SU Seeks Students for Elementary Education Cohort

SALISBURY, MD---Salisbury University’s Teacher Education Department would like to hear from students interested in forming a new elementary education cohort at the Eastern Shore Higher Education Center (ESHEC) at Chesapeake College in Wye Mills, MD.

To be considered eligible for this cohort, students should have completed their Associate of Arts degree in Teaching (AAT in elementary education) from a Maryland community college and have completed the initial stages of the PRAXIS exam.

Students who live in the Mid- and Upper Shore areas admitted to the Professional Teacher Education Program at SU also will be considered as candidates for this cohort. Beginning fall 2011, cohort students will take methods courses in elementary education at the ESHEC.

Students will continue to take classes at the center during the spring and fall semesters of 2012 and complete their program requirements in spring 2013 while participating in internships and a seminar in the Talbot County area. With the exception of their required minor courses, students should be able to complete all elementary education methods requirements at the center.

The cohort program began in spring 2007 with a group of Chesapeake College AAT graduates. The cohort has continued since that time and has graduated two groups of teacher candidates with a third and fourth group scheduled to graduate in May 2011 and 2012, respectively.

“The elementary education cohort program at the Eastern Shore Higher Education Center provides access to our elementary education program for Mid-Shore and Upper Shore students,” said Dr. Dennis Pataniczek, dean of SU’s Samuel W. and Marilyn C. Seidel School of Education and Professional Studies. “The program has demonstrated that it attracts and graduates students with enormous talent who will be exceptional teachers.”

The formation of a new cohort is contingent upon sufficient interest and enrollment. Interested students should contact Dr. Amy Stephens Meekins, professor emeritus and cohort program liaison, at 410-543-6391 or asmeekins@salisbury.edu.