Minnesota’s only Early Childhood Careers licensure program.
Flexible/online. Self-paced. Grant funded.

More than 250 teachers to date have earned their licenses through our programs. Our programs provide a personalized and efficient path to licensure without tuition, grades, textbooks, or the traditional confines of the academic year.

Schedule a Meeting to Learn More or Enroll

Jump to: About the Early Childhood Careers License | About our Licensure Program | Program Enrollment | Program Cost | Program Standards | FAQs

About the CTE Early Childhood Careers License

A Minnesota CTE Family & Consumer Science (FCS) teacher licensed in Early Childhood Careers (300500) is authorized to provide instruction to students in grades 7 through 12 in preparation for careers that relate to families and human needs such as prenatal through adolescence child development, family and community services, personal care, education, and consumer services. There are more than 206 schools in Minnesota with FCS programs, with high demand for the CTE Early Childhood Careers license.

Early Childhood Careers (300500) teachers are qualified to teach child care, human development, pre-school, careers in education, child care/pre-school operations, and more (see courses). FCS teachers provide students a competitive advantage in their career goals through career exploration and preparation, technical skill instruction, industry experience through internships and simulated enterprises, and leadership and social-emotional development by advising a chapter of the FCCLA student organization.

Courses in Family and Consumer Science Education: Early Childhood Careers

– Introduction to Family and Consumer Science Education/Early Childhood Careers
– Career Exploration

– Child Care Operations and Careers
– Child and Human Development
– Infant and Toddler Care
– Pre-School Development
– Pre-School Operations
– Early-Childhood Work-Based Learning

– Education Careers
– Teacher Cadet/Internship
– Education Work-Based Learning

About our Licensure Program

Our online, flexible Early Childhood Careers program is both initial licensure for teachers new to the profession who are industry experts (i.e., Tier 1) and working toward permanency (Tier 3), and additional licensure for teachers who hold a current teaching license (Tier 3 or 4) and are looking to add another licensure area. Individuals without either industry experience or teaching experience (e.g., a recent high school graduate) would be best served in a traditional teacher preparation program.

Teachers joining the profession with a Tier 1 or Tier 2 license often have years of industry experience, industry-recognized certifications and credentials, and training that provides significant relevance to the classroom. We value that experience. Tier 1 (industry experts) and Tier 3 are really just two sides of the same coin. While a Tier 3 teacher has formal training in education, they often struggle to master all of the subject-matter content and industry skills, compared to a Tier 1 teacher who knows their content and subject-matter well, but is still learning how to teach. Tier 3 teachers can use professional development to slowly grow and master the subject-matter content, but for too long industry experts and Tier 1 teachers were expected to return to college for a degree, take night or weekend classes, and pay thousands of dollars in tuition to master the teaching skills. This is often unrealistic. We believe teachers should focus on their students, and our program will help you do that, while earning your Tier 3 license.

PELSB-Approved

State Licensing Board Approved Program in Early Childhood Careers

Enrollment Requirements

To enroll in our PELSB-approved teaching licensure program for Minnesota 7-12 Early Childhood Careers, candidates must meet just four requirements:

  • Five years industry experience, an industry certification, or a degree in the content area.
  • A teaching offer or currently teaching in a Minnesota school district.
  • Experience working with students.
  • An interview with program staff.

Removing barriers to licensure.

  • Candidates teach using their industry experience while completing licensure—and earning a paycheck.
  • Simple and free enrollment process—no ACT or GRE testing, or GPA requirements.
  • No application or enrollment fees—the program is grant funded and free for those accepted.
Schedule a Meeting to Learn More or Enroll

Cost

Initial Licensure

$7,000

This program is generally free for teacher candidates accepted into the program thanks to grant funding from the Service Cooperatives’ CTE Consortium Grant and PELSB’s Pathways Preparation Grant.

additional licensure

$3,500

This program is generally free for teacher candidates accepted into the program thanks to grant funding from the federal Perkins Grant and the Minnesota Service Cooperatives’ CTE Consortium Grant.

Program Required Standards

Our licensure program is flexible and self-paced. We start by mapping out any current industry experience, teaching experience, and prior knowledge or coursework you have to specific licensure standards; we do not need you to complete extra work for standards you are already an expert in. We then design a custom plan with you for any standards that are unmet and you need help with. This usually looks like professional development, online modules, participating in teacher organization trainings, etc.; a custom experience that best fits how you want to learn. Throughout the program, and even after program completion, we provide mentoring, coaching, curriculum, and resources to ensure your success. Ultimately, when you are able to show proficiency in all of the standards, we recommend you to PELSB for licensure.

Rethinking teacher preparation.

