Elementary Education Program

Academic Foundations

Articulation Agreement for 2006 and 2008 Catalogue Years

The College of Education and Applied Science at Sam Houston State University is proud to offer a degree program designed for students working on or completing the Associate of Arts degree.

All students seeking teacher certification must satisfy the THEA Test standards and complete all requirements established by the State Board for Educator Certification and the Sam Houston Center for Professional Development and Educator Preparation.  Texas teaching certificates and certification requirements are subject to constant revision.  Students should consult an advisor regularly to determine the changes in their degree plans and certification requirements.

The primary purpose of the Elementary Education program is to prepare students to become exemplary teachers in elementary and middle schools.  The Elementary Education program consists of 66 hours of Academic foundation courses, a 48-hour (minimum) Interdisciplinary Academics Studies major, and 18 hours of Professional Education courses, including student teaching.  The Academic Foundation block of classes may be completed at the community college while obtaining an Associate Degree.

Course Alignment for Elementary & Secondary Teaching

Community College advisors will provide information about alignment between Texas Common Course numbers and the corresponding course numbers in each Community College AAT degree program. Community College advisors may obtain a degree plan from SHSU to provide specific information.

Secondary Teaching candidates seeking an AAT degree should complete core coursework at the community college/college. The 12 hours of teaching content required for the Secondary Teaching AAT may be satisfied at many community colleges / colleges by completing the teaching content course work at SHSU then doing a “reverse transfer,” i.e., transferring the 12 teaching content hours from SHSU back to the community college / college. For community colleges who permit this arrangement, SHSU will ” reverse transfer” those hours to allow completion of the AAT degree at the originating institution and also count them at SHSU towards the bachelors degree.

* Elementary Teaching Notes : HED 282 is not required for Special Education, or in EC-8 ELA & R, or 4-8 Social Studies or Science.

** Secondary Teaching Notes : Students should seek advisement to determine whether they are seeking a B.S or B.A. degree. The B. A. programs require 8 hours of science courses, Speech, Philosophy and 14 hours of Foreign Language. The B. S. programs require 16 hours of science courses,

*** These courses apply only to the EC-4 Early Childhood Generalist

A maximum of 66 credit hours (excluding kinesiology) may be transferred from a community college to Sam Houston State University. Students should carefully select courses to complete the associate degree while minimizing the number of hours that might exceed the 66 hour cap for transfer credit.

Every effort has been made to insure the accuracy of this guideline. In the event of a discrepancy between this guide and catalogue of a participating institution, the catalogue is always the primary source.

Notes:

GEO 131/111 is preferred over GEL 133/113HED 282 is preferred over FCS 167 BIOL 1406 and BIOL 1407 will continue to be accepted for the biology requirement through the 2002 academic year. These classes are no longer availabe for students seeking certification at Sam Houston State University. They have been replaced by General Botany and General Zoology with the appropriate labs. New students should take the Botany/Zoology course sequence.

SHSU catalogue courses with 300 and 400 level numbers are considered as upper division and must be completed at SHSU. Credit may not be transferred from a community college for upper division courses.

Disclaimer: All education programs are subject to change by the legislature (i.e. The State Board of Educator Certification and The Higher Education Coordinating Board). All schools must adopt these standards at the time they are published.

Applications for admission to SHSU may be obtained online at https://www.applytexas.org/adappc/commonapp.wbx or by calling Undergraduate Admissions at (936) 294-1828. Extensive information is also available on the SHSU web site at http://www.shsu.edu/. Please view http://www.shsu.edu/~edu_www/ for a more detailed listing of degree options within the College of Education and Applied Science including contact information.

Texas Grant
Texas residents who have graduated from high school within the past 16 months with the Recommended or Distinguished curriculum, or received your first Associate's Degree within the past 12 months may qualify for the Towards Excellence, & Success (TEXAS) Grant, a state financial aid program. Please review the basic qualifications. If you believe you qualify, contact your respective community college or university financial aid office. The financial aid office at SHSU may be contacted at (936) 294-1724 or at http://www.shsu.edu/~sfa_www/. Additional information may be found at http://www.collegefortexans.com.

Sam Houston State University is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).

Sam Houston State University
A Member of The Texas State University System

Revised 4/21/06