Master of Science in Early Childhood Education

Graduate online program offered by the College of Education

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Explore the landscape of early childhood education from previously unseen angles. Understand more about children and the sociocultural communities they inhabit. Integrate these insights with examinations of classrooms and schools to better serve diverse populations of young children and their families.

UNT’s accelerated online Master of Science in Early Childhood Education program is designed for those who want to learn how to better respond to increasingly diverse populations through inclusive, culturally responsive and linguistically rich curriculum. Our master’s students critically examine the nature of early childhood classrooms, centers and schools in order to reconceptualize what it means to teach and care for young children. This knowledge translates into skills that can be applied across research, policy and practice settings, preparing our graduates to be advocates for children — whether it be better teachers, more reflective administrators or more critical researchers and policymakers.

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Preschool Teachers
Kindergarten Teachers

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Lead Teacher
Child Care Teachers
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Admission to the master's program in Early Childhood Education is a two-step process. Each applicant must first apply to and meet the general admission requirements of UNT's Toulouse Graduate School.Then, applications for students who meet initial admission standards are forwarded to the Early Childhood Studies Admissions Committee for review and final decision.

Apply to Toulouse Graduate School

You must be admitted to the Toulouse Graduate School before enrolling in the accelerated online program. Conditional acceptance to the graduate school can be granted if you meet program requirements.

Submit your application at applytexas.org and choose the "Master of Science degree in Early Childhood Education" in the degree plan list. Confirm that you are applying for the accelerated online program when prompted near the end of the application process.
Request an official transcript of your records from each college or university that you have attended and have them sent to the Toulouse Graduate School. All transcripts are required but unofficial transcripts will be accepted with your application while official transcripts are being processed.

By U.S. Postal Service:
Toulouse Graduate School
1155 Union Circle #305459, Denton, TX 76203-5017

By UPS/FedEx:
Toulouse Graduate School
1147 Union Circle, ESSC 354, Denton, TX 76203-5459

Pay the $75 application fee at the time you apply.
You will be notified of your acceptance to the graduate school by mail and through my.unt.edu.

Admission decisions will be made based on a holistic review of applicant qualifications.

Apply to Graduate School

Apply to the College of Education

Submit the following documents electronically to MS-EarlyChildhoodEd@unt.edu for admittance to the College of Education's accelerated online master's program:

Three satisfactory letters of reference, on letterhead, from professionals who address the applicant's ability to successfully pursue graduate study.
A 3-4 page double-spaced essay explaining the purpose for undertaking graduate study at UNT, including professional plans or career goals and a discussion of professional interests related to early childhood education.
A resume detailing your professional experience.

Check Status Online

You can check your application status:

To check if your transcripts and entrance exam scores have been submitted:

The Toulouse Graduate School will send you an email and pin number to check online at my.unt.edu. You will need to activate your EUID with the pin number and click on Admissions Status.

Admission of International Students

Applicants who do not hold either U.S. citizenship or U.S. permanent resident alien status should apply to the UNT Graduate International Admissions.
An international applicant's bachelor's degree should be equivalent to a U.S. four-year bachelor's degree.
All documents should be submitted at least six months before enrollment date.

We're here to help you every step of the way. Call 940-565-3290 or e-mail MS-EarlyChildhoodEd@unt.edu. with questions or to find out the status of your application.

Visit the Registrar's website for more information on course registration dates and payment deadlines.

The accelerated delivery provides five course start times per year. Courses will be offered in 8-weeks sessions during the long semester or shorter during the summer session. Students who maintain the accelerated 30-hour course sequence can complete course work in 12 months.

Required courses, 30 hours

Fall 8W1 (August to October)

EDEC 5513 - (3 hrs) Advanced Studies in Early Childhood Education
EDEC 5613 - (3 hrs) Curriculum Theory in Early Childhood Education

Fall 8W2 (October to December)

EDEC 5013 - (3 hrs) Research Strategies in Early Childhood Education
EDEC 5643 - (3 hrs) Leadership and Supervision of Programs

Spring 8W1 (January to March)

EPSY 5133 - (3 hrs) Infant and Child Development
EDEC 5470 - (3 hrs) Constructions of Guidance in Early Childhood Classrooms

Spring 8W2 (March to May)

EDEC 5633 - (3 hrs) Assessment in Early Childhood Education
EDCI 5130 - (3 hrs) Schooling in a Multicultural Society

Summer 8W1 (May to July)

EDEC 5653 - (3 hrs) Making the Literacy Connection: Language to Reading

EPSY 5210 - (3 hrs) Educational Statistics

EDEC 5800 - (3 hrs) Special Topics in Early Childhood Studies

Estimate tuition and fees by using the Tuition Calculators. For more information about tuition plan options, fees, and tuition, see Student Financial Services.

Financial Aid

UNT offers a variety of options to help finance your education. Visit financialaid.unt.edu to find out more about the application and award process.

UNT has been named one of America's 100 Best College Buys© for 25 consecutive years and offers the quality of a private university at an affordable cost.

