School of Education

Step 1: Complete the non-degree seeking admissions application

Step 2: Review the schedule of classes to identify the section and time that works for your schedule

Step 3: Register for your class through your new VCU eservices account

Step 4: Enjoy your class and contact soeinfo@vcu.edu if you have questions about applying to a future graduate program*

*There are limits on how many non-degree courses can be transferred to a future graduate program. Please review this VCU policy for more information and connect with soeinfo@vcu.edu for additional questions.

Adjuncts, faculty, and staff at VCU can take advantage of a tuition benefit for non-degree seeking courses in the School of Education, making it more affordable to pursue additional education and professional development. This benefit underscores VCU's commitment to supporting its educators and staff in their continuous learning journeys. Review the courses by topic/audience area below and reach out to our team to sign up for a 1:1 meeting to learn more.

Per the Senior Citizens Higher Education Act*, Virginians age 60 or older may take courses without paying tuition or required fees**.

Enroll in our online and in-person courses today! To apply for non-degree status to enroll in future courses follow these easy steps:

• Step 1: Complete the non-degree seeking admissions application
• Step 2: Choose your class from some of the School of Education sections (note: courses 500 level and above require a bachelor's degree)
• Step 3: Complete the Senior Citizens Tuition Waiver form, and email to ssc@vcu.edu
• Step 4: Enjoy your class!

Check out the senior citizens tuition waiver program for more information, including income thresholds.

*Section §23-38.56 of the Code of Virginia.
**Additional course materials including textbooks and other course fees are a student’s responsibility.
***There are limits on how many non-degree courses can be transferred to a future graduate program. Please review this VCU policy for additional information and connect with soeinfo@vcu.edu for additional questions.

For teachers who might not be able to commit to one of our initial licensure programs that incorporate Virginia state teaching licensure requirements, we want to give you and your licensure specialist at your sponsoring school information on the courses you need for your specific situation.

Since the requirements vary greatly by teaching licensure type and the individual backgrounds of the provisional licensed teacher*, your licensure sponsoring school will be a critical approval partner for you to ensure you take courses that support your future license.

• Submit this Course Finder form if you are a Provisionally Licensed Special Education teacher to get an individualized review of your VDOE requirements and courses to take to meet those requirements.
• If you are looking for an online program built for special education, general education licensure, check out this Special Education K-12 Teaching Certificate and the Educator Rate for information on discounted tuition.

Common licensure requirements:

• Classroom and Behavior Management
• Curriculum and Instructional Procedures
• Foundations of Education
• Human Growth and Development
• Reading in the Content Areas: Education

Access course descriptions in the VCU Bulletin to preview courses that might meet your licensure needs.

• TEDU - Teacher Education courses
• EDUS - Educational Studies courses
• SEPD - Special Education and Disability Policy courses

For teachers who might not be able to commit to one of our initial licensure programs that incorporate Virginia state teaching licensure requirements, we want to give you and your licensure specialist at your sponsoring school information on the courses you need for your specific situation.

Since the requirements vary greatly by teaching licensure type and the individual backgrounds of the provisional licensed teacher*, your licensure sponsoring school will be a critical approval partner for you to ensure you take courses that support your future license.

• If you are looking for an online program built for elementary education, check out this Teaching Elementary Education Graduate Certificate.
  

Elementary and Early Childhood Teaching VDOE-Course equivalency table:
Review this Provisionally Licensed Teaching alignment document to compare to your VDOE provisional licensure requirement needs. Want to make the most of your credits? Check out the provisionally licensed online Teaching Elementary Education Certificate.

Please review our VCU Teaching course bulletin list of courses to identify the course that fits your school’s needs

• TEDU - Teacher Education courses
• EDUS - Educational Studies courses
• SEDP - Special Education and Disability Policy courses

For teachers who might not be able to commit to one of our initial licensure programs that incorporate Virginia state teaching licensure requirements, we want to give you and your licensure specialist at your sponsoring school information on the courses you need for your specific situation.

Since the requirements vary greatly by teaching licensure type and the individual backgrounds of the provisional licensed teacher*, your licensure sponsoring school will be a critical approval partner for you to ensure you take courses that support your future license.

• If you are looking for an online program with flexibility to meet your provisional license requirements and earn your Master's degree, check out this Master's of Education in Curriculum and Instruction.
  
