Dartmouth CollegeDepartment of Education

Elementary Teacher Education Program

Certification to Teach in Public Elementary Schools

Why Apply? What Our Students Have to Say

I started to think about getting my teaching certification after working for Breakthrough Collaborative the summer after freshman year. I then began to realize how I could combine my passions for Neuroscience, working with students, and wanting to have a career that makes a tangible difference. I believe that the future in education lies in fully integrating brain research into teaching techniques. I want to gain the skills to help meld the two fields effectively in and out of the classroom, and the TEP focuses on just that.

Anoush Arakelian '14 Elementary Certification

“None of us got where we are solely by pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps. We got here

because somebody - a parent, a teacher, an Ivy League crony or a few nuns - bent down and

helped us pick up our boots.” – Thurgood Marshall

I learned about the elementary TEP when I started working in the Reading Brains Lab my freshman year. This was my first exposure to Mind, Brain, and Education and the idea of using neuroscience research to inform classroom practices. It is only logical to use what we know about how the brain learns in our teaching practices, since teaching is literally changing brains. I am really excited to use the neuroscience background and skills that I am gaining in the TEP to be part of the movement to “bridge the gap” between research and practice in the classroom.  

Clarisse Benoit ‘14Elementary Certification and Education Minor

Our Approach

The Dartmouth Teacher Education Program (TEP) takes a research-based approach to developing teachers who can think analytically and use research to continuously improve their practice. In our program, students:• Read and analyze research about the mind and brain, learning, child and adolescent development, pedagogy, and their subject areas.• Develop research methods that they can use to test and improve their pedagogy in the field, and produce their own action research to investigate specific problems of practice.

Program Details

Fourth and Fifth Fall OptionsYou can complete certification requirements within your four undergraduate years at Dartmouth, or you can choose to return for a ‘Fifth Fall’ (the Fall term after you graduate) for your in-classroom student teaching experience and culminating seminar (EDUC 42, 43, and 44).

Courses Required for Public School CertificationThe following Education courses are required for elementary candidates:

EDUC 01: The Learning Brain: Introduction to Child Development and Education (Fall, 10A)EDUC 50: The Reading Brain: Education and Development (Spring, 9L)EDUC 64: Development in the Exceptional Child (Winter, 9L)EDUC 41: Principles of Teaching and Learning in the Elementary School: Theory and Practice (Junior Spring if completing

TEP in 4 years, or Senior Spring if enrolled in the Fifth Fall Track, Time: TBA)

EDUC 42, 43, and 44: Student Teaching and Seminar (Senior Fall if completing TEP in 4 years, or the Fall after graduation if enrolled in the Fifth Fall Track, Time: TBA).

The Minor in Human Development and EducationIt is strongly recommended that elementary candidates also minor in

Human Development and Education.

Applying to the Elementary Teacher Education ProgramAs part of the application process, you must schedule an initial

meeting with Professor Mandy Bean, Director of the Teacher Education Program. Applications are available at:

www.dartmouth.edu/~educ/teacher/index.html.

What We Look for in Elementary Teacher Education Candidates

• Evidence of a strong grasp of key disciplines, reflected in your GPA and rigorous coursework and wide experiences in the language arts, social studies, sciences, and math. • Demonstrated understanding of connections between your work with children and concepts in cognitive science, developmental science, neuroscience, social science, and theories of learning (based on your experiences in Education courses).• Curiosity and a love of learning.• A demonstrated belief that success is based on hard work and learning.• A commitment to and enthusiasm for working with children.• An ability to take - and constructively use - feedback.• An appreciation of the responsibility that comes with taking care of the growth and development of someone else’s child.