Education

Click For A List Of Top Online Schools Offering Early Childhood Education Degrees

Being an early childhood educator is a unique profession that’s as much a life calling as a career. Here are some interesting things that have been said about early childhood education over the years by teachers, students, philosophers and others. If you have an interesting quote about teaching or learning that you’d like to see added to this page, feel free to contact us. We’d love to hear from you!

“Free the child’s potential, and you will transform him into the world.”
– Maria Montessori

“If you’re going to equalize the academic playing field, you’ve got to get the kids in early childhood programs.”
– Paul Vallas quotes

“Laurence Houseman once said, ‘A saint is one who makes goodness attractive.’ Surely, a great teacher does the same thing for education.”
– John Trimble

“Good teaching is one-fourth preparation and three-fourths pure theatre.”
– Gail Godwin

“This state has put a lot of concentration on reforming the K-12 system, but we’ve done very little with early childhood education. We can’t wait until they get to kindergarten because then we’re just playing catch-up.”
– Evelyn Keating

“If you think education is expensive, try ignorance!”
– Andy McIntyre

“The purpose of education is to replace an empty mind with an open one.”
– Malcolm Forbes

“Never help a child with a task at which he feels he can succeed.”
– Maria Montessori

“In early childhood you may lay the foundation of poverty or riches, industry of idleness, good or evil, by the habits to which you train your children. Teach them right habits then, and their future life is safe.”
– Lydia Sigourney

“Experts tell us that 90% of all brain development occurs by the age of five. If we don’t begin thinking about education in the early years, our children are at risk of falling behind by the time they start Kindergarten.”
– Robert. L. Ehrlich

“It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.”
– Frederick Douglass

“We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today.”
– Stacia Tauscher

“Reading aloud with children is known to be the single most important activity for building the knowledge and skills they will eventually require for learning to read.”
– Marilyn Jager Adams

“Children are like wet cement. Whatever falls on them makes an impression.
– Dr. Hiam Ginnot

“All of us have moments in our childhood where we come alive for the first time. And we go back to those moments and think, ‘This is when I became myself.'”
– Rita Dove

:Beginning nutrition education in early childhood is an important part of helping to ensure that children will achieve healthful lifestyles.”
– Robert Earl

“Oh, magic hour, when a child first knows she can read printed words!”
— A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, 1943

Adults are always asking little kids what they want to be when they grow up because they’re looking for ideas.”
– Paula Poundstone

“Tell me and I forget. Show me and I remember. Involve me and I understand.”
– Chinese proverb

“Now, today, some children are enrolled in excellent programs. Some children are enrolled in mediocre programs. And some are wasting away their most formative years in bad programs….That’s why I’m issuing a challenge to our states: Develop a cutting-edge plan to raise the quality of your early learning programs; show us how you’ll work to ensure that children are better prepared for success by the time they enter kindergarten. If you do, we will support you with an Early Learning Challenge Grant that I call on Congress to enact.”
– President Barack Obama, speaking to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, March 10, 2009

“There is no bilingual child care, and these children are arriving to kindergarten without the same early childhood experiences to help them succeed
~ Marta Koesling

“The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows.”
– Sydney J. Harris

“A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.
– Henry Adams

“Every child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged of man.”
– Rabindranath Tagore

“A teacher is a compass that activates the magnets of curiosity, knowledge, and wisdom in the pupils.”
– Ever Garrison

“What we want is to see the child in pursuit of knowledge, and not knowledge in pursuit of the child.”
– George Bernard Shaw

“I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.”
– Socrates

“If children grew up according to early indications, we should have nothing but geniuses.
– Goethe

“The events of childhood do not pass but repeat themselves like seasons of the year.”
– Eleanor Farjeon

“If a child lives with approval, he learns to live with himself.”
– Dorothy Law Nolte

“The secret of teaching is to appear to have known all your life what you just learned this morning.”
– Anonymous

