For Courtney Hattan, one of the most persistent misunderstandings about early elementary teaching is that because the children are young, the work must be simple.

“K-2 is really important because it’s building the foundation for learning for the rest of a student’s life,” said Hattan, a literacy researcher and the Donald G. Tarbet Faculty Scholar in Education at the UNC School of Education.

Research increasingly challenges the notion that children must first “learn to read” before they can “read to learn.” Elementary teachers are continually making instructional decisions based on students’ individual strengths and needs while simultaneously advancing multiple dimensions of learning — all within the same classroom, often within the same lesson.

Visitors to an early elementary classroom may notice vibrant bulletin boards, shelves of picture books and children gathered on a colorful rug. But they don’t see the hundreds of decisions made behind the scenes: how to group students, explain a concept another way and allow more time for practice.

That is the rigor of early elementary teaching. And that is the intellectually demanding work that puts Carolina-prepared teachers center stage.

For almost a decade, many Carolina-prepared elementary teachers have entered the profession through the School of Education’s Master of Arts in Teaching program, which blends research-based coursework with extensive clinical experience in schools. This fall, the relaunch of the school’s Bachelor of Arts in Education in Elementary Education provides undergraduates with a pathway to earn dual licensure in elementary education (K–6) and either special education- general curriculum or English as a second language.

Both programs have been built on a clear understanding that the early grades are not a soft entry point into education. They are among the most consequential years in a child’s academic life.

“At Carolina, we prepare future teachers to understand how young children learn and develop as readers, writers, mathematicians, historians, scientists and problem solvers,” said Nicole Damico, MAT program director. “Our candidates learn how to assess student learning, make informed instructional decisions, differentiate for diverse learners, and build classroom communities where children feel safe, valued and challenged. They understand that great teaching is both an art and a science.”

Madison Meyer ’23, ’24 (MAT) is a first grade teacher at Carolina Community Academy, UNC-Chapel Hill’s K-2 lab school in Roxboro, North Carolina. She also interned there while a graduate student. She felt challenged through her MAT coursework to help her students connect new ideas to what they already know about themselves and the world.

“When you’re 6 years old, you don’t know how to communicate how you learn best. Teachers have to figure that out for the child,” Meyer said. “When you come into my classroom, you’ll see every child being met with their individual needs every day.”

Her students move between whole-group lessons and targeted small-group instruction, with Meyer adjusting support based on individual needs. Sometimes that means sitting one-on-one with a child who needs something different from everyone else.

That daily attention has produced extraordinary results. In just her second year of teaching, Meyer’s students achieved 100% proficiency in reading and math.

Across North Carolina, data show that Carolina-prepared beginning teachers are helping students grow.

In 2025, Education Value-Added Assessment System data showed that more than 95% of students in a Carolina-prepared beginning teacher’s classroom met or exceeded growth expectations.

Principals who hired UNC-Chapel Hill graduates as beginning teachers also rated them highly across the North Carolina Educator Effectiveness System standards. In 2024 and 2025, 100% of these Carolina-prepared beginning teachers were rated proficient on every standard by their principals.

It demonstrates that Carolina’s graduates are entering classrooms prepared for the work.

Read more about Carolina-prepared beginning teachers.