Introduction

Please click here to see School of Education & Human Development information.

The Education and Human Development major with an Elementary license focuses on engaging Colorado's rapidly diversifying student and family population. It combines cutting-edge research with real classroom experiences. You'll learn from innovative faculty members who are locally, nationally and internationally recognized for their research in elementary education. They will provide you with a robust knowledge base and relevant learning experiences in children's thinking, culturally responsive education, and supporting English language learners, as well as technology as it relates to teaching children in grades kindergarten through sixth grade. You'll engage in powerful classroom experiences and benefit from our rich 20-year history of partnerships with local school districts.

We will prepare you to become a highly effective, innovative and compassionate elementary teacher skilled in improving student performance and reaching the needs of today's diverse learners in a variety of school settings. You will have the skills to be a teacher leader. CU Denver graduates often go on to acquire positions in educational leadership as their careers progress.

A unique feature of this pathway is that the Culturally Linguistically Diverse Education, CLDE, endorsement is built into the program. Essentially, you will leave this program with both the Elementary Education License and CLDE Endorsement. This means you are prepared to teach K-6 and culturally & linguistically diverse students, making you highly employable and desirable to schools!

Students in this track have the opportunity to apply for the Bachelors to Masters Program (BAMA) during their junior year. The BAMA allows students to take 9 credits of their professional year program at the graduate level and apply them to one of 8 MA degrees in the SEHD.

Program Delivery

• This is an on-campus program with a variety of delivery options for many of our courses including hybrid, evening, weekend, and online courses.

Declaring This Major

• Click here to go to information about declaring a major.

General Requirements

To earn a degree, students must satisfy all requirements in each of the three areas below, in addition to their individual major requirements.   

• CU Denver Graduation Requirements
• CU Denver Undergraduate Core Curriculum
• School of Education & Human Development Graduation Requirements
• Click here for information about Academic Policies

Program Requirements

1. Students must complete a minimum total of 126 semester hours for the EDHD Elementary Education Track.
2. Students must pass the appropriate Praxis Exam or demonstrate competency through another option as outlined by the Colorado Department of Education in order to be licensed.
3. Application to the last year of the program, the Professional Year Residency is required. After successfully completing all other Core, major, and elective courses, all students must apply for admission into the Professional Year. Requirements for admission include a 3.0 GPA, positive letters of recommendation, successful evaluations of earlier clinical experiences, and a successful interview. (Students with a lower GPA may be considered under certain conditions. Please visit the SEHD website.)
4. A minimum GPA of 2.0, grade of C or better, is required for all major courses applying to EDHD - Elementary Education requirements unless otherwise specified.
5. Students must complete and maintain a 3.0 minimum grade point average in Professional Year coursework to complete licensure requirements. Please see an advisor for more information on this requirement.
6. Transfer courses must be approved by faculty and/or advisor to apply to the major.

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Major Courses
CLDE 2000	CLDE Foundations 1	3
CLDE 3680	Spanish for Educators 2	3
or CLDE 4824	Theories and Methods of Bilingual Education
CLDE 3830	Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Teaching through STEM	3
CLDE 4020	Responsive Classroom Communities 1	3
CLDE 4700	Social Studies for Multilingual Learners	3
EDFN 1000	Equality, Rights & Education	3
or LCRT 2000	Rebels, Villains, & Superheroes: How Children's Literature Shapes Our Identities
or LCRT 3815	Once Upon a Time: Family Literacies in Culturally Diverse Communities
EDFN 4010	Social Foundations and Cultural Diversity in Urban Education 1	3
HDFR 1010	Life Span Development in Ecological Settings	3
or HDFR 2110	Child Ecology
or HDFR 3050	Children's Thinking and Assessment
INTE 2000	Digital Teaching and Learning	3
LCRT 3720	Introduction to Writing Development and Teaching	3
LCRT 4710	Inclusive Early Literacy Development and Instruction	3
MTED 3040	Mathematics for Elementary Teachers 1	3
SPED 4030	Understanding (dis)Ability in Contemporary Classrooms 1	3
SPED 4300	Family, Professional, and Community Collaboration	3
SPED 4400	Universal Design for Learning (UDL)	3
EDHD 1930	Community Based Field Experience & Seminar 1	3
EDHD 2930	Learning & Development Field Experience & Seminar 1	3
EDHD 3930	Diverse Learners Field Experience & Seminar 1	3
Professional Year Courses
A minimum grade of B- is required in each course.
LCRT 4000	Elementary Literacy Instruction and Assessment Part 1	3
LCRT 4001	Elementary Literacy Instruction and Assessment	3
MTED 4002	Elementary Mathematics Teaching I	3
MTED 4003	Elementary Mathematics Teaching II	3
SCED 4004	Elementary and Middle School Science Methods	3
UEDU 4040	Planning for Learning	3
UEDU 4050	Capstone: Planning, Instruction & Assessment	3
UEDU 4931	Internship & Lrng Comm I	2
UEDU 4932	Internship & Lrng Comm II	2
UEDU 4933	Internship & Lrng Comm III	6
CLDE Endorsement
Embedded Endorsement Courses
General Electives
Additional General Electives hours may be needed to reach the required 126 hours for the BA
Total Hours		85

¹

Courses require a grade of B- or better; all other courses require a grade of C or better.

²

Students should take CLDE 4824 if they are interested in becoming dual language or bilingual education teachers in Colorado. CLDE 4824 is required for the Bilingual education Specialist endorsement. The course builds your foundational understandings of bilingualism and biliteracy development and provides practical application for supporting students’ language and literacy development in two languages.  The course is predominantly taught in and through Spanish.

CLDE Endorsement Courses

The coursework for an added endorsement in CLDE is embedded in the program. To earn the endorsement, students must complete each of the courses below with a minimum grade of B—and assemble a CLDE portfolio.

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
CLDE 2000	CLDE Foundations	3
CLDE 3680	Spanish for Educators 2	3
or CLDE 4824	Theories and Methods of Bilingual Education
CLDE 3830	Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Teaching through STEM	3
CLDE 4700	Social Studies for Multilingual Learners	3
EDHD 2930	Learning & Development Field Experience & Seminar	3
LCRT 4710	Inclusive Early Literacy Development and Instruction	3
CLDE 4020	Responsive Classroom Communities	3
LCRT 4000	Elementary Literacy Instruction and Assessment Part 1	3
LCRT 4001	Elementary Literacy Instruction and Assessment	3

To review the Degree Map for this program, please visit our website.