Childhood and Early Childhood Education

Overview

If you want to pursue a career in childhood education (grades 1-6) or early childhood education (birth-grade 2), you’ll find that SUNY Cortland has a stellar reputation for excellence in preparing teachers.

At Cortland you’ll learn from expert faculty who have years of experience in school settings. They will help you translate what you learn in class to the real-world setting of a preschool or elementary school classroom.

And because experience is usually the best teacher, you’ll spend 100 hours or more in the field before you begin your student teaching, giving you opportunities to explore a variety of different educational environments.

A Cortland degree makes employers take notice. We prepare more elementary and preschool teachers than any other college or university in New York. Schools are confident that when they hire a Cortland-educated graduate, they’re hiring someone destined to become a great teacher.

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As a student in the Childhood/Early Childhood Department you will be part of the: 

• Largest comprehensive teacher education program in New York
• Tenth largest education program among public institutions in the United States 
• 142 years of tradition in that Cortland continues to educate more teachers than any other New York college or university

Your completed degree will integrate:

• A strong foundation of liberal arts and sciences with theory
• The application of teaching with real classroom experiences
• Highly marketable NCATE accrediated certification

Video - Annual Professional Performance Review