Master of Education Degree in Middle School History (5-8)

This program has been approved by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education for Initial Teaching Licensure in History (5-8) in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

In this program, students learn practical classroom skills for working with diverse student populations; receive a thorough grounding in best practices for instruction and assessment in History; encounter the most current research and theory on adolescence and high schools; think critically about the contemporary high school; broaden their subject area knowledge base; engage actively with current educational technologies; conduct action research; and practice new-found skills and knowledge in high school classrooms. The program includes a 14-week practicum accompanied by a weekly seminar.

As early in the program as possible, and prior to the practicum, graduate 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.)

Prerequisites: Applicants must have completed a college or university's requirements for a major in the discipline or have passed the Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure (MTEL) in the History (5-8) content area test. 

*Must be completed prior to the practicum and include field-based assignments.
**As early in the program as possible, and prior to the practicum, graduate 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 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 Reading/Writing/Study Skills (4-12)
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)

EEDUC 6204 The Middle School: Historical Context and Promising Practice
This course examines the promising practices of the contemporary middle school philosophy through a combination of field-based experiences and examination of the historical forces that shape the character of schooling in a democratic society. Students, as pre and in-service practitioners, will investigate the student-centered, team integrated, interdisciplinary approach in light of its ability to simultaneously address both state standards and frameworks while providing for the needs of emerging adolescents.

EEDUC 5147 Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment in History and Political Science
This course will help students develop an understanding of curriculum, instruction, and assessment issues in middle school history, political science, and political philosophy. Students will develop sample instructional materials such as lesson and unit plans, along with strategies for differentiating instruction. Students will learn how to use state standards and essential questions to design engaging lessons and how assessment may be developed to measure student learning in a meaningful way.

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 6137 Creating a Community of Learners: Management through High Engagement
Participants will acquire strategies and skills to create a true community of learners where there is a caring, supportive, safe middle school classroom and team in which students participate fully in solving problems, including problems with disruptive behavior. A high level of active engagement in interdisciplinary, thematic, project-situated, and community-based inquiry will model for participants how to use intellectual engagement to motivate students’ appropriate behavioral management and commitment to learning.

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.

ESPED 5100  Special Needs: An Inclusive Perspective
This course presents an overview of characteristics and instructional implications of various disabling conditions. From an inclusive perspective, the class examines information about disabilities as well as the effects of societal attitudes, the range of service delivery for individuals with disabilities, the historical context of special education, state and federal laws and regulations, the impact of labeling, myths and stereotypes, advocacy, and the role of parents.

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.

[ back to top ]

EEDUC 7741 Practicum and Seminar in History (5-8)
Full-semester, full-time practicum in history (5-8) under the supervision of a supervising practitioner and University program supervisor. Practicum is accompanied by a seminar addressing issues in the field. Prerequisites: Completion of a 75-hour early field experience, required pre-practicum courses, and MTEL requirements. Permission required.

[ back to top ]

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.