Curriculum and Instruction

This degree is delivered as a fully on-line program.

The Master of Education in Elementary or Secondary Education is designed to promote individual change within the professional practice of the educators enrolled in the program.  The underpinning philosophical orientation is to extend the candidate’s prior knowledge and experiences including an understanding of research, research methods, learning, and practices that support learning.  The program is directed toward the critical analysis of the philosophical, historical, and empirical foundations of curriculum development and the impact of diverse cultural influences on teaching and learning.  Students are encouraged to work in cohorts and are expected to explore and use professional tools of inquiry to become broad-minded learners and effective developers of human potential.

There are four different tracks available to students:  Curriculum & Instruction emphasis, Reading emphasis, Middle Level emphasis (with available endorsement), and Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages-TESOL emphasis (with available endorsement).  Neither the Curriculum and Instruction nor the Reading emphasis tracks lead to licensure.  Both of these tracks are intended to strengthen the practice of the classroom teacher.  The Middle Level emphasis track allows students the benefit of taking the required courses for endorsement, which can then be applied toward the advanced degree.  Likewise, the TESOL track allows students to take the required courses for the endorsement, and those courses can then be applied toward the advanced degree.  (Note:  the courses required for the TESOL endorsement are only offered face-to-face.)