Master of Education in High School English (8-12)

This program has been approved by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education for Initial Teaching Licensure in English (8-12) in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

In this high school education program leading to Initial licensure, students learn practical skills for working with diverse student populations and receive a thorough grounding in best practices for instruction and assessment. During the program, they encounter the most current research and theory on adolescence and high schools, and they learn to think critically about the contemporary high school while broadening their subject area knowledge base and engaging actively with current educational technologies. Students conduct action research and practice new-found skills and knowledge in a 14-week practicum experience.

Prerequisite: Completion of a college or university's requirements for a major in English, or passing the Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure (MTEL) in English prior to admittance to the program.

*Must be completed prior to the practicum and include field-based assignments.
**As early in the program as possible, and prior to the practicum, students must complete a 75-hour Early Field Experience in a classroom appropriate to the license sought. In some cases, recent appropriate classroom experience may be used to document this requirement. (This is not a credit-bearing course, and there are no fees required.)
***For current information on state testing requirements for initial licensure programs, MTEL test administration dates in MA, and the Lesley University MTEL policy, see Lesley's Certification Office web page.

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

EEDUC 6201 Cultures of the High School
This course is designed to guide pre-service educators and others interested in how the role of schools in US society in the formation of the knowledge, strategies and dispositions fundamental to the practice of a middle and high school professional educator. Students will study the social educational philosophies underlying various proposals for the design and management of ideal schooling arrangements, and participate in learning projects. Course aims will be accomplished through the reading of primary source documents, open-ended and deliberative class discussions, and the completion of both formal and informal writing tasks.

EEDUC 6203 Principles of Teaching, Learning, and Assessment in the Inclusive Secondary Classroom
This course is designed to provide pre-service and in-service educators with the knowledge, skills, and strategies fundamental to the best practices of inclusive education in secondary schools. Students will study and learn what to teach, how to teach all students, how students with special needs learn, and how to assess in what ways students learn. Course goals will be accomplished through the reading of pedagogical works, modeling by the instructor, direct instruction, class activities, the completion of both formal and informal writing assignments, and the design and execution of a unit plan, lesson plans, and a teaching lesson.

EEDUC 6100 Adolescent Development in the Context of Families, Communities, and Schools
Students will investigate the historical, contemporary, cultural, physical, and psychological aspects of this important stage of human development. While learning about the characteristics of adolescents, learners will reflect on their own experiences and come to know themselves more fully. A goal of this course is to apply theory to authentic experience so that pre- and in-service teachers develop an appreciation and understanding of how the institutions of society, and specifically schools, can best serve this age group.

EEDUC 6101 Content Area Literacy
This course explores the ways in which content knowledge is accessed through specific disciplinary literacies. The course examines schema-based and text-based reading comprehension strategies, including vocabulary strategies, and investigates how a wide range of text types and genres support content area learning. Teaching tools and formative assessments are constructed, analyzed, and used to shape future instruction and meet diverse language needs. Writing is examined as a means of developing and demonstrating content area knowledge. Critical literacy is explored as a mechanism for disciplinary understanding. (new description effective 1/1/10)

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EEDUC 6041 Sheltered Content Instruction
This course is designed to equip teachers with essential knowledge and skills to effectively organize and implement instruction appropriate for English Language Learners at different levels of English proficiency. A primary focus will be on Sheltered English and the SIOP Model. Students will master instructional strategies and design lessons compatible with these principles and relate them to the Curriculum Frameworks. The course content will be learned through the kinds of experiential, participatory, and process-oriented strategies that are used successfully with English language learners and build reflective practices.

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ESPED 5100 Contemporary Perspectives in Special Education
This course provides an introduction to the profession of Special Education. From an inclusive perspective, the course examines the characteristics of disabling conditions, as well as the effects of societal attitudes, the historical context of special education, and state and federal law. The range of service delivery provided by schools and agencies will be addressed.

EEDUC 5060  Teaching English in Grades 8-12
This course prepares students to teach English in grades 8-12. Familiarity is assumed in major works of literature and composition, as covered in courses required of English Majors. A significant portion of this course will be devoted to the variety of teaching strategies available for instruction of classic and young adult literature. This course also includes work in analysis of reading and writing competencies in individual students through both formal and informal assessment. Students will learn how to adapt instruction to accommodate the needs of the full range of diverse learners in today's high schools.

EEDUC 6162 Equity and Achievement: A Socio-Political Approach
This course will encourage Middle School and High School certification and advanced degree students to explore the theoretical foundations and frameworks for developing a reflective, equity-based educational practice. Through a variety of cognitive and affective approaches, students will identify and critically analyze historical, socio-cultural, and school-wide factors that have contributed to unequal academic outcomes, explore practitioner-based strategies, and develop culturally-affirming resources and materials for content-specific courses, classroom, and school-wide use.

ECOMP 6102 Classroom Assessment with Technology
This course investigates uses of technology in conducting and transforming assessment practices. Participants learn about technologies that support both formal and alternative/authentic assessment (e.g., tests, portfolios, observation tools, self- and whole class assessments). Roles of assessment in student learning and meeting an educational organization’s needs will be explored (including current assessments of technology’s efficacy). Participants design balanced assessment programs that both prove and improve student achievement and use multiple methods to evaluate uses of technology resources in schools.

EEDUC 6205 Engaging High School Learners Through Inquiry and Pro-Social Management
Participants will learn classroom management strategies that allow teachers' actions to create a learning environment that encourages positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, self-discipline, self-motivation, and a climate of personal responsibility. In order to truly engage high school students, participants will learn effective methods for Project Based Learning, a systematic teaching method that engages students in learning knowledge and skills through an extended inquiry process structured around complex, authentic questions and carefully designed tasks.

EEDUC 7770 Practicum and Seminar in English (8-12)
Full-semester, full-time practicum in English (8-12) under the supervision of a supervising practitioner and university program supervisor. Practicum is accompanied by a seminar addressing issues in the field, classroom practices, and action research. Addition to official course description: full-semester, full-time is equivalent to approximately 400 hours.

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Lesley University reserves the right to unilaterally add, withdraw, or revise any course offering in the above-mentioned program of study, including policies, provisions, requirements, and fees.

Lesley University is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity institution and does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, religion, color, creed, national or ethnic origin, sex, sexual orientation, handicap, or disability in its education programs, employment, or in admissions to, access to, or treatment in its programs or activities.