Educators are creative and unique. Rather than depending on brief, disconnected professional development days in your school, become a designer of your destiny. Take a deep dive into areas of knowledge and skills of your profession designed to impact your educational practice. Do you feel you need to know more about how to support your students with disabilities? Your language learners? Do you find yourself in a counseling role more and more and want to learn about how character education might improve classroom climate? Do you want to test the waters in educational leadership to see if administration is in your future?
Within the Master’s degree in Elementary Education several Concentration areas provide focus on high-leverage problems of practice such as designing curriculum, special education, social justice, leadership, and assessment. Two linked concentrations will support a journey to literary specialist. Come join us for collaborative dialogue on the exciting challenges around education in the 21st century!
You will have the opportunity to engage in Action Research within your own classroom or educational work settings, identifying problems of practice and collecting and analyzing data to make things better for learners. As one of the largest programs in the state, the College of Education boasts a strong research and teaching faculty recognized by national reviews for high productivity.
The M.Ed. consists of three foundation courses, two concentrations, and two teacher research courses that build on your strengths or strengthen areas that build your educator effectiveness. Each person can find the educational opportunities that impact student learning and increase the capacity for leading. Three concentrations provide opportunities for courses that lead to a certificate in an emphasis area.
Concentrations:
Marty Woytus & Kristel Schlemper
The master’s degree in Elementary Education is an accredited program appropriate for elementary teachers, specialists, department chairpersons, and those who work in informal learning or international educational settings. Candidates choose electives that will support their personal growth and development as an educational leader to impact the communities with which they work.
Diverse candidates will engage in a learner-centered environment committed to the success of historically marginalized and diverse students, research, and community engagement. Within diverse education settings, candidates will: advance pedagogical knowledge, recognize inequalities in educational opportunity, design differentiated assessments to inform practice, critically examine professional practice, and demonstrate commitment to ethical professional practice.
It is important that both candidates and advisors plan ahead to ensure courses are taken when they are offered in the schedule. Programs must be planned with an academic advisor and meet the approval of the faculty advisor, adhering to the College of Education and UMSL Graduate School policies.
The M.Ed. in Elementary Education consists of 4 required courses (12 hours) plus candidate choice from emphasis areas and electives. The general program option requirements are met by (a) completing 2 required foundation courses (6 hrs.) toward the beginning of the M.Ed. program, (b) completing the coursework for an emphasis area (9-18 hrs.), and (c) completing the 2 exit research capstone classes (6 hrs.) for a total of 30 hours.
Most emphasis areas indicate 3-6 required courses. In addition, electives allow candidates to construct an individualized set of target courses. Transfer graduate credit from another institution may also fit into elective hours.
Emphasis areas offered in ELE ED include General, Reading, Early Childhood Education, and Special Education. For the General emphasis, students take 18 hours of electives. Reading may require additional coursework for licensure, as noted. For a Curriculum & Instruction emphasis, students select the 3 Curriculum & Instruction courses and an additional 3 electives. Those who want to take 9 graduate hours in an academic content area may use the additional 3 electives to integrate this advanced work into their M.Ed. program. Required 12 hours of M.Ed. core courses plus an additional 18 hours of graduate level courses.
Required Core | ||
Students are required to complete the following courses within the first 15 hours of study. | ||
TCH ED 6010 | Examining History, Community and Social Justice in Education | 3 |
ED PSY 6030 | Instruction, Learning, and Assessment | 3 |
Required Research Courses | ||
These two research courses should be taken in sequence (not concurrently) at the end of the program. Candidates will design and execute a piece of original practitioner research and present their findings in a public forum. | ||
TCH ED 6909 | Teacher Action Research I | 3 |
TCH ED 6910 | Teacher Action Research Capstone | 3 |
Total Hours | 12 |