Parent and family education licensure
Complete this program online!
Parent education in Minnesota
Important Note: This program is currently in transition from the department of Curriculum and Instruction to the department of Family Social Science. Information is currently being consolidated, but links may take you to other departmental web pages.
A teacher of parent and family education is authorized to instruct parents in an early childhood family education (ECFE) program. A parent educator plans, coordinates, and teaches in an instructional program that addresses the intellectual, emotional, cultural, social, and physical needs of both parents and children. Parent education seeks to support respectful, reciprocal interactions between parents and their children.
Interest in parent education is growing across the United States. Minnesota is recognized as a leader in this field with its statewide, legislatively supported early childhood family education (ECFE) programs offering parent education for families with young children through local school districts. In Minnesota, a parent educator license is required for employment in an ECFE program. The purpose of the license is to insure, through scholarly preparation, that parent educators are well-prepared professionals who are qualified to deliver educational programs for parents.
This program also prepares parent educators for parent education positions that do not require a Minnesota parent and family education license. For example, parent educators may find positions in health care and social service agencies and institutions and religious settings in Minnesota and in other states and countries. A parent education certificate program is also available for those who do not require a Minnesota teaching license.
Students may include licensure credits toward the M.Ed. professional studies degree (download sample M.Ed. program planning form), or the M.A. or Ph.D. degrees.
For a list of program requirements in the recommended order of completion, see the list of approved courses.
Applying to the parent and family education licensure program
- Eligibility
- Hold a baccalaureate degree from an accredited U.S. institution or foreign equivalent with a 2.80 or higher grade point average (GPA).
- Have a score of at least 213 on the computer-based TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) if the student’s primary language is other than English. A minimum score of 550 is required on the paper-based TOEFL.
- Application process
- Complete the
Application for Parent Education Licensure Program
[.pdf]
form.
Contact Heather Cline (612-624-1294, fyc@umn.edu) if you have questions
about your application. - Mail the following application materials to CEHD Student
Services (address below):
- Application for Parent Education Licensure Program
- Official transcripts from all undergraduate and graduate colleges or universities where you completed coursework, except the University of Minnesota
- A copy of your existing Minnesota teaching licenses (if any)
- Application fee: a check for $50 made out to the “University of Minnesota”
- Professional resume
College of Education and Human Development
360 Educational Sciences Building
56 East River Road
Minneapolis, MN 55455 - Application packet must be complete to be considered for admission. You will receive an admit letter, contract, and other information approximately 6-8 weeks following the application deadline date.
- Complete the
Application for Parent Education Licensure Program
[.pdf]
form.
- Application deadlines
- Summer session admission – February 01
- Fall semester admission – June 01
- Spring semester admission – October 01
IMPORTANT NOTE: A complete application packet must be received by the application deadline date. If a complete application packet is not received by the deadline, the application will be moved forward to the next semester deadline date to be considered for admission the following term.
- Application review
Once you have submitted the required application materials for a license in parent and family education, faculty and advisers will review your materials. (Download sample transcript review form) You may be asked to supply course descriptions and syllabi for courses that may meet licensure requirements on transcripts from institutions other than the University of Minnesota.
When accepted into the licensure program, you will receive a packet from the College of Education and Human Development in the mail that will include a customized contract that specifies all requirements that you will need to complete in order to be recommended to the Minnesota Department of Education for licensure. Please read through this packet carefully as you will find helpful information about getting started and taking courses at the University of Minnesota.
Note: Please immediately complete and return your Intent to Enroll form to confirm your decision to pursue licensure in the area in which you have been accepted.
Working toward a Minnesota license for teachers of parent and family education
-
MTLE: Minnesota Teacher Licensure Examinations.
The Minnesota Department of Education requires that all
students admitted to a teacher licensure program complete
the MTLE (Basic
Skills Test) before beginning any licensure coursework. This
basic skills test includes three content areas: Reading,
Writing, and Math. To learn more about the MTLE, visit http://www.mtle.nesinc.com/.
