Teacher Licensure

Teacher Licensure Image

Goddard College’s Teacher Licensure offers you the opportunity to earn your credentials in a student-centered, interdisciplinary setting that emphasizes personalized learning, collaboration, and self-reflection.

Teacher Licensure is offered through the Vermont Agency of Education for those completing the Bachelor of Arts or Master of Arts degree, as well as non-degree-seeking post-baccalaureate or postgraduate studies. A Vermont Teacher License has reciprocity in many other states through the Interstate Certification Compact (Reciprocity Agreement).

In concurrence with state requirements, Goddard’s Teacher Licensure is competency-based. Students work with faculty advisors to plan a sequence of studies, field experiences, internships, and other learning activities to acquire the competencies required of beginning teachers.

Students complete a pre-student teaching portfolio to demonstrate their readiness to begin a full, one-semester teaching practicum. Students also complete a final, outcomes-based portfolio demonstrating their mastery of rigorous state and Goddard competencies.

The State of Vermont requires that teacher licensure candidates have a liberal arts degree with a “B” or better average, along with liberal arts credits that match endorsement areas (see below). Students seeking licensure cannot have a criminal record or have ever been convicted of a felony.

Students are assisted through the admissions process by the Teacher Licensure Coordinator.

Candidates who successfully complete Goddard’s approved certification program receive an Initial Teacher Licensure through the State of Vermont. This certification has reciprocity in most states through the National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification (NASDTEC)‘s interstate education certification/licensure agreement.

Goddard’s low-residency Licensure Degree Option is only available by enrolling in the Education Program at Goddard’s Plainfield, Vermont main campus.

Request more information from an Admissions Counselor.

The Faculty

The Education Program faculty are deeply committed to offering a holistic, interdisciplinary and student-centered approach to learning that is personally and socially relevant.

Our faculty is comprised of national and international scholar practitioners with extensive experience supporting students taking charge of their learning.

Learn more about our faculty.

Degree Options

Goddard’s Education Program offers full- and part-time study leading to the following degrees:

Students pursuing the Bachelor of Arts can focus their studies in the following areas:

Students pursuing the Master of Arts can focus their studies in the following areas:

Admissions Information

The Bachelor of Arts in Education program is open to students who have already completed approximately 60 liberal arts credits and who wish to extend their knowledge in the field of education to meet personal and/or professional goals. Transfer credit and/or credit awarded for prior learning up to a total of 75 credits can be applied to the 120 semester hour credits required for the degree.

Students with less than 60 credits can begin their studies in Goddard’s Individualized Bachelor of Arts and then transfer to the BA in Education.

A minimum of three semesters of enrollment in the BA in Education program is required for graduation.

See complete application instructions for the BA in Education and the MA in Education.

Low-Residency Model

At the start of the semester, students attend an intensive eight-day residency in Vermont or Washington, followed by 16 weeks of independent work and self-reflection in close collaboration with a faculty advisor. Goddard pioneered this format nearly a half century ago to meet the needs of adult students with professional, family, and other obligations seeking learning experiences grounded in the real-world.

Residencies are a time to explore, network, learn, witness, and share with peers, staff, and faculty. Students work with advisors and peers in close-knit advising groups to forge individualized study plans that describe their learning objectives for the semester.

Working closely with their faculty advisors, and supported by fellow learners, students identify areas of study, personal goals, relevant resources, and avenues to achieve these goals. Students also attend and are invited to help organize workshops, keynote addresses, celebrations and other events intended to stimulate, inspire, and challenge.

This low-residency model combines the breadth of a collaborative community with the focus of personalized learning, enhanced by insightful exchanges with a faculty advisor.

Location

Students seeking Teacher Licensure in the Education Program attend residencies in Plainfield, Vermont, on Goddard’s historic main campus, located just outside Montpelier, the state capital. It’s a former farm with a manor garden, surrounding forests, and period architecture.

Residency Week

Residencies are a rich time of exploration, connection, and planning. A residency is comprised of:

  • New-student orientation
  • Individual and group advising sessions
  • Workshops, presentations, mini-courses, and panels
  • Peer work groups
  • Planning sessions related to teacher licensure
  • Information sessions (assessment of prior learning; financial aid; how to do research; planning your final semester etc.)
  • Co-curricular activities (support groups, art shows, films, movement workshops, meditation space, etc.)
  • Commencement

Writing the semester study plan is an important focus of the residency. Working closely with your faculty advisor, and supported by fellow learners, you articulate your educational and personal goals for your studies within the context of degree criteria and program requirements. The study plan is your detailed and individualized map and will address the following:

  • The semester’s learning goals
  • The resources the student plans to draw on (e.g., books, journals, conferences)
  • The methodology the student plans to use (e.g., library or field research, interviews, creative production)
  • The specific learning activities the student will undertake (e.g., creative and critical reading and writing, observations, field work, keeping a journal)
  • The academic work the student will produce (e.g. essays, visual art work, workshop reports, poems, interview transcriptions, annotations)
  • A bibliography of reading the student plans to do during the semester

The Semester

Following the residency and over the course of 16 weeks of study and reflection, you will submit your work to your faculty advisor. Typically, there are 5 submissions for full-time students and 3 submissions for part-time students. Evidence of the work completed can include essays, critical and creative writing, sample curricula, classroom materials, documentation of art practice/works, book annotations, and a cover letter in which you reflect on the learning process.

Your advisor responds promptly in writing to your materials with a detailed letter addressing the various components of your work and containing appraisal, feedback, and suggestions.

