The Master of Arts in Teaching: Middle Grades Education program is designed to prepare qualified professional for teaching in middle school settings.
Licensure: Upon successful completion of Middle Grades Education: Licensure degree requirements, candidates are eligible to apply for a Professional Educator License (PEL) with a middle grades endorsement from the state of Illinois for grades 5 through 8.
Non-Licensure: Upon successful completion of Middle Grades Education: Non-Licensure degree requirements, candidates are not eligible to apply for any state of Illinois endorsement.
Pathway 1: Upon successful completion of Pathway 1 degree requirements, candidates are eligible to apply for a Professional Educator License (PEL) with an elementary endorsement from the state of Illinois for grades 5 through 8.
Degree Requirements - Licensure
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Prerequisites to Professional Courses | ||
| EDUC-6045 | Introduction to Theories of Learning and Cognition | 3 |
| EDUC-6435 | Introduction to Education | 3 |
| Professional Courses: Students must be admitted to Teacher Candidacy to continue | ||
| EDSC-6230 | Literacy Instruction for Content Area Classrooms: Middle and Secondary | 3 |
| EDSC-6570 | Teaching Diverse Learners at the Secondary Level | 3 |
| EDUC-6040 | Introduction to Classroom Teaching and Technology for Learning | 3 |
| EDUC-6060 | Classroom Management and Assessment | 3 |
| EDUC-6290 | Characteristics and Instruction of Exceptional Learners | 3 |
| EDUC-6415 | Professional Responsibility and Ethics for Teachers | 3 |
| EDUC-6445 | Introduction to Research: Pre-Service Teachers | 3 |
| Select one of the following courses per chosen major (3 hours): | ||
| EDSC-6602 | Content and Methods for Teaching English at the Middle and Secondary Levels | 3 |
| EDSC-6606 | Content and Methods for Teaching Mathematics at the Middle and Secondary Levels | 3 |
| EDSC-6618 | Content and Methods for Teaching Science at the Middle and Secondary Levels | 3 |
| EDSC-6619 | Content and Methods for Teaching Social Science at the Middle and Secondary Levels | 3 |
| Student Teaching Internship | ||
| EDUC-6985 | Student Teaching Seminar 2 | 0 |
| Select one: | ||
| EDUC-6923 | Student Teaching Internship for Middle Grade Teachers | 6 |
| EDUC-6925 | MAT Capstone 1 | 3 |
| Total Hours | 33-36 | |
- 1
This course may only be taken with special approval of the Director of Field Experience and the Division Chair
- 2
To be taken concurrently with student teaching or capstone.
Students may not take a course as Pass/Fail if the course is mandated by their licensure program through ISBE, excluding the student teaching internship, MAT capstone, and the edTPA courses.
Students must have a grade of C or higher in all master's courses and content coursework for successful program completion.
Required Content Coursework (18 semester hours from one area below):
- Requires grades of C or higher in college-level coursework (not remedial) to fulfill content coursework requirements.
- Must be completed at regionally accredited institution(s) of higher education and be documented on official transcript(s).
English Language Arts
- 3 semester hours: American Literature
- 3 semester hours: Additional Literature course
- 3 semester hours: Compostion or Writing
- 3 semester hours: Communication or Speech
- 6 additional semester hours from required categories above or journalism, grammar, non-print media, literacy, linguistics, or rhetoric.
Mathematics
- 3 semester hours: Calculus I
- 3 semester hours: Calculus II
- 3 semester hours: Linear Algebra
- 3 semester hours: College Geometry (beyond analytical geometry)
- 3 semester hours: Statistics/Probability
- 3 additional semester hours in abstract algebra, history of math, group/ring/number theory or proof, probability, real/complex analysis, or discrete math/computer science (mathematical aspects)
Science
- 3-4 semester hours: Physical Science (autecology, conservation, dendrology, ecosystems, entomology, forestry courses as related to ecology and habitat management, population dynamics, and silviculture, chemistry, Analytical chemistry, atomic structures, biochemistry, organic chemistry, physical chemistry, quantitative chemistry, thermodynamics, physics, electricity, nuclear physics, physics, quantum mechanics, radioactivity, relativity, solid state physics, thermodynamics)
- 3-4 semester hours: Life Science (anatomy, bacteriology, biochemistry, biology, botany, embryology, endocrinology, ethology, evolution, genetics, herpetology, microbiology, mycology, ornithology, paleontology, physiology, plant taxonomy, synecology, zoology)
- 3-4 semester hours: Earth and Space Science (astronomy, cosmology, earth science, environmental geography, geology, geomatics, geomorphology, hydrology, landscape ecology, meteorology, mineralogy, oceanography, physical geography (land masses, physical landscapes, etc.), weather/climatology)
- Additional hours of science courses (including Physical Science, Life Science and/or Earth and Space Science) to reach 18 hours
Social Science
- 3 semester hours: History of Illinois
- 3 semester hours: U.S. History
- 3 semester hours: World History
- 3 semester hours: Additional history course
- 6 additional semester hours from required categories above or geography, civics and government, or economics.
