In accordance with the Pennsylvania Department of Education?s changes to the certification programs, the Education Department offers the 4-8 Program beginning Fall Semester of 2010. This program is only open to the Class of 2014 and beyond.

We believe that teaching is a professional and intellectual endeavor based in the liberal arts. We believe teachers have a responsibility to understand the implications of their work not only in regard to classroom practice, but in regard to the ethical, moral, political, and social realities which shape American education.

To this end, they will be critical in their response to these influences and advocate, both locally and nationally, for the needs of their students and the resources to meet the challenges facing public education.

As professionals, graduates of our program will have considerable influence in the curricular and pedagogical decisions which shape their classroom practice and will be actively involved in the governance of their schools. As professionals, they will possess a specific, sophisticated and research-based body of knowledge and use that knowledge to analyze events, frame problems and make decisions in planning, implementing and assessing instruction in accordance with state and national standards.

Our graduates will recognize the dignity and worth of all students. They will be prepared to teach the full range of students for which they are certified, including students from all ethnic and socioeconomic groups, as well as those with special needs and diverse intellectual abilities.