  • Competency and standards-based instruction—no mandatory assignments, grades, or homework.
  • Content is both online and available in-person to best fit your unique needs—no rigid schedules or required classes.
  • Recognition of prior experience, training, and certifications—no need to complete extra work for standards you are already an expert in.
  • Student teaching is at your own school in your own classroom.
  • Flexible timeline—complete as fast or as slow as you are able to, depending on your needs.
See an Example Online Module

Pedagogy/Methods: Standards of Effective Practice (8710.2000)

  • LRN1: Learning Theory and Educational Psychology
  • LRN2: Student Culture, Language, and Reading
  • LRN3: Student Exceptionalities
  • LRN4: Student Mental Health and Substance Use
  • LRN5: Student Equity and Social Justice Theory
  • LRN6: American Indian History and Culture
  • CTE1: CTE Field Experience
  • CTE2: CTE Clinical Student Teaching
  • MTH1: Context – Environmental Conditions for Learning
  • MTH2: State – Teaching Methods
  • MTH3: Result – Review and Assessment
  • MTH4: Instructional Planning
  • PRO1: Teacher Responsibilities and Student Rights
  • PRO2: Teacher Self-Reflection and Use of Resources
  • PRO3: Teacher Leadership and Professional Learning Communities

Core Skills: Teachers of CTE (8710.8000)

  • COR1: State and Federal Laws, Policies, and Data Practices
  • COR2: CTE Curriculum and Course Development
  • COR3: Safe and Appropriate Methods of Instruction
  • COR4: Career Development Theory and Practice
  • COR5: Management of Learning Environments

Subject Matter: Early Childhood Careers (8710.8060)

Optional: Teacher Coordinator of Work-Based Learning Endorsement (8710.4825)

  • WBL1: Central Concepts, Inquiry, History, and Context
  • WBL2: Customizing the WBL Experience
  • WBL3: Implementing the Infrastructure
  • WBL4: Guiding Partnerships

Frequently Asked Questions

FCS Frequently Asked Questions

Vocational Education (Vo-Ed) evolved into Career and Technical Education (CTE) in the 1990s and 2000s. The 2018 Perkins V Strengthening Career and Technical Education act definitively shifted Vocational Education to Career and Technical Education, dropping the word vocational from the act’s title. At a very superficial level, CTE and Vo-Ed look like they are the same thing, but philosophically they are fundamentally different. CTE provides students with experiences from career exploration and career development all the way to occupation-specific technical skills leading to careers that are high-skill, high-wage, and in-demand. CTE programs align secondary, postsecondary, business, and industry to create multiple opportunities in a career pathway. The philosophy of vocational education was to provide those very specific technical skills tracking towards a specific job right out of high school. References to vocational, Vo-Ed, or Voc-Ed are antiquated and conjure up an image that is not reflective of the vast array of today’s highly technical and in-demand careers.

Licensure Frequently Asked Questions

As a result of a legislative appropriation and funding from several grants, we are generally able to offer our program to candidates at no cost to them personally. There is a limited number of spaces based on this grant funding. Some Perkins consortia have also prioritized teacher recruitment and retention, a required component of their local plans, and may have funding to support these costs.

LCSC’s program is self-paced, not time-based, and takes candidates varying times based on backgrounds and experiences. Some candidates have been able to complete the stack of modules in as short of time as approximately six weeks, some candidates have taken much longer.

LCSC’s licensure program is an alternative teacher preparation program, which is defined in statute as a teacher preparation program based not in higher education. LCSC’s program is highly individualized. LCSC is most concerned about the application of the content and not simply the knowledge of it; which is atypical of most traditional teacher preparation experiences. This does take some getting used to for most candidates, but also provides for a rich learning experience in the end.

We do not award grades or academic credit. The program can take a year or less or several years, depending on the candidate.

LCSC’s program is all virtual and on-demand, except for any required field experiences, which must be school-based under Minnesota Rule. The field experience is job embedded and only in extreme circumstances would require the candidate to take time off their normal teaching duties. We offer some instructional components as in-person professional development as well, which can replace virtual components, but these are opt-in and for candidates who prefer in-person to online. In-person professional development is scheduled regionally across the state, based on demand.

A “CTE license” is a Minnesota teaching license in which the teacher has learned the foundational skills of career and technical education as well as the content and technical skills required for their curriculum. Technically, there is no specific statutory or rule language that refers to a license as a “CTE license;” however, there is language that indicates “appropriately licensed CTE teacher,” which is generally the same. It is also important to note that “CTE licenses” are a category of licenses, not a specific license. CTE licenses are content/career specific, for example agriculture, construction, medical. A full list of current CTE licenses is available here.

In current statute and rule, there is no reference to vocational certification or CTE certification. Vocational licenses have not been issued in Minnesota since 1999. Most people who hold an old vocational license have now retired, but those who have them are still able to renew them. The licenses were very specific to a skillset and aligned to a skilled trade. Minnesota only issues licenses and endorsements to licenses, not certifications. These terms often refer to licenses that are no longer available. To avoid confusion, these terms should not be used.