Master of Education in Middle School English (5-8) and Specialist Teacher in Reading (All Levels)

This program has been approved by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education for Initial Teaching Licensure in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

This joint program offers students the option to earn their classroom teaching license and their reading specialist license through one streamlined program. Students complete the middle school portion of the program and earn their initial license in Middle School English, and begin teaching with that license while continuing to work towards their reading licensure. Students apply their coursework to a practicum experience and gain a wealth of specialized knowledge applicable to a range of settings, student populations, and consultant roles.

Prerequisite: 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) test in the English (5-8) content area.

*Must be completed prior to the practicum and may include field based assignments

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

EEDUC 6204 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 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 6203 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.

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EEDUC 5108 The Middle School: Philosophy, Curriculum, and Instruction
This course addresses the unique psychological, social, and intellectual needs of middle school children and the school organizational structures, curriculum, and teaching styles that meet these needs. These include, but are not limited to, effective models for teaming, interdisciplinary teaching, advisor-advisee, flexible programming, community-based projects, inquiry-based approach to academics, the inclusion of the unified arts, cooperative learning, multiple learning styles, and strategies for effective parental involvement.

EEDUC 6103 Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment in English
This course provides historical and structural foundations of the language for teachers of English in middle schools. Components of the course include the history of the English language; an examination of rules, conventions, and purposes of written and spoken English; a survey of selections of American, English, and world literature for middle school students; and methods of assessing students’ needs as well as meeting the needs of diverse learners.

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.

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 7730 Practicum and Seminar in English (5–8)
Full-semester, full-time practicum in English (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.

EEDUC 5104 Literature for Children and Young Adults
This survey of children’s books from preschool through the adolescent years identifies the characteristics of the various literary genres, develops criteria for evaluating children’s books, fosters an awareness and nurtures a consideration of how the developmental and diverse cultural needs of children affect their responses to literature, and shares strategies for integrating literature across the curriculum for enjoyment, learning, and classroom reading instruction.

EEDUC 5121 Literacy: The Integration of the Language Arts
This course presents fundamental principles of elementary reading and language arts. Focus is on students understanding the interrelationship of reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Students will also become knowledgeable about current materials, instructional strategies, and classroom-based assessment for emergent reading, beginning reading, and fluent reading.

EEDUC 6001 The Teaching of Writing (K–12)
This course promotes the thoughtful examination of writers and writing instruction. Throughout the course, students are introduced to strategies and skills they can use to enhance their own writing and the writing of K–12 students. Using a process approach, students learn how to communicate ideas effectively in a variety of genres and for a multitude of purposes. Based on the most current understandings in the field, this course explores such topics as writer’s workshop, conferencing, struggling writers, assessment, reading/writing connections, writing in the disciplines, revision and editing, the use of technology to support writers, and the management of writing instruction.

EEDUC 6136 Struggling Readers and Writers
This course explores the nature of the challenges facing those students at all grade levels who struggle (for diverse reasons) to achieve expected progress in reading and writing development. Participants will describe and analyze the nature of difficulties encountered by struggling readers and writers; they will identify appropriate classroom approaches to address these difficulties and will survey the many well-established programs for learners who are struggling. Issues related to serving diverse populations are raised throughout.

EEDUC 6135 Assessment: A Literacy Perspective
This course examines principles of assessment and evaluation in the language arts, with emphasis on reading and writing, for the literacy educator. The central concern is the role of assessment in instruction for both individual students and whole classrooms. Topics of study include the nature of data collection, analysis and interpretation in various assessment approaches, and issues related to serving diverse student populations. Prerequisites: EEDUC 5121, EEDUC 6001, and EEDUC 6101.

EEDUC 6102 Language and Literacy: Development and Diversity
This course examines diverse aspects of language acquisition and literacy development with emphasis on educational implications.  The major theories and current research in first and second language acquisition are reviewed with particular attention to linguistic and cultural diversity and bilingualism.  Educational topics in language and literacy are addressed, including concerns for reading, writing, oral language, phonics, spelling, academic English, language assessments, and language-based learning disabilities.

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EEDUC 7103 Roles of the Language Arts Professional: Consultation and Collaboration
Emphasizing consultative and collaborative approaches, students explore the varied roles of a consultant teacher of reading involving areas such as professional development; materials and curriculum development; materials, curriculum, and program evaluation; and the coordination and implementation of legislation and funded programs.

EEDUC 7105 Practicum: Interactive Assessment and Instruction for Literacy
Instruction and supervised practicum experience in the use of formal and informal methods of literacy assessment from emergent to mature levels of ability. From the ongoing analysis of assessment results, each tutor develops a specific instructional program for a tutee. Emphasis is on the interaction of assessment and instruction, and the revision of instructional goals based on the analysis of daily performance. Prerequisites: EEDUC 5104, EEDUC 5121, EEDUC 5122, EEDUC 6001, EEDUC 6101, EEDUC 6102, EEDUC 6135, and EEDUC 6136 (or equivalents).

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.