A special education degree is for those students seeking to find a career teaching or training people with disabilities. The program concentrates on how to handle students with mental, physical or psychological disabilities. The federal government requires each state to provide every student with an education or access to an education. Each state has criteria for becoming a special education teacher as well as for what courses are necessary to to qualify as a special education teacher.
An elementary education degree is required by most states before you can teach or train students at the elementary school level. This level sometimes runs through the fifth grade, but some states have elementary requirements up to sixth grade, depending on the size of the school district. Elementary education degrees requires you to learn about every subject from math to the sciences, because at the elementary level the teacher provides the children with coursework in every subject. The explosion in information technology makes it almost mandatory that an elementary education degree include training in computers and information technology.
An education degree to become a high school teacher is much different from that of the elementary level. A student seeking to become a high school teacher receives an eduction degree in a specialized field. The education degree qualifies you to train or teach high school students in a particular subject such as math, English, a foreign language, biology or social studies. Most states require a high school teacher to have a bachelor of arts degree in eduction along with several completed credits hours in the subject they teach.
An education degree in early childhood development is different from an elementary education degree, because the children you will teach are too young to attend elementary school. The early childhood development degree trains you to educate children from 3-years-old to 6-years-old. Coursework in child psychology, nutrition, literature for children and even first-aid are required for an early childhood development education degree. People with this type of education degree can find work in childcare facilities, at kindergartens or in state ran Head Start programs.