Education and Teacher Licensure
If you dream of a career as a teacher, Randolph College prepares you to become a leader in education at the undergraduate and graduate levels.
Why Study Education at Randolph?
Complementing a strong liberal arts foundation, a well-planned sequence of professional education courses and multiple field experiences prepare you to enter the classroom with enthusiasm and confidence.
The mission of the Educator Preparation Program is to provide an educational environment that prepares teacher candidates to teach effectively, to act as leaders in school communities, and to serve as agents of equity and change. The Program emphasizes:
- effective instructional strategies that meet the learning needs of all children
- professional attitudes and behaviors
- positive values toward diversity and the needs of culturally and educationally diverse learners
- skills in using technology as an effective teaching and management tool
Randolph College offers a Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) with emphasis on either Curriculum & Instruction (elementary or secondary education) or Special Education.
Education majors have the option completing a 5-year program which includes a bachelor’s degree, teacher licensure, and a master’s degree.
Degrees offered
Elementary Education BS
Physics Education BA
Earth Science Education minor
Teacher Licensure
Curriculum & Instruction MAT
Special Education MAT
Related Programs
Physics
Psychology
Teacher Licensure
The Randolph College Educator Preparation Program (EPP) is accredited by the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP).
All licensure programs are approved by the Virginia Department of Education. Students who complete our course of study have met all the state’s education requirements for initial licensure to teach in Virginia’s elementary or secondary schools.
Virginia has reciprocity agreements with more than 40 states and territories.
The education program offers licensure in the following areas:
- Elementary Education (preK–6)
- Biology (6–12)
- Chemistry (6–12)
- Computer Science (6–12)
- Earth Science (6–12)
- English (6–12)
- Health & Physical Education (preK–12)
- History and Social Science (6–12)
- Mathematics (6–12)
- Physics (6–12)
- Spanish (preK–12)
- Theatre Arts (preK–12)
- Visual Arts (preK–12)
Add-on endorsement areas include:
Algebra I (6–12)
Prepare for a Teaching Career
Build a Solid Foundation
The philosophical foundation of Randolph College’s Educator Education Preparation Program begins with the fundamental belief that culture and community influence learning.
Our social constructivist approach based on Vygotsky’s theories combines research, social responsibility, effective instructional practice, content expertise, and leadership skills.
Candidates develop reflective practices to analyze their assumptions and beliefs so that they have the confidence to make informed decisions in classrooms. In recognizing and meeting individual needs, candidates establish safe, humane, and caring learning environments.
Candidates engage in professional work that includes understanding and implementing action research designed to inform instructional practices.
The Program helps you develop the skills you need to become an effective teacher, including an understanding of:
- learning theory
- child growth and development
- cognitive and language development
- educational goals and objectives
- cultural influences on learning
- curriculum planning and design
- instructional techniques, planning and management
- design and use of evaluation and measurement methods
- classrooms and schools and social systems
- school law
- instructional technology
- collaborative and consultative skills
Prepare For Your Future
Our Career Development Center works with you one-on-one to help with your job search or applications for graduate school.
If you want to supplement your Randolph College degree with a graduate degree in education by pursuing an M.Ed., a Ph.D., or an Ed.D., the Career Development Center can also provide assistance with preparation for graduate school.
Opportunities for Experience
Internship/Practicum
There’s no substitute for getting in the classroom and observing the techniques of successful teachers and/or practicing what you’ve learned in the classroom.
That’s why your program will include extensive practicum experience. All candidates for teacher licensure are required to do a semester-long internship, teaching in the subject area of their endorsement.
You’ll gain invaluable experience as you observe different teaching styles and gain understanding of different learning styles of students. You’ll develop the skills you need to become an effective teacher, including:
- acquiring organizational and planning skills
- honing your leadership skills
- developing collaborative and consultative skills
- learning to conceptualize
- using current technology for professional presentations and as a teaching tool
Randolph College Nursery School
Many of our students work part-time at the College’s on-campus Nursery School.
Education majors have the opportunity to work in the nursery school and to observe and gain valuable experience facilitating child-centered curriculum teaching models.
Randolph College SciFest
Every year Randolph College students organize and host SciFest, a 3-day science and learning festival for local schoolchildren.
Randolph student and faculty volunteers lead activities, exhibits, labs, and talks designed to get young girls and boys interested in and excited about science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).
In addition to science activites for both elementary and preschool students, guests enjoy national guest speakers, a Pi Day fun run, women in science panel, poetry jam, LEGO league, drones and robots, petting zoo, and more.
The free event draws thousands of children and families to campus every year.
The Randolph Experience
Research
Randolph students work with their faculty mentors on advanced research projects with help from the Center for Student Research.
Randolph’s intensive eight-week Summer Research Program enables students to conduct research that is complemented by a thorough review of the relevant literature; live in a residence hall on campus, participate in on-campus summer events, attend special seminars with guest speakers; and share the progress and results of their research.
Many students present their findings at the annual Symposium of Artists and Scholars.
Small Classes
Randolph professors offer unique, engaging courses on topics like diversity, special education, and the teacher’s role as a mentor.
The Honor Code
Randolph students live by our Honor Code and act with the highest integrity in both academic and social life.
Study Abroad
Opportunities for study elsewhere, such as in the Washington Semester Programs at the American University in Washington, D.C., as well as study-abroad programs, are available.
Intercultural Competence
All Randolph students learn global citizenship with the capability to accurately understand and adapt to cultural differences and find commonality.
Outcomes
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Name, major
position title
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Top Ranked Professors
Randolph College’s faculty are consistently recognized as among the best in the nation. The Princeton Review ranked the College in the Top 20 for most accessible professors in the 2021 edition of its flagship college guide, The Best 387 Colleges.
Randolph has been ranked in the top 20 for most accessible professors for four consecutive years.
Education Faculty
Peggy Schimmoeller
Professor of Education, Director of the Master of Arts in Teaching program
Read More... Peggy SchimmoellerOnly at Randolph
Randolph students can take advantage of unique programs which give them a more enriching education than can be found anywhere else.
The Randolph Innovative Student Experience (RISE) program provides every student a $2,000 grant to fund research, creative work, experiential learning or other scholarly pursuits.
Two courses per half-mester means you get to focus in and dig deep into your coursework while still having time for the rest of the college experience. Two classes. Seven weeks. Repeat.
Randolph graduates learn to think critically, solve problems and work well with others. They are prepared to succeed in all aspects of life.
Randolph students work with faculty mentors to explore a broad range of disciplines as they chart their academic path.
