Education is a topic of widespread interest to UW–Madison students and is one of the hotly contested subjects in today's politics and society. The Education and Educational Services (EES) Certificate Program provides a cohesive set of courses for undergraduate students interested in the many aspects of education, but who choose not to major in education during their undergraduate degree.
Students interested in child development, neuroscience and the process of learning, or education-related policies, for example, may wish to complement their current major with this substantive program in education. The certificate also provides grounding and learning experiences that will increase access to careers in education. Students completing the certificate may be considering future plans to:
- Enter a post-baccalaureate teacher education program.
- Pursue a graduate program focused on educational services, including programs such as counseling psychology, school psychology, and rehabilitation psychology.
- Complete advanced work in educational psychology or educational administration.
- Begin a career in teaching and learning settings and practices outside the K–12 education system.
This 15-credit certificate program offers a variety of course options that can be customized to each student's area of interest. It is also available to individuals who have already completed a bachelor’s degree; see the Nondegree/Visiting Student Guide.
In addition to reading the information here, students may wish to consult the department's website or email the EES administrator.
How to Get In
All current UW-Madison undergraduates and University Special Students are eligible to complete the Certificate in Education and Educational Services (EES).
Students intending to pursue the Education and Educational Services Certificate should visit the School of Education's Certificate Programs page to complete the declaration form. The declaration for this certificate program can be submitted at any time during the calendar year.
Please note: Students completing a course of study designed to lead to teacher certification are not eligible to complete the EES certificate. This also includes School of Education degree students pursuing the education studies or communication sciences and disorders majors. Other students completing a major within the School of Education are limited to 6 credits of overlap between their major and the certificate; that is, no more than 6 credits of coursework used to satisfy requirements for a major within the School of Education may also be counted toward completion of the EES certificate.
Requirements
Requirements of this 15-credit certificate program include both Foundation and Focus coursework. All coursework must be taken for a letter grade (not credit/no-credit or pass/fail) and students must earn at least a C grade in each course of the certificate. At least 12 credits of the certificate must be earned in residence at UW–Madison.
There is no formal prerequisite structure to the certificate, although students will generally be expected to take CURRIC 240 Critical Aspects of Teaching, Schooling, and Education first, followed by the two remaining Foundation courses and then the two Focus courses.
Foundation Courses, 9 credits
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Required Foundation Course | 3 | |
| Critical Aspects of Teaching, Schooling, and Education | ||
| Social Context of Education | 3 | |
| Select one of the following: | ||
| Introduction to Education Policy | ||
| School and Society | ||
| Globalization and Education | ||
| History of American Education | ||
| Youth, Education, and Society | ||
| Legal Rights and Responsibilities for Teachers | ||
| Individual Processes in Teaching and Learning | 3 | |
| Select one of the following: | ||
| Human Development in Infancy and Childhood | ||
| Human Development in Adolescence | ||
| Human Development From Childhood Through Adolescence | ||
| How People Learn | ||
| Mind, Brain and Education | ||
| Individuals with Disabilities | ||
Focus Course Work, 6 credits
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Select from the following and any other Foundation courses: 1 | 6 | |
| Human Resources Development: Career Strategies | ||
| Human Resources Development: Educational Effectiveness | ||
| Intersectionalities, Self Awareness, and Social Actions for Social Change | ||
| Race and the Developing Child | ||
| Special Topics: Counseling and Counseling Psychology | ||
| Seminar: Students Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity (SEED) | ||
| Theory and Practice in Interviewing | ||
| Career Development Throughout the Life Span | ||
| Integrating the Teaching of Reading with Other Language Arts | ||
| Videogames & Learning | ||
| Chicano/Latino Educational Justice | ||
| Internationalizing Educational Knowledge | ||
| Proseminar | ||
| Peer Leadership and Mentorship with Transitioning Students | ||
| Workshop in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis | ||
| The History of the University in the West | ||
| Introduction to Education | ||
| Education and Public Policy | ||
| Race, Ethnicity, and Inequality in American Education | ||
| Human Rights and Education | ||
| Rethinking "After-School" Education | ||
| Topics on Social Issues and Education | ||
| Issues in Urban Education in the U.S. | ||
| Urban School Policy | ||
| Religion and Public Education | ||
| Introduction to Debates in Higher Education Policy | ||
| History of African American Education | ||
| Anthropology and Education | ||
| Education Policy and Practice | ||
| Sociology of Education | ||
| Contemporary Issues in Educational Psychology | ||
| Introduction to Professional School Psychology | ||
| Applied Behavior Analysis in Classrooms | ||
| The Biological Basis of Behavior | ||
| Quantitative Ethnography | ||
| Design of Educational Games and Simulations | ||
| Foundations of Educational Measurement | ||
| Rehabilitation-Counseling Psychology: Foundations | ||
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Students may also substitute up to 3 credits of independent study with faculty from the departments of Coun Psy, Curric, ELPA, Ed Pol, Ed Psych or RP&SE. Independent study work with faculty from other School of Education departments may be considered; contact an advisor in the School of Education Student Services office.
Undergraduate/Special Student Certificates
This certificate may be completed within the context of an undergraduate degree or as a Special student after an undergraduate degree has been awarded from any institution. The certificate may be completed in its entirety while enrolled as a Special student. Candidates are encouraged to contact the certificate coordinator to discuss course enrollment and the sequencing of certificate requirements.
Learning Outcomes
- Understand how learning environments and pedagogical practices for students are grounded in concepts and interpretive frameworks provided by disciplines that study human development and learning. Understand both typical and atypical development in relation to education.
- Understand basic cognitive, social, emotional, and biological bases of teaching and learning.
- Understand how issues of race, class, gender, cultural, sexual orientation, immigrant status, language background, and disability status interact with various educational contexts to affect learning and its outcomes.
- Understand how local, state, national, and global social and political contexts differentially affect schooling and its outcomes for students both typical and atypical development in relation to education.
- Understand the multiple contexts in which education occurs.
- Understand historical, political, and cultural influences on education and educational institutions.
- Understand supportive services available to learners in educational contexts and institutions.
- Be familiar with some of the issues and controversies surrounding the selection of concepts taught, the assumptions associated with content choices, tools of inquiry, and ways of reasoning.
- Be an informed consumer of educational research and policy prescriptions.
People
Information about faculty, staff, and other contributors to the Department of Educational Psychology can be found on the department's website.