ELM 331 Soc St Methods Assess.* | 3 |
| ELM 415 Middle Level Education Field Experience* | 3 |
| ELM 461 Student Teaching and School Law | 12 |
| Concentration Courses | 18 |
| ECO 100 Elements of Economics | 3 |
| HIS 102 History of the U.S. since 1877 | 3 |
| HIS 112 World History since 1500 | 3 |
| HIS 200 History of Pennsylvania | 3 |
| POS 105 American Politics | 3 |
| Select one of the following: | 3 |
| ECO 200 Current Economics Issues | 3 |
| ECO 201 Principles of Microeconomics | 3 |
| ECO 202 Principles of Macroeconomics | 3 |
| GEO 105 Human Geography | 3 |
| GEO 217 Demographic Analysis | 3 |
| GEO 220 Geography of N. America and PA | 3 |
| POS 101 Contemporary Policy and Politics | 3 |
| POS 306 The Congress | 3 |
| POS 310 The Presidency | 3 |
| Required Related Courses | 15 |
| ESP 311 Assess Positive Behavior Interv. | 3 |
| ESP 412 Evidence-Based Practices* | 3 |
| MAT 181 College Algebra | 3 |
| PSY 206 Adolescent Psychology | 3 |
| PSY 208 Educational Psy. (PSY 100 waived) | 3 |
| Free Elective | 3 |
| RSP 700 Fundamentals of Literacy | 3 |
| Total | 121 |
Program Notes
- All courses required for certification with a grade of C- or lower must be repeated.
- All ELM, CHD and ESP courses require current clearances and minimum 2.5 GPA to register, except ELM 200 and ELM 220, which require 2.0 GPA.
- Candidates must follow policies for Admission to Teacher Education as stated in the Teacher Education Handbook.
- Courses marked with an asterisk are restricted to candidates Admitted to Teacher Education.
- Pre-requisite for ELM 220 and all 300-level ELM and CHD courses is ELM 200
- State licensure exams must be passed before student teaching.
- Undergraduate students must achieve at least junior standing to take graduate-level coursework
Approved American/British Lit. Courses
- ENG 107 Intro to Fiction
- ENG 125 The American West
- ENG 127 Women as Hero
- ENG 148 Horror in Literature
- ENG 150 Baseball in Literature
- ENG 155 Black Literature
- ENG 160 Intro to British and American Literature
- ENG 203 Great Books
- ENG 301 English Lit I (pre-req ENG 101 and 102)
- ENG 302 English Lit II (pre-req ENG 101 and 102)
- ENG 337 Survey of Am. Lit. I (pre-req ENG 101 and 102)
- ENG 338 Survey of Am. Lit. II (pre-req ENG 101 and 102)
- HON 250 Honors Composition II (pre-req Hon 150)
Additional Requirements
Students accepted into a teacher certification program must be admitted to Teacher Education before they may register for upper-level, restricted courses. Please refer to the Teacher Education Program Student Handbook for details on Admission to Teacher Education requirements.
Undergraduate students in the accelerated program may register for no more than 6 graduate credits in any one term, and in terms when a graduate course is registered, the student may not register for more than 18 total credits.
It is the student’s responsibility to apply and meet the qualifications of the graduate program portion of the accelerated program. Failure to follow through with enrollment in the accelerated graduate program will result in additional undergraduate credits to complete the bachelor’s degree, as outlined in the Undergraduate Credit for Graduate Courses policy.
Additional accelerated program requirements may be found at: https://www.calu.edu/inside/forms/_files/academic-affairs/accelerated-program-application.pdf