Schools Offering Early Childhood & Elementary Education Degrees Online

Kaplan University
Very large, well-known online school with a wide range of degrees in many subjects.
B.S. Early Childhood Administration
Undergraduate in Early Childhood

Liberty University
A private Christian school that has grown into one of the world’s largest provider of online degree programs. The school offers a very wide range of Associates, Bachelor’s and Masters degree programs in:
Cert Preschool
AA Early Childhood Education
BS Early Childhood Education Interdisciplinary Studies

Pacific Oaks College
Private non-profit school located on Pasadena, California, with about 1,000 students in both campus-based and online courses.
B.A. Early Childhood Education – Including credential to teach disabled students
B.A. Early Childhood Education

Master’s Degrees

Grand Canyon
Large private school offering online degrees at a relatively moderate price for a school with strong name recognition across the country.
M.Ed. in Elementary Education (leads to initial teacher licensure)
M.Ed. in Elementary Education (does not lead to initial teacher licensure)

University of Southern California
Large private school founded in 1880, with a national reputation.
Master of Arts in Teaching – Elementary Multiple Subject teaghing

St. Thomas University
M.S. Elementary Education

Click to search for more K-12 Education Degrees

Click For A List Of Top Online Schools Offering Education Degrees

By Susan Ott
Teachers often reach a point in their careers where they want to become leaders who can affect change in their schools and communities. But not all of them want to leave the classroom to do it.

Click To Find The Right Degree Program Now!

A masters degree in teacher leadership is unique because it can help boost your career as an educator, but give you a choice of two career paths. You can either:

• focus on improving your teaching and curriculum development skills to become more effective in your current job as a full-time classroom teacher, or:
• move towards splitting your time between teaching and a new role that involves leadership. If you choose this path, the part of your job that happens outside the classroom can involve mentoring colleagues, becoming a program developer (department head, curriculum specialist or technology specialist), or acting as a liaison between your school and community.

The masters in teaching leadership degree can be a good choice if you want to help students on a deeper level, but don’t want to become a full-time administrator. It often appeals to teachers who want to advance their careers without totally giving up classroom teaching.

Degree Specifics
A masters in teacher leadership is less about management (as in an educational leadership degree) and more about taking the skills and knowledge you already have as a teacher to the next level. Within a teacher leadership program, you’ll focus on subjects such as school improvement, technology, special education, school law and specific subject area content. Most of these areas were probably touched on in your undergrad degree, but with a masters, you’ll become more of an expert, able to then lead and teach others.

With this degree, you’ll have the expertise and ability to be a leader in three main areas: your classroom, your colleagues and your community. Teacher leaders are able to devise new methods within the classroom to improve student performance and reach students who are struggling. They are also able to serve as leaders and mentors to their fellow teachers, sharing and teaching current methods of instruction, discipline, technology and more to improve the overall performance of their school. Some schools have mentoring and leader programs in which veteran teachers with this degree spend a portion of their professional time teaching newer teachers tricks of the trade. And other teacher leaders go beyond the walls of their schools and into the community to devise learning opportunities for adults and others besides their students.

A certification in teacher leadership also exists. While this is not included in your masters program, your academic advisor or department head should be able to help you through the process. Much like your initial teacher certification, this process will require a series of tests, and earning the certificate shows that you are a consummate professional in this field.

What Specific Jobs Can Your Get With This Degree?
Since most teachers who earn this degree do so to stay in the classroom, you may not receive an actual title change after graduation. But this all depends on what your goals are with this degree.

For teachers whose main goal is to improve their instruction and leadership in connecting with students and parents, you’ll probably receive a pay raise for earning your masters, but not a new job title. However, if you’re looking to stay in the classroom, yet advance your title as well, you might consider being a program coordinator or department chair. Teachers in these positions usually trade a period or two of classroom instruction for prep periods in which they can work towards improving the academic programs in their school at large or specific subject area. This job also could include mentoring other teachers.

