Children, Families, & Schools
Shape the future.
The Children, Families, & Schools (CSF) program addresses the need for educators who are able to meet the educational and developmental needs of children in the varied settings in which they learn and grow.
We've developed this program based on the knowledge that a complex interdependent relationship exists among school, family, and society. We advocate for an approach that ensures that educators are aware of the impact of culture, ethnicity, gender, history, values, and economics on the lives of children and families.
The Children, Families, & Schools program offers future researchers and practitioners a program of study in child development, childhood studies, and learning and examines how these topics relate to educational practice from birth through the early-childhood and elementary-school years.
The CSF program is interdisciplinary, and faculty have a wide range of scholarly interests including anthropology of education, early-childhood special education, developmental psychology, and early-childhood emergent bilingual education. Students are able to develop a program of study based on their interests and have opportunities to engage in graduate-level research.
Explore our programs
children enrolled in PreK or kindergarten classes in U.S. public schools (2021, NCES data)
annual job openings for kindergarten and elementary-school teachers in the U.S. (2021, Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Benefits list
Licensure pathways
Undergraduate students can earn their initial teacher license as part of the Early Childhood Education (ECE) major. Master's students with at least 3 years of teaching experience in PreK–2 classrooms can earn their professional teacher license.
Gain real-world teaching experience
Undergraduate Early Childhood Education (ECE) majors complete an internship or teaching placement at a local school during their senior year. Doctoral students can gain experience through field supervision or teaching assistantships with early-childhood and elementary teacher preparation programs.
Diverse career options
Educators who study children, families, and schools can make a difference in a number of career fields. You can work in:
- Public and private schools
- Non-profit early intervention programs
- Educational consulting organizations
- Colleges and universities
Alumni spotlight
In the spotlight
Sally Campbell Galman wants us to rethink everything we know about educating young children.
In the news
Ives publishes new book with Routledge
Kudos to Associate Professor Denise Ives, who published a book as part of Language, Culture and Teaching, a book series at Routledge created by Sonia Nieto.
Pirie publishes new chapter on comics-based research methods
Professor Sally Campbell Pirie published a chapter in a new edited volume focusing on arts-based inquiry in education.
PhD students present at La Cosecha 2023
Two College of Education doctoral students presented research at the 2023 La Cosecha conference: Elizabeth Llorca and Yokaira López-Tifa.