Elementary Education Degree

All courses and course descriptions for each degree type can be found in the Undergraduate Catalog:

Interdisciplinary Generalist, B.S.H.S. Early Childhood-Grade 6

Candidates for our Teacher Preparation Programs must meet certain requirements outlined in our Admission Requirements document.

Certified graduates of the Interdisciplinary Generalist Bachelor of Science in Human Sciences (BSHS) program are eligible to apply for positions ranging from early childhood classrooms through the 6th grade within the state of Texas.

The State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) and Texas Education Agency (TEA) Office of Accountability has awarded Hardin-Simmons University Teacher Education Program a rating of “Accredited” under the Accountability System for Educator Preparation authorized by Texas Education Code 21.045 every year since the rating of teacher preparation entities has been awarded. Educator preparation programs are held accountable for the performance of their graduates on the state credentialing examinations required for certification. Programs must achieve a minimum pass rate on the tests by disaggregated subgroups (All, Male, Female, White, Hispanic, African American, Other) to receive a rating of “Accredited.”

TEA Complaint Process

Title II Data

Hardin-Simmons University Educator Preparation Program (EPP) begins teacher certification coursework with a freshman level educational technology course that introduces future teachers to the standards developed by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE).  These standards require students to apply the roles as a Learner, Leader, Citizen, Collaborator, Designer, Facilitator, and Analyst.  Within the technology class, EPP faculty members utilize the SAMR (substitution, augmentation, modification, or redefinition of a task or product) and RAT (replacement, amplification, or transformation) models of instruction within the course applications while introducing real-world connections with the Google’s G-Suite for Education (i.e., Docs, Classroom, Sheets, Forms, etc.).  Throughout the remaining EPP pedagogical classes for all certification programs, faculty members require future teachers to apply, analyze, evaluate, and create technological integrations within instruction and assessments for course requirements.  Ultimately, all HSU education majors are given an opportunity to gain Level 1 Google Certification prior to graduation.

Hardin-Simmons University EPP prepares teachers to use technology effectively to improve teaching and learning for the purpose of increasing student academic achievement in various junior and senior level content and pedagogical classes.  Future teachers focus on analyzing data from informal reading and writing assessments to determine differentiated instruction for diverse learners as well as analyzing sub-populations, frequency distribution, scaffolding TEKS in order to close the achievement gaps (i.e., Eduphoria, Lead4ward, IXL, MobyMax, iStation, Success Maker, Education Galaxy, Starfall, Pebble Go, and Formative Loop) during a senior level capstone course.