Other jobs within this field include technology integration specialist or teacher on special assignment, either within the school or in the community. As described above, teachers will usually hold on to some of their classroom and teaching responsibilities, yet split their time in one of these positions. If you wish to improve the technology within your school, you’ll probably work closely not only with other teachers in helping them use integrated computer programs, smart boards and more, you’ll also work with your school librarian(s) as well. Many librarians are now counted upon to have a comprehensive understanding of technology, so you may mentor or team up with your librarian in this position. And if you choose to be on a special assignment, the opportunities vary quite greatly. You could do anything from improving the curriculum in a certain subject area to being a liaison between your school and the community. The great thing about this position is that you can use your strengths to really make a difference in your school.

Specific Courses
Schools that offer a masters in teacher leadership may call their courses by slightly different names, however, the courses below outline the majority of topics you’ll cover in your program. Be sure to check your school’s course catalogue for more specifics, such as exact course names and numbers, as well as credit hours earned for each.

• Intro to Teacher Leadership
• Curriculum Organization, Theory and Policy
• Research and Analysis of Classroom Practice
• Creating an Effective Classroom Learning Environment
• Instructional & Organizational Leadership
• Educational Research
• Cultural & Community Relations
• Legal & Ethical Issues in Education
• Coaching and Mentoring
• Educational Technology
• Practicum Seminar

Click For A List Of Top Online Schools Offering Education Degrees

Compared with some other fields, teaching tends to offer more personal rewards than financial ones. But that doesn’t mean that teachers can’t earn more, move up the career ladder and get more exciting job responsibilities if they build up both their experience and educational credentials.

In this line of work more than almost any other, your earnings and advancement opportunities are directly tied to the degree you have. In public school systems – where most graduates with teaching degrees want to work because of good benefits packages – earning more and gaining more control over your professional life will often depend on where you stand in terms of having a bachelor’s, master’s or doctorate degree.

Why and How More Learning Pays Off
While pay and promotions are unpredictable in private schools (as well as colleges and universities) K-12 public school teachers generally receive straightforward pay scales based on degrees earned and years of experience. The current national average for these teachers’ salaries is about $54,500 a year (according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics), but your time on the job and degree will tend to dictate exactly your true salary will fall. Your earnings will also be influenced by the state and district you teach in, as educational standards vary from state to state, and salaries can vary from one town’s school district to another.

You’ll generally see your salary go up over time as a teacher even if you don’t go back to school for a higher degree or get a promotion. That’ because the contracts that teachers’ unions negotiate for their members virtually always include ongoing annual pay raises. And while there’s a good deal of debate going on around the country about rating the performance of teachers, by and large these annual pay raises are still guaranteed regardless of performance in most school districts.

However, you can potentially amplify your earnings a good deal if you add to your educational credentials. That’s true even if you remain in your basic classroom teaching position. On that career path, you might say that an advanced degree offers a measure of “salary insurance,” as you’ll find explained below.

If you have higher ambitions, and hope to be promoted to one of the more senior and higher paying jobs in education, you’re likely to find that you need an advanced degree or degrees to do so. Here’s a general idea of what each type of degree can do for your teaching career.

Bachelor’s Degree
Earning a bachelor’s degree in teaching is a must for becoming a public school teacher. You must also pass a series of tests from the state in which you want to teach to earn your licensure. It is only with these two credentials that you can apply to become a teacher in the public school system. Once hired, you can expect to earn a pay raise for every year you teach. Annual pay increases of about 2 – 3% per year are fairly standard. But there is little opportunity for advancement for teachers with just a bachelor’s degree. Almost all more specialized teaching jobs require at least a master’s degree to qualify.

Teaching Masters Degree
Master’s degrees for teachers can provide opportunities to specialize, change careers within the educational field, or seek promotion. But you may want to consider one even if you’d like to stay in classroom teaching.

