Get started with field experience in a real grade K–6 classroom.
Special Education & Childhood Education Combined Program
Earn a bachelor’s and master’s degree in as little as five years of full-time study while preparing for four New York state teacher certification areas:
- Early Childhood Education, Birth–Grade 2
- Childhood Education, Grades 1–6
- Special Education, Birth–Grade 2
- Special Education, Pre-K–Grade 12
What Will I Learn?
You’ll learn how to work with students, parents and administrators in a rapidly changing educational landscape. The program combines a liberal arts concentration with the principles of teaching and learning, preparing you to support students with and without disabilities across a range of educational settings.
Field experience is an important component of the program. Throughout each semester of the program, you will have field experiences in schools, day-care centers, after-school programs and other educational agencies, allowing you to apply what you learn in the classroom while developing the skills you need to become an effective teacher.
What is Unique About Our Program?
- You’ll earn both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in only five years of full-time study
- Our teacher candidates have over 500 hours of field experience prior to student teaching
- Our updated course content builds on undergraduate childhood study by teams of faculty; including instructors from childhood, special, and literacy education, working collaboratively to develop course syllabi and to team teach
- Benefit from close relationships with faculty and peers, and excellent teaching — in the college classroom and in elementary schools
What Are My Career Opportunities?
With preparation in both childhood and special education, you’ll be equipped to work with students across a broad range of ages and educational settings. Graduates of our combined program can teach:
- Early intervention/preschool programs
- Public schools in New York state for both special education and childhood education, subject to New York state certification
- Special education settings serving students from birth to grade 12
- In private schools in the United States
- Grades K through 6 in a state that has reciprocity with New York certification
Teaching In Other States
New York has interstate contracts (Reciprocal Certification Agreements) with more than 40 other states and jurisdictions. This greatly increases the value of your SUNY Plattsburgh degree and New York State certification. This means that our graduates can take advantage of teaching opportunities across the U.S.
For example, some of our graduates have obtained a teaching license in another state to start a full-time teaching position. Others have chosen to go directly into a graduate program. Many choose one of SUNY Plattsburgh’s graduate programs to fulfill degree requirements for a professional teaching certificate from the state of New York.