Early Childhood Education

Opportunities for graduate studies

The early childhood education program at the University of North Texas prepares you for diverse roles in teaching, research, administration and other professions specializing in early childhood education.

The program provides opportunities for formal course work, seminars, internships, independent study and empirical research. The UNT Child Development Laboratory, Center for Parent Education and Velma E. Schmidt Programs in Early Childhood Education extend opportunities for related training and research.

UNT offers Master of Science and Doctor of Education degrees in Early Childhood Education. Related graduate degrees for those interested in family studies are also available in the development and family studies program. The doctoral program is accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (1313 L St. N Suite 500, Washington, D.C. 20005, 800-424-2460) and the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (2010 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Suite 500, Washington, D.C. 20036, 202-466-7496).

The Ed.D. degree is offered as a cooperative program between UNT, Texas Woman's University and Texas A&M-Commerce under guidelines established by the Federation of North Texas Area Universities. The program enables you to use the faculties, course work and research opportunities at the three universities in the development of your doctoral studies. The federation, founded in 1968, also sponsors seminars featuring outstanding nationally and internationally recognized educators.

Admission requirements

To pursue a graduate degree, you must first be admitted to UNT’s

Toulouse School of Graduate Studies. For graduate school requirements, visit www.gradschool.unt.edu/admissions.

You must indicate on the graduate school application your desire to major in early childhood education (M.S. or Ed.D.).

In addition to meeting graduate school requirements, you must also submit the following to the program area for review:

• ECE program application (Contact the program office for materials.)
• letter of application describing professional goals and research interests
• current resume
• three letters of recommendation.
• current GRE or GMAT scores that meet the minimum standards established by the program faculty (Contact the program office for current score requirements.)

Admission materials are reviewed regularly. You may be permitted to complete up to 12 credit hours as a non-degree seeking student prior to admission to the program.

Degree requirements

M.S. degree

The M.S. has a 36-hour thesis or 39-hour non-thesis option. Course work includes core courses for the major field of study (18 hours), a research requirement including statistics and research methods (6 hours) and additional courses within and outside the major field of study to complete the degree.

Students are required to select a major adviser for establishing a degree plan and approving all practicum/ internship experiences. Thesis students must establish a thesis committee to oversee the research process. Non-thesis students complete a comprehensive examination process at the end of their program.

Ed.D. degree

The Ed.D. requires 69 to 70 semester hours of course work and dissertation:

• core courses in early childhood education (21-22 hours)
• courses for research requirement (12 hours)
• courses in a concentration area (12 hours)
• courses in a related area outside the program (12 hours)
• comprehensive qualifying examination
• doctoral dissertation (12 hours)

Doctoral students select a major advisor for establishing a degree plan and approving all mentorship/internship experiences. The student forms a dissertation committee to oversee the research process.

Centers and clinics

The Child Development Laboratory is an accredited preschool program for young children ages 3 through 5. In addition, it serves as a model, an observation site, and a training center for undergraduate and graduate students in fields related to young children. Research related to early childhood issues is conducted by graduate students and faculty members from across the university.

The Velma E. Schmidt Programs in Early Childhood Education develop, implement and evaluate programs to improve the lives of children and families and promote change in early childhood education. Key initiatives include early childhood research; the Success For Life Program that offers curriculum, mentoring, professional staff development and family education; and the annual Velma E. Schmidt Fall Conference.

Scholarly activities

The quality of the program is enhanced by the variety of faculty members' affiliations with professional organizations and their participation on organizational boards, editorial boards and others. Faculty are active in the Society for Research in Child Development, the National Council on Family Relations, the National Association for the Education of Young Children, the American Educational Research Association, the National Association for Early Childhood Teacher Educators, the International Montessori Association and numerous regional, state and local groups.

Collectively, UNT's early childhood education faculty members have written, co-written and edited numerous books, book chapters and articles in refereed journals and have presented several hundred refereed papers at national, regional and state professional meetings and conferences.