  

Secondary Teaching VDOE-Course equivalency table:

• Review this Provisionally Licensed Teaching alignment document to compare to your VDOE provisional licensure requirement needs (be sure to select the “Secondary” tab at the top of the webpage). Want to make the most of your credits? Check out the Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction program, which includes 12 credits of electives!
• In addition to completing your VDOE competency requirements, we highly recommend that you take your subject area’s methods course, offered in person every Fall semester:
  • TEDU 540: Teaching Middle and High School Sciences
  • TEDU 545: Teaching Secondary School Mathematics
  • TEDU 547: Teaching Secondary School Social Studies
  • TEDU 548: Teaching Secondary School English

Please review our VCU Teaching course bulletin list of courses to identify the course that fits your school’s needs

• TEDU - Teacher Education courses
• EDUS - Educational Studies courses
• SEPD - Special Education and Disability Policy courses

TEDU 101: Introduction to Teaching
Provides undergraduate students with an introduction to teaching and learning in elementary settings. Students will explore current educational reforms and their influences on elementary schools and students. Service-learning activities will enable students to gain firsthand experiences in urban elementary classrooms. Fall and Spring semesters. Face-to-face instruction.

HPED 103: Lifetime Fitness, Wellness and Nutrition
Learn the foundational knowledge specific to concepts related to the health- and skills-related components of fitness, functional fitness, energy balance and overall well-being. Offered every semester. Online-asynchronous instruction.

HPED 204: Outdoor Education
Great for the outdoor enthusiast! Cooperative and team-building practices will be emphasized as a way to promote increased collaboration, communication, critical-thinking and creativity while in the health and physical education environment. Fall and Spring semesters. Face-to-face instruction.

TEDU 385: Teaching Writing Through Children’s Literature
Children’s literature is critical to growing young minds. This course teaches how to construct a successful community of writers in PK and elementary classrooms. Learn how children learn to think and write and examine your own personal writing processes. Fall and Spring semesters. Face-to-face instruction.

TEDU 386: Children's Literature
Designed to give students an appreciation of the value of children’s literature, present a look at current trends and provide a wide range of reading from different literary genres and diverse authors. Fall and Spring semesters. Face-to-face instruction. 

Note: Provisionally licensed educators, please connect with your HR representative expert to confirm prior to enrolling as a non-degree seeking student.

SEDP 630: Trends in Special Education
Prerequisite course qualifies those with an undergraduate degree for a provisional license in Special Education to teach in PK-12 classrooms. This course is the prerequisite for Virginia provisional Special Education licensure. Online-asynchronous; Fall & Spring semesters.

ENED 601: Young Adult Literature
Examination of literature written for young adults, literature appropriate for young people in middle schools and high schools. Focuses on the content, characteristics and teaching of such literature. Fall semester. Online instruction (combinations of synchronous and asynchronous).

TEDU 511: Curriculum and Instruction in Elementary Classrooms
Designed to enhance knowledge and advanced pedagogical skills in teaching elementary health and physical education. Emphasis also placed upon classroom management skills and administrative and organizational strategies dealing with facilities, equipment, teaching aids, measurement and safety. Summer semester. Online synchronous instruction.

TEDU 537: Secondary School Curriculum
Studies the background and objectives of the contemporary secondary school; basic issues, current trends and practices in curriculum construction and instructional planning are examined. Offered every semester. Face-to-face instruction in Fall. Online-synchronous instruction in Spring and Summer.

TEDU 561: Reading Foundations: Sociological/Psychological Perspectives
Multidisciplinary, multicultural aspects of reading instruction are stressed. Topics of particular importance to the classroom teacher are emphasized. Fall and summer semesters. Online-asynchronous instruction in Fall. Online-synchronous instruction in Summer.

TEDU 562: Reading Instruction in the Content Areas
Prepares teachers to apply skills and methods of reading instruction to content areas in elementary, middle and secondary school curricula. The course is offered during the fall, spring and summer semesters in an online-asynchronous format. Offered every semester. Online-asynchronous instruction.

TEDU 588: Classroom Management
Emphasis on application of classroom management, motivational and instructional theories. Offered every semester. Online-synchronous instruction in Fall and Spring with a Secondary Education focus. Online-asynchronous instruction in Summer with an Elementary focus.

TEDU 652: Methods for Teaching Multilingual Learners
Provides students who plan to teach people whose native language is not English with a variety of instructional/learning strategies. Offered every semester. Online-synchronous instruction in Summer and Fall. Hybrid instruction in Spring.

ADLT 640: Theory and Practice of eLearning and Digital Media
Students gain hands-on experience with digital tools, examining emerging media formats and learning to create, assess, and utilize digital media for effective communication and knowledge building in various adult educational settings. Fall Semester. Online-asynchronous instruction. 

ADLT 642: Design Challenges in Creating eLearning
Students skilled in instructional design and digital media tools explore design challenges, honing their eLearning skills and utilizing a platform to apply theoretical knowledge, ultimately creating effective online learning experiences for adults. Prerequisites: ADLT 640 and ADLT 643; or permission of instructor. Summer Semester. Online-asynchronous instruction.

ADLT 643: Advanced Instructional Design for Adult Learning
Students will be introduced to a variety of instructional design models and other systems and tools they will encounter in the workplace. Students have the opportunity to evaluate online learning activities to evaluate the effectiveness of online learning initiatives. Prerequisite: ADLT 640. Approval to enroll without prerequisite is on a case-by-case basis. Spring Semester. Online-asynchronous instruction.

