Eastern Connecticut State University

The graduate Early Start program was designed for candidates who did not enter the undergraduate program. Undergraduate seniors apply by Oct 1 to begin taking education courses concurrently with their final major courses in the spring of their senior year. The program uses a cohort model and is divided into three Cores. 

During Core I, candidates have a field experience in an urban or rural/suburban school district and learn how to work with small groups of students, how to manage the classroom, and how to design lessons specific to their program area. Core II is pre-student teaching, where candidates complete an extended experience in a second urban, rural or suburban district where their student teaching will occur during the final semester. This arrangement gives candidates the opportunity to learn more about teaching their specific content to both whole and small groups of students. Student teaching occurs in Core III where candidates complete 12 full weeks of clinical experience.

The M.S. Certification programs occur over three or four semesters (fall, spring and summer) and include one field/clinical experience per term (except for during summer). Candidate coursework is aligned with the field/clinical experiences to maximize candidate learning in an experiential setting.