Bachelor’s Plus, Graduate Licensure and Endorsement Program
In addition to the Ed. D and M.Ed. programs, the Dwight Schar College of Education offers a number of licensure and endorsement programs for individuals who would like to earn an initial teaching license or add additional licenses and endorsements to existing licenses or certificates.
Accreditation of the College
The teacher education programs have been approved by the Ohio Department of Higher Education. The Dwight Schar College of Education at Ashland University is accredited by the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) 1140 19th Street, N.W. Suite 400, Washington, DC 20036. This accreditation covers initial teacher preparation programs and advanced educator preparation programs. CAEP is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation to accredit programs for the preparation of teachers and other professional school personnel.
These two agencies serve to (a) assure the public that Ashland University offers an educator preparation program that meets national standards of quality, (b) ensure that children and youth are served by well-prepared school personnel, and (c) advance the teaching profession through the improvement of teacher education programs. Licensure requirements are subject to the authority of the Ohio Department of Education, Ohio law and the Ohio Department of Higher Education. Course and field experiences may change, subject to requirements approved by the Ohio Department of Higher Education and/or Ohio law.
Title II, section 207, of the 1998 Amendments to the Higher Education Act of 1965, requires that institutions of higher education that conduct teacher preparation programs must report their licensure test pass rate to the public. The Ashland University and Ohio licensure test pass rate information is available at this website: https://title2.ed.gov/Public/Report/StateHome.aspx.
The Bachelor’s Plus Initial Licensure Program at the Graduate Level
The Bachelor’s Plus Program is a post-baccalaureate program designed to provide initial teacher licensure to people who hold bachelor’s degrees from accredited colleges or universities in fields other than education.
Bachelor’s Plus courses which have undergraduate and graduate courses are generally taught in online, late afternoon, and evenings, so that candidates may hold full- or part-time jobs while doing the course work. Courses are taught by qualified faculty from the various colleges/departments and are designed to provide the candidate with the necessary background in the College of Education values, planning, teaching styles, classroom management, and area content. Classroom field experiences are included and scheduled early in the program to provide actual classroom experience. Student teaching is completed near the end of the program. Note that these school-based experiences require students to be available during regular school hours. The length of time needed to complete the program is dependent upon the number of courses to be taken by individuals based on their pre-admittance evaluations.
Course credits obtained from accredited colleges or universities may apply to this program if they match Ashland University course content. A grade of C or higher for undergraduate courses in education, C or above for undergraduate content area e.g., Science and Music a grade of B or higher for graduate courses is required to be accepted for credit. No course work taken pass/fail will be accepted for credit.
The student who fails to take courses or otherwise continue to pursue the degree for a period of three consecutive semesters will be terminated from the program’s active file and will be required to apply for reactivation of his or her records to the current catalog year.
Each Bachelors Plus program contains both graduate and undergraduate courses. Licensure may be at the following levels:
Primary Grades (PK-5) Education
Primary Grades (PK-5) /Intervention Dual Program, ISMM
Middle Grades (4–9)
Two Concentration Areas are required from:
Language Arts
Mathematics
Science
Social Studies
AYA Grades 7–12
Integrated Language Arts
Integrated Mathematics
Integrated Science
Integrated Social Studies
Multi-Age PreK-12
Music
Visual Arts
Intervention Specialist (K-12)
Intervention Specialist Mild/Moderate/Intensive
Admission to Teacher Education (Entrance and Licensure Testing Requirements):
Bachelor’s Plus students are not officially admitted into the Teacher Education program, and may not take field or internship courses, until they have successfully: completed 12 credit hours of course work at Ashland University, achieved a 3.0 GPA for the first 12 credit hours of Ashland University courses, and submitted evidence of having achieved the College of Education Gateway Requirements. Students must maintain a 3.0 GPA for the remaining courses. Education courses below a C must be repeated. Students not meeting these requirements will not be allowed to continue education course work until these requirements are achieved. Transfer credits are accepted if C (B for music and science).
College of Education Program Gateways
All education students must meet the requirements for a set of distinct and specific Gateways throughout their programs. These Gateways ensure that students are meeting both internal and external expectations for successful program completion, as well as state/national accreditation standards and Ohio teacher licensure requirements.
Gateway I – Admission to first field experience
Gateway II – Admission to Teacher Education
Gateway III – Admission to Internship (aka, Student Teaching)
Gateway IV – Exit from Internship
Gateway V – Recommendation for Licensure
Gateway requirements* may include:
Meeting application deadlines
Following program outlines by enrolling in/completing appropriate courses
Successfully meeting course minimum grades
Meeting all College of Education program and testing requirements
Submitting current and/or updated Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) background checks
Achieving an overall minimum GPA
Achieving minimum GPAs for program(s)/specialty area(s)