North Country Teacher Certification Program (NCTCP)
A Partnership among Plymouth State University and White Mountains Community College
The goal of the NCTCP is to provide bachelor’s degrees with teacher certification in elementary education for North Country students. The program launched as a 2+2 cohort model in the fall of 2005. Since then, it has been revamped as a three-year bachelor’s degree program. Students enroll at WMCC to complete their associate degree in Teacher Education along with a certificate in Special Education; a total of 78 credits. They then transfer to PSU (but complete all courses at WMCC) to complete the additional 42 credits required for their bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education.
- Increasing access to certification by North Country students who want to become teachers.
- Increase the number of highly qualified certified teachers in the North Country.
- Respond to the statewide need to certify and retain more teachers in New Hampshire.
- Complete both the Teacher Ed associate degree and the Special Education certificate at WMCC
- Possess a GPA of at least a 3.0 or higher
- Have passing scores on all three sections of the Praxis Core (prior to April 1st each year)
After successful completion of the WMCC Teacher Education degree and the Special Education certificate programs, students will follow the PSU course sequence below.
- Summer
- ED 3500 – Problem Based Learning and Design Thinking – 4 credits
- ED 3010 – Designing Positive Learning Environments – 4 credits
- ED 3150 – Early Literacy – 4 credits
- Fall
- ED 4200 – Integrated Methods: Teaching for Authentic Understanding – 9 credits
- ED 4210 – Practicum (Yearlong placement) – 3 credits
- Spring
- ED 4400 – Elementary Internship in Teaching – 12 credits
- ED 4550 – Seminar – 2 credits
- INCP – 4 credits
Robin Scott