DMS 707: The Politics of Education
Politics, for the purposes of this course, is defined as the intersection of power (who has it and how is it distributed?) and justice (who gets what and how). In this course, we will use that framing as we explore political theory in education, the macropolitics of education, and micropolitics. Even years in the Fall semester; Face-To-Face Instruction.

TEDU 551: Foundations of Bilingual Education.
Focuses on the historical foundations of bilingual education in the U.S., current models of bilingual programs in PK-12 school settings and contemporary understandings of bilingualism/biliteracy development using sociolinguistic and sociocultural perspectives. Fall semester. Online-asynchronous instruction.

TEDU 615: Curriculum Development.
A basic graduate course in curriculum development. Curriculum decision making is examined in relation to foundation areas, content areas and current educational trends. Various conceptions of curriculum are explored. Spring semester. Online-synchronous instruction.

EDUS 620: Human Development in Education
Examines issues in human development as they relate to the education of youth and young adults. Odd years in the Fall Semester; Hybrid-synchronous instruction.

EDUS 621: Motivation in Education
Examines issues in motivation as they relate to teaching and learning. Odd years in the Spring Semester; Hybrid-synchronous instruction.

EDUS 720: Seminar in Cognition and School Learning
Examines topics in cognition that explain students' learning such as expertise, problem solving, cognitive strategies instruction and development of the knowledge base. Supportive instructional techniques will also be considered. Even years in the Spring Semester; Hybrid-synchronous instruction.

EDUS 721: Advanced Seminar in Social Processes in Education
Examines the theoretical/conceptual and empirical bases of various social processes and their relationship to educational outcomes. The content covered is designed to provide students with a survey of literature and research on a number of topics that examine these relationships from individual, contextual/environmental and policy perspectives. Current developments with regard to research methodologies in these areas will also be considered. Even years in the Fall Semester; Hybrid-synchronous instruction. 

Preparing Future Faculty Certificate Course - EDUS 640: The Academic Profession
Designed to introduce graduate students to the roles and responsibilities of faculty members in institutions of higher education. Through readings, discussion and conversations with faculty members from a variety of settings, students will learn about the changing social expectations for higher education, the diverse settings in which faculty work and strategies for developing and presenting marketable academic skills. Graded as pass/fail. Fall Semester; Online-synchronous instruction.

Learning Sciences Certificate

EDUS 607: Advanced Educational Psychology
Application of the principles of psychology to the teaching-learning process. Discussion will focus on the comprehensive development of individual learning experiences and educational programs from the point of view of the PK-12 educator and administrator. Fall and Spring Semesters; Online-asynchronous instruction.

ADMS 656: Human Dimensions of Leadership: Empathy, Trust, and Care in Organizations
Effective, culturally responsive and sustaining leadership practices and approaches are grounded in humanistic relationship management with a clear understanding of human behavior and social processes. This course is about people in education-related organizations. It is designed to help leaders incorporate human dimensions of leadership focused on empathy, trust and care in organizational and community-based leadership. Course content is derived from contemporary theory, research and practice in educational, community-based and organizational behavior and leadership such as organizational theory and management; community cultural wealth; ecological/systems theory/models; community theories (sense of community, social capital, environmental psychology); and critical social and race theory, social justice and social determinants of well-being. Summer Semester. Online-asynchronous instruction.

ADMS 658: Community-Based Action Research for School and Community Sustainability 
This course introduces students to a research approach that engages school and/or community stakeholders. The course focuses on action-based research designs with a thoughtful and critical focus on community-based participatory action research and related approaches, such as participatory action research, youth participatory action research and community-engaged research. The course will explore this work as it occurs in school- and community-based settings, as well as within research-practice partnerships. Collectively, these approaches offer students not just a set of methods, but seek to equip them with the skills and insights to fundamentally change the relationship between researchers and research participants and the power dynamics of the knowledge production process. The course attends to the following questions: How can research help with addressing real-world problems in education? How can data collection and knowledge creation through praxis be participatory in a truly democratized, co-owned and emancipatory process? And, how can educational stakeholders use action research as a means to transcend disciplinary boundaries in order to positively impact social and educational change? Cross Listed as: EDUS 658. Fall Semester. Online-asynchronous instruction.

ADMS 618: Leadership for Educational Change and Improvement
Students will reflect on the past, critically review current reality in schools or organizations and creatively predict the nature of schooling or organizational effectiveness in the future in light of the responsive role of the leader. Other constructs presented include change as an educational or organizational paradigm, the use of data to inform changes for improvement, and the leader as a change agent. In addition, students will assess their school or organization for change readiness. Spring Semester. Online-asynchronous instruction.