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Early Childhood Education, MSE - Teaching Option

Master of Science in Education for Early Childhood Teachers

Today’s schools need teachers who can successfully address the learning, developmental, social, emotional and physical needs of very young children. Strengthen your early childhood teacher qualifications with the Master of Science in Early Childhood Education (ECE) - Teaching option from the University of Central Missouri. This graduate degree program is specifically designed to help ECE teachers better understand and adapt pedagogy and curricula for children from birth through grade 3. 

If you don’t already have early childhood education teacher certification, you can work with an advisor to develop a plan for coursework and experiential learning within the master’s in Early Childhood Education program to earn the professional credential. This will allow you to teach grades K–3 in Missouri’s public schools. Your early childhood education teacher certification will further demonstrate to employers that you have the critical knowledge and skills needed to create a safe, developmentally appropriate learning environment for young students.

Take classes for your ECE master’s degree in Teaching 100% online

UCM’s master’s-level ECE degree in Teaching is offered both entirely in person on our Warrensburg campus and 100% online. To keep up with the evolving field and add to your early childhood teacher qualifications, this program option offers online courses that allow working ECE teachers to enhance their early childhood education teaching in an accessible, convenient way.

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Contact

Karrie Snider
Associate Professor
Lovinger 3320                                           Warrensburg, MO
Tel: 660-543-8658 | snider@ucmo.edu

College of Education

Department of Early, Elementary, Middle and Physical Education

Early Childhood Education


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CAEP accreditation logo

Longest CAEP-accredited program

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Aligned to NAEYC standards

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95% of new grads get hired

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100% online degree program option

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150-year tradition of excellence

What you will study

Hone your teaching strategies and boost your early childhood teacher qualifications with graduate coursework based on research and best practices. UCM’s master’s-level ECE degree program will also ensure that you can apply your classroom knowledge in a variety of early childhood education teaching environments, serving students with diverse educational needs. To strengthen your early childhood teacher qualifications, you can choose from a variety of electives, including:

  • Teaching Strategies and the Classroom Environment for Active, Engaged Learning
  • Multicultural Education: Beliefs, Curriculum and Pedagogy
  • STEM in Early Childhood Education

The combination of core courses and electives offers well-rounded perspectives and insights on how to better assess students, integrate STEM into your curricula and create active, engaged learning environments as part of your early childhood education teaching.

 

Excellence in Early Childhood Education

  • The longest continuously CAEP-accredited public institution in Missouri.
  • A Best Value College for Elementary Education (College Factual, 2022)
  • Top 15%: Most Focused Colleges for Education (College Factual, 2022)
  • A Most Popular College for Teacher Education (College Factual, 2022)
  • Top 10%: Most Popular Master’s Degree Colleges for Teacher Education Grade Specific (College Factual, 2022)
  • Top 6%: Most Popular Colleges for Education (College Factual, 2022)
  • A Most Popular Master’s Degree College for Education (College Factual, 2022)
  • Top 10%: Best Colleges for Education for Non-Traditional Students (College Factual, 2021)
  • A Best Online Masters in Online Teaching Degree Programs (Intelligent, 2021)
  • Top 50: Masters in Elementary Education Degree Programs (Most Flexible Admissions) (Intelligent, 2021)
  • Among the Best Online Masters in Elementary Education Degree Programs (Intelligent, 2021)

 

Unique learning opportunities in teaching early childhood education

Gain meaningful early childhood education teaching experiences in the field and personalized instruction in the classroom that you can apply in your own career:

  • Professional skills: Our master’s in Teaching ECE degree program is designed to help you adapt, enhance and improve classroom instruction for children from birth through grade 3. 
  • Informed teaching strategies: A master’s in Early Childhood Education from UCM will give you the tools to serve as a teacher-leader and apply research-based practices in your classroom and school.
  • Diverse learning settings: Prepare for a successful and rewarding career that can take you many places, from an early childhood center to public or private preschools or elementary schools. 
  • Early childhood education teacher certification: In addition to your master’s degree for Teaching Early Childhood Education, you can earn professional credentials through the graduate program coursework that further enhance your early childhood education teacher qualifications.

