Admission Requirements
The applicant must:
- Complete the online graduate admission application
- Have earned a baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited college or university.
- Hold a Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education license in Early Childhood Education at the Initial level (or above) or hold Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care (formerly OCCS) certification as Lead Teacher, Director I and/or Director II and have one year’s teaching experience in early childhood education.
- Have a minimum undergraduate quality point average of 3.00 on a 4.00 scale.
- Provide two letters of recommendation submitted on the Framingham State University Letter of Recommendation form and sent directly to the University’s Graduate Admissions office by the recommender. One letter must be from an employer or supervisor, and the other must be from a faculty member who has taught the candidate at the collegiate level if the candidate attended classes in the last five years;
- Submit a typed, 300-word personal statement discussing their motivation for seeking a master’s degree in view of prior formal education, current job responsibilities, and career plans.
Program & Admissions Requirements
The program requires the successful completion of ten (10) courses, which include three (3) core courses, three (3) required courses, and four (4) elective courses. A professional portfolio is completed as part of the degree program. An oral comprehensive examination is required of all students as the culminating experience.
Program Prerequisite: Upper-level undergraduate or graduate level/literacy course within the past 5 years or LTRC 907 Literacy Instruction.
Students select four (4) elective courses to complete their program of study. To satisfy the elective requirements, students must meet the requirements listed in Group A and Group B.
Group A: Select two (2) elective courses from the following:
- ECED 911 Play and Observation
- ECED 912 Advanced Early Childhood Curriculum
- SPED 956 Curriculum Development and Modification
- SPED 963 Behavior and Classroom Management
Group B: Select two (2) elective courses from the following:
- One additional course from Group A (above).
- ENGL 930 Workshop in Children's Literature.
- One or two graduate-level courses in mathematics, English, literacy, history, economics, geography, biology, chemistry, physics and earth sciences, and/or art. Consultation with the advisory is strongly recommended when selecting content area courses from this list.
- One or two graduate-level courses in other areas appropriate to the student’s professional goals (e.g., special education, English as a Second Language (ESL), business, and supervision). Written advisor approval is required for courses selected for this option.
- Complete the online graduate admission application
- Have earned a baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited college or university.
- Applicants must have received a bachelor’s degree with a minimum 3.00 GPA from a regionally accredited college/university and must submit all official college-level transcripts. Applicants who studies outside of the United State must submit official transcripts and a course-by-course evaluation for US equivalency.
- Two (2) recommendations must be submitted electronically through the Recommendation section of the application. One letter must be from an employer or supervisor, and the second letter must be from a faculty member who has taught the candidate at the collegiate level if the candidate attended classes in the last five years; if a faculty recommendation is not possible, the second letter should be another professional recommendation.
- Submit a typed, 300-word personal statement discussing their motivation for seeking a master’s degree in view of prior formal education, current job responsibilities, and career plans.
- Hold a Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education license in Early Childhood Education at the Initial level (or above) or hold Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care (formerly OCCS) certification as Lead Teacher, Director I and/or Director II and have one year’s teaching experience in early childhood education.
EFFECTIVE AS OF THE 2023-2024 GRADUATE CATALOG