White Mountains Community College Teacher Preparation Degree

Teacher Preparation at White Mountains Community College

The Associate in Arts in Teacher Preparation concentrates on the foundations of education in a well-balanced approach. The program is designed to allow students to transfer to a 4-year degree program to become teachers. It allows students to focus on elementary, middle, and secondary education with a common first year of course work. In the second year, students elect an educational transfer focus in any of the following areas: elementary education, math education, science education, social science education, or English education. Students taking the Associate in Arts Degree in Teacher Preparation may select the Special Education Track. This program provides teachers and paraprofessionals with the knowledge, skills, and strategies for supporting students with disabilities.

By offering a broad range of courses, the program prepares graduates to be Paraeducators or to transfer their credits to baccalaureate degree-granting institutions to pursue a career in teaching. White Mountains Community College has transfer agreements with the University of New Hampshire System. Those students who intend to transfer to Plymouth State College must achieve a minimum GPA of 2.7 in addition to passing the Praxis 1 exam.

Specific admission requirements include:

Algebra I and Algebra II with a grade of C or higher.
Strong verbal and written English language skills are major considerations for acceptance.
Personal interview with Admissions Director and/or faculty member may be required.
Students interested in matriculation in a baccalaureate teacher program after completion of the Associate Degree are responsible for researching the requirements of such programs and their transfer procedures.

Health Considerations

Candidates for positions and careers in education are encouraged to explore health requirements associated with employment in a school setting. Prospective students with special needs requiring accommodations that may affect their learning are encouraged to contact the Disabilities Services Coordinator.

Character Expectations

The health and safety of children, adolescents, and other learners is of paramount concern to the program. Applicants for teaching positions in public and private schools in New Hampshire should be aware that background checks through the New Hampshire Department of Safety must be completed by potential employers prior to employment. Applicants who have been in difficulty with the law, depending upon the nature of their experience, may not be employable or even eligible for field experience. Applicants are advised that such matters may be discussed during an admission interview so that future goals to be a teacher will not be compromised.

Technical Standards

Technical standards have been established to provide guidance to students about the skills and abilities required to function successfully in the program and ultimately in the public and private school classroom as teachers. Applicants who think they may not be able to meet one or more of the technical standards should contact program faculty members to discuss individual cases. Department faculty will give serious consideration to all academically qualified candidates providing that the technical standards can be met with reasonable accommodations. Students in the program must have sufficient strength, stamina and motor coordination to perform the following:

Sufficient hearing and visual acuity to ensure a safe environment and the ability to respond quickly in the event of emergency;
Sufficient verbal ability to express and exchange information and ideas, as well as to interpret important instructions to children, adolescents, colleagues, and parents;
Sufficient writing skills to accurately record students' daily progress and milestones, as well as a variety of reports;
Ability to work with frequent interruptions, to respond appropriately to unexpected situations, and to cope with extreme variations in workload and stress levels.

Upon successful completion of this program, the students will

understand the learning process and how curriculum is planned, adopted, implemented, and assessed;
be able to demonstrate an understanding of various instructional modalities and educational delivery systems;
be able to demonstrate a knowledge of how children learn and develop, and provide learning opportunities that support their intellectual, social and personal development.

Associate in Arts Degree
First Year
Fall Semester		Lec	Lab	Cr
EDU101	Introduction to Exceptionalities	3	0	3
EDU104	Foundations of Education	3	0	3
OR
ECE111	Foundations of Early Childhood Education	3	0	3
ENG120	College Composition	3/4	0	3/4
MAT220	Math in Our World	3	0	3
PSY111	Psychology	3	0	3
	Semester Total	15/16	0	15/16

Spring Semester		Lec	Lab	Cr
EDU204	Instructional Technology	3	0	3
POL231	American Government	3	0	3
PSY112	Human Growth and Development	3	0	3
OR
ECE112	Child Growth and Development	3	0	3
	Educational Transfer Focus Elective***	3	0	3
	Humanities/Fine Arts/Foreign Language	3	0	3
	Literature or Lab Science****	3/4	0	3/4
	Mathematics** (200 Level)	3/4	0	3/4
	Semester Total	21/23	0	21/23

	First Year Total			36-39

Second Year
Fall Semester		Lec	Lab	Cr
ANT101	Cultural Anthropology	3	0	3
EDU207	Teaching and Learning	3	0	3
	Educational Transfer Focus Elective***	3	0	3
	Humanities/Fine Arts/Foreign Language*	3	0	3
	Literature or Lab Science****	4	0	4
	Semester Total	16	0	16

Spring Semester		Lec	Lab	Cr
PSY200	Educational Psychology	3	0	3
	Educational Transfer Focus Elective***	3	0	3
	Humanities/Fine Arts/Foreign Language*	3	0	3
	Lab Science****	4	0	4
	Semester Total	13	0	13
	Second Year Total			29

	Total for A.A.Degree			65-68

Students are advised to contact transfer institutions in order to make appropriate course selections.

* Recommend Art, Music, History
** Mathematics electives can only be Finite Mathematics, Statistics, Pre-Calculus, Calculus
*** Educational Transfer Focus Electives - Students will select transferable courses. Options will include Elementary Education courses and courses from the 200 level areas of English, Mathematics, Science and Social Science. Meet with your advisor prior to selection.
**** Lab sciences are those sciences with a laboratory component. In some transfer programs, sequential science courses may be required. Other transfer programs require that courses be taken from a variety of science disciplines. Please check with academic advisor prior to registering.

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