Use institutional code 6874 to have your scores submitted to the
University of Minnesota. If you already hold an active teacher
licensure in another area, you have already completed this step. This test needs to be completed before you begin the M.Ed.
licensure program. If you fail to pass one or more of the content
areas, you may begin the program and retake the exam. Passing
scores in all content areas are required for program completion.
More about the MTLE » - Register for courses. The packet your received indicating your acceptance into this program offers information on how to register for courses. You may also find it helpful to review online parent education licensure courses for course descriptions and registration information. If you need more information about how to register, please visit One Stop Student Services or contact them at 612-624-1111.
- Complete required coursework. Your CEHD student
contract will indicate the coursework remaining to fulfill licensure
requirements. See our list of
approved courses that meet licensure requirements to begin your
course selection and registration process. Check the
Class Schedule to see when the courses you need are offered.
- Apply for student teaching in the fall. CI 5949—Student Teaching in Parent Education is offered every spring semester. Students wishing to student teach in in the spring must apply in the fall. Application materials are due by October 15th. See Student Teaching in Parent Education to access forms and directions.
- Student teach in the spring.
- Maintain satisfactory progress in your program
- All courses taken in the program must be on a college or university transcript.
- Courses required for licensure may be completed at the undergraduate or graduate level.
- An overall GPA of 2.8 or higher is required with a grade of "C" or higher in all required courses.
- All courses in child development and parent education must have been completed in the ten years immediately preceding your application for licensure in parent and family education.
- Apply for your Minnesota teaching license Once
you have received passing MTLE scores, completed the coursework
needed for your parent and family education license, and confirmed
that all final grades are posted to your transcript, you are ready
to apply for your Minnesota teaching license.
- If this is your first Minnesota Teaching License, follow these Online MDE Application Instructions (pdf).
- If you hold a previous Minnesota teaching license, complete this Application for an Additional MDE License (pdf).
- Submit application materials to:
Parent and Family Education Licensure
Attn: Heather Cline
299D McNeal Hall
1985 Buford Avenue
St. Paul, MN 55108
Contact Heather Cline (612-624-1294, fyc@umn.edu) if you have questions about working toward your Minnesota license for teachers of parent and family education.
Student profile
San Ha
Through my undergraduate studies at the University of Minnesota in psychology
and philosophy, parenting two children, and volunteer teaching at Jane
Addams School for Democracy in St. Paul for immigrant families, I have
found that my most rewarding experiences have been those in which I
have had the opportunity to support children, parents, and families.
I realized the need for better education not only for children but also
for parents to enhance the quality of their family lives. I feel very
fortunate to have discovered the parent education licensure and family
education programs at the University of Minnesota. While pursuing my
parent education license, I am also working on my M.Ed. in family education.
The program is superb and perfectly matches my needs, interests, and
expectations.
As a pre-service parent educator, I have had valuable opportunities for professional practice, such as CI 5934—Practice of Parent Education I and CI 5937—Parent-Child Interactions. Those courses helped me to develop knowledge and skills to create sample lessons, curriculum and a cohesive program on certain concepts for a specific parent group I would work with. These courses also inspired me to broaden my perspectives and reflect on assumptions that I might have taken for granted.
Dr. Betty Cooke was not only an excellent scholar and distinguished expert in parent and family education but also very supportive and responsive to students. She respects different opinions and cares about each student’s progress. Moreover, she always tries to understand students regardless of their diverse backgrounds. I have had the opportunity to discuss some concepts and teaching methods, which were not clearly stated in my curriculum plan, with her after class. Instead of merely giving me a grade for the assignment, she wanted to understand how I planned the curriculum and why I had used these concepts and methods for my plan. I am very happy to have a wonderful mentor like her as my faculty advisor and strongly satisfied by learning parent education from her at the University of Minnesota.
Revised August 2011
