Current intent is to provide new programs by January of 2001. Teacher candidates earn a Colorado Provisional Teaching License while concurrently working toward a master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction. Passing scores on four state-adopted tests are also required before a candidate is eligible for a Provisional Teaching License in Colorado. The UCD program is a post-baccalaureate master's degree program. Elementary candidates must have a liberal arts major or strong liberal arts concentration of at least 18 semester hours, and secondary candidates must have a liberal arts background with a major or major-equivalent of at least 30 semester hours in their teaching field.
Admission is competitive.
Program standards are ambitious and challenging. The program curriculum is based on a set of teaching responsibilities that teacher candidates must demonstrate in order to be recommended for licensure. Teacher candidates move through the program in a cohort. The program is based on the premise that teacher education is a joint effort of university and school faculties, and both faculties share ownership and responsibility for preparing new teachers. School interships are an important part of each student's professional program.