Applying for financial aid

Apply for financial aid online at fafsa.gov. The application is required for all types of financial aid, including Pell and other federal grants, state grants and loans. The FAFSA and Renewal FAFSA are available annually.
You must enroll in 6 hours (over one or two online sessions) in order to be eligible for financial aid.
Financial aid awards will be disbursed 10 days prior to the first day of class. Awards will not disburse if you are enrolled in only 3 credit hours.
Contact Student Financial Aid and Scholarships at 940-565-2302 or by visiting online at financialaid.unt.edu

Faculty

Dina C. Castro

Dina C. Castro

Professor

Velma E. Schmidt Endowed Chair for Early Childhood Education
Ph.D., University of North Carolina

Matthews Hall 206-U

940-565-2590

Dina.Castro@unt.edu

Velma E. Schmidt Endowed Chair for Early Childhood Education

Faculty Profile

Dr. Dina Castro holds degrees in Early Childhood Education and Special Education (PhD), Public Health (MPH) and Psychology (BS). Her scholarship focuses on quality and equity in the early care and education for bilingual children and children from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds, in particular those living in poverty, and factors affecting the well-being of immigrant children and their families.

Dr. Castro has directed or co-directed various research and evaluation studies of national relevance. She serves as Director of the Center for Early Care and Education Research: Dual Language Learners, a national research center funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. She is also Principal Investigator on the study Nuestros Niños Program: Promoting School Readiness for English Language Learners funded by the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development.

Prior to joining UNT, Dr. Castro was a Research Professor at the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, Arizona State University (2013-2014), and a Senior Scientist at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1997-2013). She has published numerous peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, research briefs and technical reports, and presents nationally and internationally as an expert on the early education of children from diverse cultural, ethnic and language backgrounds. She is the lead author of the book New Voices ~ Nuevas Voces Guide to Cultural and Linguistic Diversity in Early Childhood.

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Ranita Cheruvu

Ranita Cheruvu

Senior Lecturer

Teacher Education and Administration
Ed.D., 2014, Teachers College, Columbia University

Matthews Hall 206-I

940-565-2279

Ranita.Cheruvu@unt.edu

Faculty Profile

Ranita Cheruvu, Ed.D. is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Teacher Education and Administration. Her scholarship and teaching focus on culturally relevant/sustaining pedagogies and racial literacy in early childhood education and teacher education. Her experiences as a classroom teacher, teacher educator, 1.5 generation immigrant, and her doctoral studies in Curriculum and Teaching (Early Childhood Education) at Teachers College, Columbia University have shaped her commitment to issues of equity and access in early childhood education.

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Janelle B. Mathis

Janelle B. Mathis

Professor

Teacher Education and Administration
Ph.D., University of Arizona

Matthews Hall 206-P

940-565-2754

janelle.mathis@unt.edu

Faculty Profile

As a literacy educator at UNT since 1997, Janelle Mathis focuses her teaching and research on children’s and adolescent literature, especially works that are multicultural and international. She teaches both undergraduate and courses in children’s and adolescent literature, qualitative research, and literacy topics including multimodality and sociocultural issues. Her research interests, often focused on response to literature and critical content analysis of words and images, are also found in the areas of the transactional theory of reader response, socio-cultural contexts for literacy teaching and learning, critical literacy, and literacy through the arts. She received her doctorate at the University of Arizona in the Department of Language, Reading, and Culture in 1994. She was a teaching assistant and adjunct at the University of Arizona, and she also taught at Northern Illinois University prior to coming to UNT. Published in national and international journals, she is most recently a co-editor and author of "Critical Content Analysis of children’s and Young Adult Literature: Reframing Perspective" (Routledge, 2016) and "Critical Content Analysis of Visual Images in Books for Young People: Reading Images" (Routledge, 2019). Currently serving as co-editor of "Bookbird, An International Journal of Children’s Literature," her professional life outside UNT revolves around and within LRA, NCTE, IBBY/USBBY, and ALA. Her personal life involves traveling, hiking, and learning about “the Blues.”

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Tran Nguyen Templeton

Tran Nguyen Templeton

Assistant Professor

she/her/hers

Teacher Education and Administration
Ed.D., Teachers College, Columbia University

Matthews Hall 206-R

940-565-2941

Tran.Templeton@unt.edu

Faculty Profile

Tran Nguyen Templeton, Ed.D. is an Assistant Professor of Early Childhood Studies. She joined the faculty in 2018 after completing her doctorate with the support of an AERA Minority Dissertation Fellowship. In her research, Dr. Templeton uses ethnographic and image-based methods to study young children's co-constructions of their complex cultural identities, as told in and through their photography, play, and literacy practices. She also examines how adults (re)conceptualize and situate young children in relation to critical forms of curriculum. Dr. Templeton has published in journals such as Harvard Educational Review, Children’s Geographies, and Language Arts. She is part of the Collaborative Seeing Studio and the Literacy Research Association's 2019-21 STAR cohort. She has presented in highlighted sessions at LRA, the Eastern Sociological Society, and at the first AnjiPlay conference in China in 2015. At UNT, Dr. Templeton serves as a faculty mentor to the Environmental Philosophy with Children project, in addition to her role as the program coordinator of the Master’s in Early Childhood AOP.

Dr. Templeton has been a teacher of young children, as well as children and youth with special needs, since 2000. From 2006 to 2010, she served as the founding Program Director of Colegio Monarch Guatemala, the first therapeutic school for children with neurological differences in Central America. A refugee and 1.5 generation immigrant from Vietnam, Dr. Templeton earned her B.S. from the University of Texas at Austin, Ed.M. from Harvard, and Ed.D. in Curriculum & Teaching (Early Childhood) from Teachers College, Columbia University.

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