In today’s public teaching system, most teachers eventually earn a master’s degree regardless of their particular career goals. That’s partly because some states now require that after gaining a certain number of years’ experience, every teacher must begin a master’s program to enhance teaching knowledge and stay current in the field of education.

A Higher Salary For What You’re Doing Now
Earning a master’s degree will, in many school districts, automatically get you a pay raise as a classroom teacher of several thousand dollars per year, or 10 to 15% of your current salary. A general masters in education is a popular post grad degree for teachers who want to stick with their current jobs. But if you are interested in a particular specialty, a masters in teaching math, English or some other subject can be beneficial.

Moving Up
If, however, you wish to move out of the classroom to become an administrator, specialist, consultant, or something else in the school system, it’s advisable to choose a more specialized master’s program. Elementary and secondary school administrators earn a median salary of about $90,000. per year in the U.S. according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, while the highest earners in this occupation can make over $120,000. per year.

Online master’s degree are offered by various schools in education administration, teaching leadership and other organizational subjects that can help qualify you for administration.

One caveat: it may not be in your interest to earn a masters degree before you have any real teaching experience. Because any public school you interview with will be required to pay you the higher salary of a master’s degree holder, you may seem like a very expensive hire as a new teacher with an MA or MEd. A safer path might be to earn your teaching bachelor’s degree and licensure, start teaching, and then decide later how what kind of specialized graduate degree program makes sense for you.

Doctoral Degree
Most teachers and specialists never earn a doctoral degree. It requires a big investment of time, money and work to do so, and it’s not a requirement for most jobs within the field of K-12 public education.

But if you have a strong desire to take a specialty you studied at the master’s level and develop it further, a doctorate can pay off, both in terms of a salary and promotion opportunities. Teachers and assistant administrators who want to become a head principal (especially of a secondary school), superintendent or other high-profile administrator will often earn a doctoral degree because it helps distinguish them from other highly qualified candidates.

You might also benefit from a doctoral degree if you wish to train other specialists or teachers in your educational subject area (ES, for example). The Ph.D. degree tends to proclaim you as an expert with a high degree of understanding in the specialty.

Finally, some classroom teachers who genuinely love what they do may earn a doctorate to become a department head or simply gain a higher or more specialized level of knowledge. My own high school English teacher was one such man. He was a Ph.D. and head of the English department, yet he continued to teach English in the classroom right up to retirement. At the end of his career, he was the highest-paid teacher in the district, having earned the highest degree and years of experience per the public teacher’s pay scale.

The choice of a degree is a very personal one that should be well thought-out and researched. If you want to become a public school teacher or you are one already, pursuing higher education can certainly have multiple benefits in terms of your job satisfaction and your earning potential.

Click For A List Of Top Online Schools Offering Education Degrees

By Susan Ott
Many classroom teachers decide at some point in their careers to go back to school for a Master’s degree in Education. Some choose to obtain their master’s for better pay, some to update their knowledge, and others to move into another field within education besides teaching. Whatever your reasons, you’re probably wondering which type of Master’s in Education is right for you. There are many options to choose from, ranging from general to highly specialized. Read on to understand your options and decide which program would be best for you to pursue.

Why Are You Going Back to School?
Before you choose a Master’s in Education degree program, it’s important to identify your reasons for going back to school in the first place. If you love your teaching job and simply want to learn more to hone your skills, get better results within the classroom, or even become a department head, then a more general master’s of education is probably right for you. If, however, you wish to move into a different area than teaching, such as administration, counseling, technology professional or learning specialist, a more specific degree is what you’ll need to take your career to the next level. Making these important decisions before you start your graduate program will save you time and money and help you achieve your goals more quickly.

