M.S.Ed. in Secondary Education

The Leading Teacher Program- Secondary Education is designed to prepare the nation's secondary school teachers. The program's coursework includes professional education in areas of concentration that includes English, K-12 Latin, Social Studies, Mathematics, and the Sciences. The curriculum meets Pennsylvania standards as well as the standards of national professional organizations. All coursework, projects and fieldwork in the program reflect the School of Education's conceptual framework themes of technology, diversity and leadership. Social Studies: According to the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS, 1992), "the primary purpose of social studies is to help young people develop the ability to make informed and reasoned decisions for the public good as citizens of a culturally diverse, democratic society in an interdependent world." As a teaching candidate in the Graduate Leading Teacher Program in Secondary Social Studies, you will have the opportunity to develop ideas and practices that will support this imperative of democratic citizenship. English: The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) and the International Reading Association (IRA) have collaborated in the creation of standards for the English language arts to "ensure that all students are offered the opportunities, the encouragement, and the vision to develop the language skills they need to pursue life's goals, including personal enrichment and participation as informed members of our society" (1996). As a teacher candidate in the Graduate Leading Teacher Program in Secondary English, you will be provided with opportunities to explore issues regarding the theory and practice of teaching English at the secondary level and to engage in teaching adolescents the skills of writing, reading, responding to literature, listening, speaking, and exploring new media while considering student and community contexts. Through a strongly oriented social justice framework, the focus of the program will be to facilitate candidates as more knowledgeable, insightful, and creative and compassionate teachers upon entry into the secondary English classroom. Mathematics: The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics presents a vision of effective teaching and learning in mathematics (NCTM 2000, 1991), asserting that effective teaching "redirects mathematics instruction from a focus on presenting content through lecture and demonstration to a focus on active participation and involvement." As a teaching candidate in the Graduate Leading Teacher Program in Secondary Mathematics, you will explore how to "facilitate learners' construction of their own knowledge of mathematics." The purpose of the program is to engage teaching candidates in developing the fundamental knowledge, skills, and dispositions for teaching middle school and high school mathematics in ways that promote all students' learning and understanding. Sciences: As part of a reform movement in science, the National Science Standards (NRC, 1996) recommend that science is taught to achieve students' scientific understanding of scientific concepts and processes required for personal decision making, participation in civic and cultural affairs, and economic productivity. Reform classroom practices should give students the opportunity to engage in hands-on, minds-on scientific inquiry and to experience how scientists develop conjectures about the world in justifying assertions and a base from which to reason and model data they encounter in real life. The Graduate Leading Teacher Program in Secondary Science will provide you with opportunities to develop the knowledge and teaching practices essential in educating science students for the 21st century.