Instruction:
Teaching and Learning

Master of Education

About This Program | Program Requirements | Admission

About This Program

Program Purpose

The Master of Education in Instruction: Teaching and Learning focuses on issues of teaching and learning from the perspective of the practicing classroom teacher. Candidates are provided with the knowledge, skills, and experiences needed to enhance student learning and to increase their effectiveness as teachers and instructional leaders. The program addresses research, theory, and best practices related to: removing barriers to student achievement, learning environment and school culture, educational reform, and the appropriate uses of technology. Translating theory into practice is a primary emphasis. The program consists of eleven 3-credit courses and a 3-credit practitioner research project, the Integrated, Independent Study Project, for a total of 36 credits.

Program Competencies

The M.Ed. program in Instruction is designed to produce educators who will:

1. Explain the role of effective interpersonal and relational skills in enhancing teaching and learning, community involvement, school leadership and improvement, and decision making, and apply those skills in authentic settings.
2. Develop effective plans for developing and communicating a shared vision of teaching and learning within an organization and the community it serves.
3. Explain and apply the components of an effective teacher appraisal and improvement model using relevant theories, practices, and developments in the evaluation and supervision of classroom instruction and staff.
4. Construct a plan for organizing and managing a classroom to maximize student engagement time in lesson-related activities using selected relevant theories and techniques.
5. Explain and demonstrate multiple strategies for measuring student learning and making data-driven instructional decisions.
6. Identify and explain legal and ethical issues that affect the teaching/learning environment.
7. Develop a written plan for curriculum development and implementation in a content area and instructional level (P-12) of choice.
8. Demonstrate the knowledge and skills required to select and effectively use instructional and administrative technology applications in the school.
9. Develop an instructional leadership plan that addresses a critical issue in a P-12 school based upon selected theories and principles.
10. Identify barriers to student achievement and implement instructional strategies that will improve learning for a diverse student population.
11. Develop and apply classroom strategies for ensuring fair and equitable treatment of all students and demonstrate familiarity with several models for minimizing behavior problems in the classroom.
12. Develop and implement a self-directed research project addressing a major teaching/learning issue in the school environment.

Outcomes Assessment

Multiple assessments are used to determine candidate growth toward achievement of the knowledge, skills, and dispositions described in M.Ed. Instruction: Teaching and Learning program competencies and college-wide graduation competencies. Rubrics-based evaluations of fieldwork, projects, assignments, research papers, and final grades for courses represent the first level of assessment. Goals, learning outcomes and activities, external assignments, and assessment strategies are linked directly to program and graduation competencies and are clearly stated on each course syllabus. Other assessment strategies include individual progress and advising conferences, observations of candidate performance in authentic settings, and a capstone practitioner research project.