M.Ed. in Math/Science, 5-8 Courses

This course covers current policy and practice related to English Learners (ELs) in schools with a special focus on Sheltered English Immersion (SEI) Settings. Topics will include diversity issues, content/academic vocabulary development and literacy skills (including listening, speaking, reading and writing) to provide teachers with the knowledge and strategies to support ELs in classrooms. 

*May be waived with documented, state-approved sheltered English immersion (SEI) endorsement.

This course introduces students to the reality of schools as diverse spaces encompassing a range of student needs and examines efforts to ensure equity in education. Issues of race, class, culture, language, gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, and ability will be discussed & examined, especially how they intersect to reproduce inequality. Students will reflect on individual beliefs in relation to social justice education and democratic education and examine unintended consequences of policy/practice that create or perpetuate inequitable environments and opportunities in schools. Strategies for promoting educational equity and inclusivity will be discussed.

This course examines and unpacks contemporary issues in the field of education and provides prospective teachers with a beginning foundation for understanding the teaching profession and the U.S. education system, including policy and governance. The historical, legal, ethical, and pedagogical foundations for social justice education and democratic education will be explored, as well as the education reform context and emerging policies. The course will include an examination of professional ethics and standards. 

Required field experience.

This course explores supportive, preventative, and proactive approaches to addressing the social and academic behaviors of students with disabilities and other diverse populations. Strategies for developing a positive classroom climate to support social and emotional development, including trauma and anxiety, will be central to the learning of the course. A variety of approaches, including the connection between communication & behavior, identifying contributing factors to challenging behavior, FBA, and behavior support plans will be explored. 

This course is taken concurrently with a graduate practicum or internship. This capstone seminar will focus on social justice education, professional culture, family & community engagement, collaboration, and curriculum and planning for educational contexts. Students will reflect on experiences in the practica/internship site and current issues and best practice in education, including trauma and social emotional learning.

This course explores how curriculum built on the goal of student understanding, integrated with instructional approaches that emphasize reaching every learner, can provide teachers with more specific teaching targets and more flexible ways to reach them. Students will examine the teaching, instruction, and curricula required to meet the needs of diverse learners, who by virtue of their experiential, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds, challenge traditional curriculum and instructional programs.

Course participants will determine how to deconstruct curricular barriers and create and apply curricular solutions, including assistive technology and AAC, to maximize access and academic success.

This course examines the role of school in adolescents’ identity development, middle school/middle level education and philosophy, including the historical context to current best practice. Emphasis is on the adolescent brain, the developmental, emotional, and intellectual traits of the diverse adolescent learner, and resulting implications for teaching and learning. Adolescent learners are examined in and out of school contexts, with an emphasis on diversity, culture, and inclusivity and historically minoritized groups. 

This three-credit course provides an in depth look at the teaching and learning of science in the middle school (grades 5-8). Students will acquire an understanding of the content (Earth & Space Science, Life Science, Physical Science, Technology & Engineering) and practices of middle school science along with highly effective instructional practices for teaching science to early adolescents. This course is centered around inquiry learning, and authentic assessment for science in the middle school. 

This three-credit course provides an in depth look at the teaching and learning of mathematics in the middle school (grades 5-8). Students will acquire an understanding of the content (ratio and proportionality; expressions and equations; statistics and probability; the number system; geometry; and functions) and practices of middle school mathematics along with highly effective instructional practices for teaching mathematics to early adolescents. This course is centered around high leverage routines, problem-based learning, and authentic assessment for mathematics in the middle school. 

This three-credit course provides an opportunity to unpack the perspective of various academic content areas through action/inquiry research. This course will assist teacher candidates in developing professional voice through the inquiry process. Inquiry and action research provides educators, administrators, and community leaders a method to study classroom challenges using an emic, or “insiders” perspective in order to investigate and improve their practice. This course will provide teacher candidates with the knowledge and skills needed to use action/inquiry research as a basis to make curricular and instructional decisions both school-wide and at the classroom level, and develop an action research project to address a school or classroom issue.