Through the regular exchange of work and responses, a sustained, meaningful dialogue takes place centered on your learning and goals. Students often describe this dialogue as transformative and empowering.

At the end of the semester, in lieu of grades, students and advisors write comprehensive evaluations of the student’s learning.

Degree Requirements

Throughout your course of study, you are expected to deeply engage with the degree criteria, working toward a full and sustained demonstration of them by graduation. Students graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Education will have successfully completed the Goddard undergraduate degree criteria and will also successfully have accomplished the following:

  • Gained an understanding and actualized the essential concepts of progressive education; namely, inquiry-based learning, reflection and critical thinking, and student-focused curriculum;
  • Prepared themselves to work toward the creation of a more just, humane, democratic, and sustainable world;
  • Produced a culminating project in the form of a senior study in an area of interest; for example, curriculum development, multicultural education, alternative education, environmental education, critical pedagogy, democratic schooling, collaborative teaching, feminist theories of education, or authentic assessment.

Authorizations

Vermont Program

Goddard’s Education Program is approved by the Vermont Agency of Education and the Vermont Standards Board for Professional Educators for preparing licensure-seeking students to receive a Vermont Initial License in one or more of six endorsement areas. Vermont participates with all other states, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico in the National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification’s Interstate Agreement, which governs licensure reciprocity.

Washington Program

Goddard College programs operating in Washington State are authorized by the Washington Student Achievement Council. For more information, please refer to Accreditation and Approvals.

WA State Residents: The Goddard College BA in Education Program and MA in Education Program do not meet the educational requirements for licensure in Washington State. For further information, refer to the State of Washington Professional Educator Standards Board.

Work of the Program

Goddard’s licensure degree option, in concurrence with Vermont state requirements, is competency based. Students interested in becoming licensed teachers plan — with the help of their advisor — a sequence of studies, field experience, internships, and other learning activities in order to acquire the competencies required of beginning teachers. Students complete a pre-student teaching portfolio to demonstrate the knowledge and readiness to begin a full, one-semester teaching practicum, and complete a final, outcomes-based portfolio (Level I Licensure Portfolio) demonstrating their successful mastering of rigorous state and Goddard competencies.

The recommended length of study for the licensure portion of a student’s program is three semesters, consisting of:

  • Two semesters to complete two pre-placement portfolios (pre-student teaching or pre-counseling internship) documenting successful completion of general and endorsement-area specific competencies, including practicum field experiences;
  • One semester of student teaching or counseling internship;
  • Completion of a final licensure portfolio documenting the field experience and additional competencies.

Note: BA degree candidates seeking licensure are required to complete one additional semester, which includes the culminating final product (senior study).

Licensure Information

To receive initial licensure in the State of Vermont, you must meet all of the pre-student teaching, student teaching, and portfolio requirements, as well as any other Vermont Agency of Education requirements (Praxis CORE and Praxis II testing and background criminal check).

Basic Teacher Licensure Requirements include:

  • A majority of 40 credits of liberal arts requirements, as well as a chosen licensure endorsement area.
  • A minimum of four semesters of full-time study for BA students
  • The State of Vermont requires teacher licensure candidates to have a liberal arts degree with a “B” or better average and 30 credits in a major.

Bachelor of Arts in Education

At the undergraduate level, Goddard College is approved by the Vermont Agency of Education to offer initial Vermont teacher licensure in the following endorsement areas:

  • Early Childhood (birth to age 6, k to grade 3 or both)
  • Elementary (k–6),
  • Art (prek-6, 7-12 or prek to 12)
  • Middle Grades (5–9)
  • Secondary English
  • Secondary Social Studies

Students entering the BA in Education with Teacher Licensure option are expected to meet state requirements for beginning teachers prior to graduation. If you transfer into Goddard’s Education Program with 75 credits, you may earn your Bachelor of Arts degree and then complete the licensure requirements in a post-baccalaureate semester after graduation. Contact the Admissions Office or the Licensure Coordinator for a review of your status and for a preliminary transcript review.

Master of Arts in Education

For MA in Education students, Goddard College is approved by the Vermont Agency of Education to offer the following Vermont teacher licensure and endorsement areas:

  • Early Childhood Education (birth-5, 5-8, or birth-8)
  • Elementary Education
  • Art (PK-6, 7-12, or PK-12)
  • Middle Grades
  • Secondary English
  • Secondary Science
  • Secondary Social Studies
  • School Counseling

The State of Vermont requires teacher licensure candidates to have a liberal arts degree with a “B” or better average and 30 credits in a major. Contact the Admissions Office or the Licensure Coordinator for a review of your status and for a preliminary transcript review.

Licensure Endorsement Area Requirements

  • Early Childhood Education (birth-5, 5-8, or birth-8): Liberal arts degree with a minimum of six credits in English, and three in each ,mathematics, science, and social studies.
  • Elementary education: Liberal arts degree with six credits in English, and three each in mathematics, science, and social studies;
  • Art (PK-6, 7-12, or PK-12): Liberal arts degree with 30 credits in art.
  • Middle grades in English, Social Studies and/or Science: Liberal arts degree with 18 credits each in the core content area of which 6 of these are upper division course work.
  • Secondary English: Liberal arts degree with 30 credits in English in which 9 credits are in upper division course work.
  • Secondary Science: Prior Liberal Arts BA/BS degree with 30 credit major in Science with 9 of those upper division including lab science course in chemistry and physics
  • Secondary Social Studies: Liberal arts degree with 30 credits in social studies/history in which 9 credits are in upper division course work. Studies must include course work in American and World History, Economics, Cultural Geography, Citizenship/Government and Unity/Diversity/Interdependence.