Degrees for Education

Early Childhood Studies focuses on the scientific aspects of fostering development (cognitive, social, emotional, physical and adaptive) and learning in ALL young children. ALL young children refers to children who are typically developing as well as those with disabilities or delays. We believe that working with families is of paramount importance to this process; therefore, there is a strong emphasis on working with families and their children. The period of early childhood is defined as birth through age 8; therefore, the focus of our program spans from birth through third grade and includes a variety of settings such as private childcare and preschools; agencies like Health and Welfare and Head Start; home-based programs, public, and private schools.

The Department of Curriculum, Instruction and Foundational Studies (CIFS) serves a wide variety of students. Our department encompasses everything from initial teacher certification and principal certification through graduate studies in curriculum, instruction and school improvement. The CIFS faculty are committed to partnering with educators throughout the Treasure Valley and nationally to improve and strengthen education for all children.

The Counselor Education Department is committed to attracting students from diverse backgrounds (including those from under-represented populations) and to providing an educational environment which is safe, inviting, and supportive to all.

The department offers a Master of Arts in Counseling degree with an emphasis in school counseling or addictions studies, a graduate certificate in addictions studies, and a graduate certificate in gerontological studies.

The goal of the school counseling program is to recruit and graduate students who possess the desire and the skills to meet the challenges of the changing role of school counselors. The Gerontological Certificate programs goal is to enable students to choose a unified, coherent group of courses in gerontological studies which improve their understanding of issues related to aging. The Addiction emphasis’ goal is to prepare students for a variety of positions in the addiction field.

Bilingual/ESL is designed to prepare bilingual/ESL teachers for meeting the diverse linguistic and sociocultural needs of schools and the communities they serve. To provide quality educational services effectively to the large Latino populations within the University service region, teachers will incorporate their languages and cultures into the learning process. All diversities require competence in the effective use of the learner’s mother tongue as well as the sociocultural values of the members of community. Teachers must be skilled in a variety of instructional methods to accommodate the needs of learners from linguistically and socioculturally different backgrounds.

Upon completion of the Bachelor of Arts degree program, students are qualified to receive a Standard Elementary Teaching Certificate, Grades K-8, from the State of Idaho. Thus, students are able to teach in a regular or bilingual elementary classroom. Also, they qualify for a state endorsement in Bilingual Education, K-12 or English as a Second Language, K-12.