Early Childhood Education - English as a Second Language

Moravian University’s Early Childhood Education - ESL program allows qualified students to earn dual certification in early childhood education (Pre-K-4) and ESL (Pre-K-12) within a four-year degree program. It is not possible to study ESL without the early childhood education program in an undergraduate program. Acceptance into the program follows the same acceptance criteria as all other certification programs at the university as stated below:

Acceptance to Moravian University does not guarantee that a student will be accepted into the teacher certification program. There is a two-step process for admission into this program. Students are strongly encouraged to complete Step 1 by the end of the sophomore year.

Step 1. For initial admission to the program, students must have:

• 48 credit hours (12 course units).
• A 2.7 GPA.
• 6 credit hours (1.5 units) of college-level mathematics. (These credits may be part of the initial 48 credits, and one unit can be met by the Learning in Common F2 requirement.)
• 3 credit hours in English composition and 3 credit hours in English literature. (These credits may be part of the 48 initial credits and can be met by the Writing 100 course or the First Year Seminar and the LinC M2 requirement.)
• A passing score on the Basic Skills Test (PAPA - Pre-professional Academic Performance Assessment or Core Academic Skills for Educators) in Reading, Writing, and Mathematics. **This has been waived for 3 years as per PDE from 7/8/2022 to 7/8/2025.
• A successful stage 1 & 2 early field experience evaluation.

U.S. citizenship or a declared intent to file for U.S. citizenship. (This requirement is mandated by the Pennsylvania Department of Education and applies to teachers of all subjects except world languages.) Step 2. Students who intend to obtain teaching certification must make a formal application to the Teacher Education Committee. Applications must be submitted two semesters prior to the student-teaching semester, i.e., for fall student teaching, by December 1 of the preceding year; for spring student teaching, by April 15 of the preceding year. The committee approves applications based on these criteria: Students must achieve all the following for admission to student teaching: 3.0 overall GPA; 3.0 GPA in the academic major and 3.0 GPA in the professional education sequence.