 

What can you do with a master’s-level ECE degree in Teaching from UCM?

This UCM master’s degree in Early Childhood Education will sharpen your early childhood education teaching strategies and build on your work experience in the classroom. ECE teachers with early childhood education teacher certifications can find jobs in a variety of childcare and classroom settings, especially public and private schools teaching grades K–3.

ECE teacher jobs

Use the interactive tool below to find more information on salary potential, job growth and career possibilities in early childhood education teaching.

 

 
 


 

Financial assistance options for your master’s in ECE degree for teachers

You can build upon your early childhood teacher qualifications and pursue your graduate ECE degree in Teaching affordably. As a university recognized for its low student debt, UCM offers plenty of resources to help working graduate students finance their college education. Our College of Education also offers scholarships to ECE students.

You can learn more about program-specific scholarships with the UCM Scholarship Finder.

 

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Make yourself more marketable.
 

Gain specialized teaching skills in a content area or specific student population by adding a graduate certificate to your Early Childhood Education master’s degree in Teaching:

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Explore programs related to teaching early childhood education.
 

If you’re considering the MSE in Early Childhood Education, with a focus on Teaching, you may also want to check out these master’s programs at UCM:

 

Student Learning Outcomes

With a Master of Science in Education degree in Early Childhood Education (ECE), you will use the knowledge and skills obtained in the program to achieve the following professional skills:

  • Demonstrate and apply understandings of early childhood development, including theoretical perspectives on how children learn through play collaborating with a diverse population of peers to create meaning in today’s society.
  • Acquire fundamental knowledge of a play-based curriculum for support and advocacy in implementation in the early childhood setting.
  • Develop a strong sense of ethical conduct within early childhood teaching, learning, and business.
  • Identify significant issues specific to early childhood education in research and address through practice.
  • Better understand the impact of pedagogy and exposure to diversity for teaching in an increasingly complex and diverse society.

 

Admission Requirements

To be accepted into the Master of Science in Education in Early Childhood Education (ECE) degree program, you must: (a) have a minimum cumulative undergraduate grade point average of 2.75; (b) submit proof of teacher certification or professional endorsement from any of the 50 states or territories and have graduated from a CAEP or regionally accredited university; (c) submit a copy of your last summative teaching evaluation, or a letter from a school superintendent, principal, director, or professor attesting to teaching skills and/or graduate studies potential. International applicants should meet these requirements in comparable ways.

 

Required Core Courses

The following courses are required by all three options within the Master of Science in Education degree in Early Childhood Education (ECE):

  • ECEL 5710 Early Childhood Education: A Constructivist Approach (3 credit hours)
  • ECEL 5740 Play in Early Childhood Education (3 credit hours)
  • ECEL 5920 Childhood Research and Development (3 credit hours)
  • CFD 5500 Research Methods (3 credit hours)
  • CFD 4580 Resilience (3 credit hours)
  • ECEL 5750 Curriculum and Pedagogy in Multicultural Education (3 credit hours)
  • ECEL 5790 Collaborative Practice in Early Childhood Education (capstone) (3 credit hours).

Leadership Option Courses

The Early Childhood Education Teaching option is focused on preparing early childhood educators for teaching in the field of early childhood education. Coursework and content focus on birth through grade 3. In addition to the core courses, you will select three of these courses for this option:

  • ECEL 5730 Exemplary Instructional Practices (3 credit hours)
  • ECEL 5780 STEM in Early Childhood Education (3 credit hours)
  • ECEL 5785 Teaching Strategies/Classroom Environment for Active, Engaged Learning (3 credit hours)
  • CFD 6410 Equity and Cultural Diversity in Early Childhood Education (3 credit hours)
  • INST 4100 Technology and Computer Literacy in Early Childhood Education (3 credit hours)

 

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