Oct 16, 2024  
2023-2024 University Catalog 
    
2023-2024 University Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Early Childhood Education and Exceptional Needs, BS


About the Program


If you have thought about working with young children, young children with special needs or even directing educational child care programs, then the early childhood education and exceptional needs major is for you. 

ECEEN students develop skills for working with typically developing children as well as children with exceptional needs and their families. Students are prepared to work with children from birth through 3rd grade. 

Students complete a program that prepares them to apply for dual Indiana Teaching licensure as Early Childhood Generalist and Early Childhood Exceptional Needs (birth-grade 3). Through their degree and licensure program, students are prepared to work in early intervention programs; pre-kindergarten classrooms in schools and community programs, and early childhood regular and special education classrooms in public or private schools, and kindergarten through 3rd grade. 

Students receive hands-on experience at the Ben and Maxine Miller Child Development Laboratory School, in community schools and other early childhood programsas well as completing a semester as a student teacher in an early childhood program in a child development center, public or private school. 

At least 32 credits of Purdue coursework required at 300 level or higher to meet graduation requirements. 

This program meets state and national licensure standards and is accredited by the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) and the State of Indiana, State Board of Education. Admission to and successful completion of the Teacher Education Program (TEP) are required.

Department of Human Development and Family Studies

Early Childhood Education and Exceptional Needs Major Change (CODO) Requirements   

Degree Requirements


120 Credits Required

Departmental/Program Major Course Requirements (72 credits)


Professional Education Requirements (57 credits)


Maintain a Professional Education GPA of 3.00/4.00 with no grade lower than a “B-” in HDFS 31000, 40500, 40600, 40800, 40900 and no grade lower than a “C” in the remaining courses.  No incompletes for any single professional education course

Other Departmental/Program Course Requirements (38-44 credits)


Foreign Language Selective (9-12 credits)


The Foreign Language requirement may be met by completing ONE of the three options below.  

(Select from American Sign Language, Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Portuguese, Russian, or Spanish)

Option 1:
Proficiency through level III in any one foreign language

  • 10100 (Credit Hours: 3.00-4.00)
  • 10200 (Credit Hours: 3.00-4.00)
  • 20100 (Credit Hours: 3.00-4.00)

Option 2:
Proficiency through level II in any one foreign language AND a course from the Global Perspectives & International Cultures Selective list.

  • 10100 (Credit Hours: 3.00-4.00)
  • 10200 (Credit Hours: 3.00-4.00)
  • course from the Global Perspectives & International Cultures Selective list (Credit Hours: 3.00) The selection for this category cannot be used to satisfy other major requirements.

Option 3:
Proficiency through level II in any one foreign language AND an approved study abroad experience that takes place outside of the United States and is at least 14 days in duration.

  • 10100 (Credit Hours: 3.00-4.00)
  • 10200 (Credit Hours: 3.00-4.00)
  • Approved Study Abroad Experience (Credit Hours: 3.00) The selection for this category cannot be used to satisfy other major requirements.

Electives (4-10 credits)


Grade Requirements


  • Professional Education Coursework: No grade lower than a B- in HDFS 31000, 40500, 40600, 40800, 40900 and no grade lower than a “C” in remaining professional education courses.
  • All Professional Education courses are calculated into the Professional Education GPA (“B” average with no grade lower than a “C”).
  • No incompletes for any single professional education course.

GPA Requirements


  • Professional Education Coursework: Maintain a Professional Education GPA of 3.0. No grade lower than a B- in HDFS 31000, 40500, 40600, 40800, 40900 and no grade lower than a C in remaining professional education courses.
  • Minimum 2.80 GPA required to qualify for admission to teacher education and student teaching.
  • 2.0 Graduation GPA is required for the Bachelor of Science degree.

Non-course / Non-credit Requirements


  • Students must meet criteria for admission to the Teacher Education program. 

Pass/No Pass Policy


  • A student may elect the Pass / Not-Pass grading option for elective courses only, unless an academic unit requires that a specific departmental course/s be taken Pass / Not-Pass.  Students may elect to take University Core Curriculum courses Pass / Not-Pass; however, some major Plans of Study require courses that also fulfill UCC foundational outcomes.  In such cases, students may not elect the Pass / Not-Pass option.  A maximum of 24 credits of elective courses under the Pass / Not-pass grading option can be used toward graduation requirements. For further information, students should refer to the College of Health and Human Sciences Pass / Not-Pass Policy.

University Requirements


University Core Requirements


For a complete listing of University Core Course Selectives, visit the University Senate Website.
  • Human Cultures: Behavioral/Social Science (BSS)
  • Human Cultures: Humanities (HUM)
  • Information Literacy (IL)
  • Oral Communication (OC)
  • Quantitative Reasoning (QR)
  • Science #1 (SCI)
  • Science #2 (SCI)
  • Science, Technology, and Society (STS)
  • Written Communication (WC) 

Civics Literacy Proficiency Requirement


The Civics Literacy Proficiency activities are designed to develop civic knowledge of Purdue students in an effort to graduate a more informed citizenry. For more information visit the Civics Literacy Proficiency website.

Students will complete the Proficiency by passing a test of civic knowledge, and completing one of three paths:

  • Attending six approved civics-related events and completing an assessment for each; or
  • Completing 12 podcasts created by the Purdue Center for C-SPAN Scholarship and Engagement that use C-SPAN material and completing an assessment for each; or
  • Earning a passing grade for one of these approved courses (or transferring in approved AP or departmental credit in lieu of taking a course).

Upper Level Requirement


  • Resident study at Purdue University for at least two semesters and the enrollment in and completion of at least 32 semester hours of coursework required and approved for the completion of the degree. These courses are expected to be at least junior-level (30000+) courses.
  • Students should be able to fulfill most, if not all, of these credits within their major requirements; there should be a clear pathway for students to complete any credits not completed within their major.

Additional Information


Sample 4-Year Plan


15 Credits


15 Credits


15 Credits


15 Credits


16 Credits


15 Credits


13 Credits


16 Credits


Pre-Requisite Information


For pre-requisite information, click here.

World Language Courses


World Language proficiency requirements vary by program. The following list is inclusive of all world languages PWL offers for credit; for acceptable languages and proficiency levels, see your advisor. (ASL-American Sign Language; ARAB-Arabic; CHNS-Chinese; FR-French; GER-German; GREK-Greek(Ancient); HEBR-Hebrew(Biblical); HEBR-Hebrew(Modern); ITAL-Italian; JPNS-Japenese; KOR-Korean; LATN-Latin; PTGS=Portuguese; RUSS-Russian; SPAN-Spanish)

Critical Course


The ♦ course is considered critical.

In alignment with the Degree Map Guidance for Indiana’s Public Colleges and Universities, published by the Commission for Higher Education (pursuant to HEA 1348-2013), a Critical Course is identified as “one that a student must be able to pass to persist and succeed in a particular major.  Students who want to be nurses, for example, should know that they are expected to be proficient in courses like biology in order to be successful.  These would be identified by the institutions for each degree program”. 

Disclaimer


The student is ultimately responsible for knowing and completing all degree requirements.

Consultation with an advisor may result in an altered plan customized for an individual student.

The myPurduePlan powered by DegreeWorks is the knowledge source for specific requirements and completion.