Clinical Experience (Pre-Professional Hours)
- Minimum of 100 hours (all pre-professional hours are embedded in the MAT coursework).
- Each course will describe the number of hours required to be completed in classrooms and the nature of the experience that a candidate must complete.
Pathway 2: Pathway 2 graduates are not eligible to apply for any state of Illinois endorsement upon completion of this program.
Degree Requirements - Non-Licensure
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Prerequisites to Professional Courses | ||
| EDUC-6045 | Introduction to Theories of Learning and Cognition | 3 |
| EDUC-6435 | Introduction to Education | 3 |
| Professional Courses | ||
| EDSC-6230 | Literacy Instruction for Content Area Classrooms: Middle and Secondary | 3 |
| EDSC-6570 | Teaching Diverse Learners at the Secondary Level | 3 |
| EDUC-6040 | Introduction to Classroom Teaching and Technology for Learning | 3 |
| EDUC-6060 | Classroom Management and Assessment | 3 |
| EDUC-6290 | Characteristics and Instruction of Exceptional Learners | 3 |
| EDUC-6415 | Professional Responsibility and Ethics for Teachers | 3 |
| EDUC-6445 | Introduction to Research: Pre-Service Teachers | 3 |
| Select one of the following courses per chosen major (3 hours): | ||
| EDSC-6602 | Content and Methods for Teaching English at the Middle and Secondary Levels | 3 |
| EDSC-6606 | Content and Methods for Teaching Mathematics at the Middle and Secondary Levels | 3 |
| EDSC-6618 | Content and Methods for Teaching Science at the Middle and Secondary Levels | 3 |
| EDSC-6619 | Content and Methods for Teaching Social Science at the Middle and Secondary Levels | 3 |
| Total Hours | 30 | |
Students must have a grade of C or higher in all master's courses and content coursework for successful program completion.
Required Content Coursework (18 semester hours from one area below):
- Requires grades of C or higher in college-level coursework (not remedial) to fulfill content coursework requirements.
- Must be completed at regionally accredited institution(s) of higher education and be documented on official transcript(s).
English Language Arts
- 3 semester hours: American Literature
- 3 semester hours: Additional Literature course
- 3 semester hours: Compostion or Writing
- 3 semester hours: Communication or Speech
- 6 additional semester hours from required categories above or journalism, grammar, non-print media, literacy, linguistics, or rhetoric.
Mathematics
- 3 semester hours: Calculus I
- 3 semester hours: Calculus II
- 3 semester hours: Linear Algebra
- 3 semester hours: College Geometry (beyond analytical geometry)
- 3 semester hours: Statistics/Probability
- 3 additional semester hours in abstract algebra, history of math, group/ring/number theory or proof, probability, real/complex analysis, or discrete math/computer science (mathematical aspects)
Science
- 3-4 semester hours: Physical Science (autecology, conservation, dendrology, ecosystems, entomology, forestry courses as related to ecology and habitat management, population dynamics, and silviculture, chemistry, Analytical chemistry, atomic structures, biochemistry, organic chemistry, physical chemistry, quantitative chemistry, thermodynamics, physics, electricity, nuclear physics, physics, quantum mechanics, radioactivity, relativity, solid state physics, thermodynamics)
- 3-4 semester hours: Life Science (anatomy, bacteriology, biochemistry, biology, botany, embryology, endocrinology, ethology, evolution, genetics, herpetology, microbiology, mycology, ornithology, paleontology, physiology, plant taxonomy, synecology, zoology)
- 3-4 semester hours: Earth and Space Science (astronomy, cosmology, earth science, environmental geography, geology, geomatics, geomorphology, hydrology, landscape ecology, meteorology, mineralogy, oceanography, physical geography (land masses, physical landscapes, etc.), weather/climatology)
- Additional hours of science courses (including Physical Science, Life Science and/or Earth and Space Science) to reach 18 hours
Social Science
- 3 semester hours: History of Illinois
- 3 semester hours: U.S. History
- 3 semester hours: World History
- 3 semester hours: Additional history course
- 6 additional semester hours from required categories above or geography, civics and government, or economics.
Clinical Experience (Pre-Professional Hours)
- Minimum of 100 hours (all pre-professional hours are embedded in the MAT coursework).
- Each course will describe the number of hours required to be completed in classrooms and the nature of the experience that a candidate must complete.