Early Childhood Special Education

The Early Childhood Special Education program provides teacher education candidates with broad content knowledge and prepares them as early childhood teachers in an inclusive setting. This degree qualifies students for licensure in Early Childhood Education with an endorsement in Early Childhood Special Education, and enables them to teach in a preschool or elementary classroom setting with students 0 to age 8.

Before student teaching begins, students in this program gain over 200 hours of classroom experience with children of all ages and backgrounds. During internship, students complete the required 600 hours in inclusive classrooms, with both a preschool placement and a primary elementary placement. Giving students practical teaching experience in both areas.

Students may pursue this bachelor's degree outright, or pursue it after obtaining the Early Childhood Education Associate of Arts degree through CMU Tech. Students or PreK teachers who wish to obtain a bachelor's degree but are not interested in teaching licensure, may pursue our Early Childhood Education, Inclusive Non-Licensure program.

Colorado Placement

CMU's Education programs meet the requirements for licensure in the state of Colorado, as such, students are required to complete their field hours within the state of Colorado. Placements are arranged between a local school district and the Center for Teacher Education, and are typically within our 14-county western slope community of school districts. Placements outside of this 14-county region are made on a case-by-case basis and are dependent on several factors including, agreements with cooperating school districts, qualified mentor availability, and student support and supervision. While graduates have successfully obtained licensure in other states, at this time, CMU does not offer placement outside of Colorado. To find out about licensure requirements for other states, see our State Licensing Resources page.