General Master’s in Education
A broader, more general Master’s of Education can be obtained in these categories: Early Childhood Education, Elementary Education, Secondary Education and a General Master’s of Education. These degrees are for teachers who wish to continue teaching, but want additional training. If you enjoy the age group you teach, it’s best to get your master’s in that category. Some programs combine early childhood education and elementary education, so your experience is more versatile, especially if teaching kindergarten is your niche. Also, those who specialize in secondary education can choose a program that focuses on the subject they teach, such as history, science, math, etc.

A general master’s in education focuses on educational theory and technique, taking what you learned in your bachelor’s degree to a deeper level. You’ll also learn the latest laws, practices and trends within the field of education, so you can take them back to your classroom and your school. Basically, with this degree, you can learn how to better teach within your subject area(s), motivate your students and help them learn to the best of their abilities, and organize not only your lessons and units, but be a leader in your school (this is particularly helpful for experienced teachers looking to become a department head or manage another area of the school while continuing to teach). So if you see yourself continuing in the classroom, then a more general master’s in education is a good fit for you.

Specialized Master’s in Education
Teachers who wish to advance their education so that they can move beyond the classroom into a different area of education should strongly consider a more specialized master’s in education.

Special Education
A master’s in education which focuses on special education is for teachers who want to specifically teach kids with mental and physical disabilities. Another area that falls under special education is gifted education, good for teachers who wish to be a resource teacher for gifted students. Some special education teachers have a set class and room, while others travel around the school or even between schools to provide learning support and enrichment to students with special or gifted needs. Teachers who obtain this graduate degree can also prepare to become a special education administrator or someone who oversees special education policy at the district level.

Learning Support
A master’s of education with a concentration in the learning support fields would include specializations such as: ESL (English as a Second Language), bilingual education, reading education and support, and writing education and support. Teachers who choose this specialization are usually working towards a career as a learning support specialist or teacher. Many of these professionals work with many different students within one school (sometimes two) to give special instruction and resources to those children who need extra help in a particular area. This degree will build on your general teaching experience and train you how to help students in one specific area who need specialized training to catch up with their grade level.

School Counselor
Getting some years of teaching experience before becoming a school counselor is not only beneficial, it is required in some states. So if the highlight of your teaching experience has been helping your students on a personal level, than getting a Master’s of Education in School Counseling may be a great fit for you. This degree will equip you to become a school guidance counselor, focusing heavily on psychology courses. Some school counselors even teach special lessons in the classroom related to topics such as character education, emotions, peer pressure and bullying, to name a few. This field is a highly interpersonal one, so if that’s what you enjoy most about teaching, it may be a great fit for you. Keep in mind, however, that school counselors need specific licensure, just like teachers, in addition to a master’s degree. Make sure you research your state’s requirements before deciding on a program of study.

Administration & Leadership
Teachers who wish to move on to an administrative position within their school or district should choose a master’s of education within this area of study. Many teachers feel that the challenge and pay of an administrative position like a principal is a satisfying step after the classroom. Those who are tired of the day to day routine of the classroom but who still want to help students and equip schools to run as smoothly as possible should choose this concentration. A program in administration and educational leadership will focus heavily on educational policies and management, so graduates can also pursue careers as district administrators.

Media & Technology
With technology becoming central to the school experience through computers and other related media, schools are looking for professionals who can organize the technology within a school or district as well as teach these skills to students and teachers. This master’s in education can equip you for a job as a technology teacher or an IT professional or educator for a school, district or even a region or state. Many media specialists within the educational system work with teachers and students, since teachers also need to be instructed on how to use the latest technologies within their classrooms. So this specialty is a good fit for those who enjoy a varied experience at work, yet wish to continue within the field of education.

Making the Right Choice
While there are many different options for a Master’s of Education, the choices vary greatly depending on your future career goals. Just getting a master’s degree will, in most cases, increase your pay as well as possibly lead to more challenging and fulfilling job opportunities. Decide what you love about your current teaching position, as well as what you’d like to change, and let that guide your future career decisions. There’s no right or wrong Master’s degree in Education program, just one that will suit your needs and goals best.