MASTER OF EDUCATION DEGREE (M.ED.)
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The Master of Education program meets the academic requirements for New York State Initial Teaching Certificate. This program addresses the continuing demand for well-prepared teachers in New York State. Graduates of the M.Ed. program will meet the academic requirements for initial New York State teacher certification in Adolescence Education (Grades 7-12) in a specific content area: History, Science (Biology or Chemistry), Mathematics, Languages (French or Spanish), and English. The Teacher Education programs offered by Marist College are integrally linked to the College’s Mission, emerging from a longstanding dedication to the preparation of teachers, and both shaped by and shaping the direction taken by the College as it has developed into an institution that is recognized as one of the leading private liberal arts colleges in the Northeast. The program reflects the particular areas of focus for which Marist College teacher education is widely noted, and is defined by our Conceptual Framework.
The Conceptual Framework of the Teacher Education programs identifies its purpose as preparing reflective professionals who think critically and work collaboratively to help all students learn, and is also consistent with Marist’s three ideals: excellence in education; sense of community; and commitment to service. This purpose is further defined in the seven core values/beliefs listed below:
EXCELLENCE IN EDUCATION
In keeping with Marist’s commitment to excellence in education, the program strives to prepare school professionals who:
1. Use critical thinking and creative problem-solving in their professional practice.
2. Are reflective professionals who examine their practice and seek to improve it in a process of continual professional development.
3. Use evidence-based practices, adapted to the demands of the specific professional contexts.
SENSE OF COMMUNITY
In keeping with Marist’s commitment to a sense of community, the program strives to prepare school professionals who:
4. Are active members of collaborative teams, and work across disciplines.
5. Build relationships that support student learning and well-being.
COMMITMENT TO SERVICE
In keeping with Marist’s commitment to service and promoting the dignity and value of every human being, the program strives to prepare school professionals who:
6. Promote justice, equity, and access for all students while working to improve schools.
7. Base their practice on an understanding of the diversity in human development and cognitive functioning as it impacts learning.
MARIST INITIAL TEACHING STANDARDS
Marist Initial Teaching Standards are based on the INTASC standards and NY State requirements and closely represent our Conceptual Framework in the following 12 standards:
Standard 1: The candidate understands the central concepts, tools of inquiry and structures of the discipline(s) within the context of a global society and creates learning experiences that make these aspects of subject matter meaningful for students.
Standard 2: The candidate understands how students learn and develop, and provides learning opportunities that support the intellectual, social, and personal development of all students.
Standard 3: The candidate understands how students differ in their approaches to learning and creates instructional opportunities that are adapted to diverse learners.
Standard 4: The candidate recognizes the importance of long-range planning and curriculum development and develops, implements, and evaluates curriculum based upon student, district, and state performance standards.
Standard 5: The candidate uses a variety of instructional strategies to encourage students' development of critical thinking, problem solving, and performance skills.
Standard 6: The candidate has awareness of the different aspects of literacy development and related teaching procedures for both Native English speakers and students who are English-language learners.
Standard 7: The candidate understands and can apply disciplinary knowledge from the humanities and social sciences to interpreting, and bringing normative and critical perspectives to bear on, the meanings of education and schooling in diverse cultural contexts.
Standard 8: The candidate uses an understanding of individual and group motivation and behavior to create a learning environment that encourages positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, and self-motivation.
Standard 9: The candidate models effective verbal, nonverbal, and media communication techniques to foster active inquiry, collaboration, and supportive interaction in the classroom.
Standard 10: The candidate understands and uses formal and informal assessment strategies to evaluate and ensure the continuous intellectual, social, and physical development of the learner.
Standard 11: The candidate is a reflective practitioner who continually assesses the effects of choices and actions on others. This reflective practitioner actively seeks out opportunities to grow professionally and utilizes the assessment and professional growth to generate more learning for more students.
Standard 12: The candidate fosters relationships with school colleagues, parents, and educational partners in the larger community to support student learning and well-being.
ADVANCED TEACHING STANDARDS (National Board for Professional Teaching Standards®)
The five major core standards represent what teachers should know and be able to do, and represent the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards® Policy Position:
1. Teachers are committed to students and their learning.
2. Teachers know the subjects they teach and how to teach those subjects to students.
3. Teachers are responsible for managing and monitoring student learning.
4. Teachers think systematically about their practice and learn from experience.
5. Teachers are members of learning communities.Candidates seeking the M.Ed. with initial teacher certification in Adolescence Education complete a minimum of 36 graduate credits as described below. Consistent with state regulations, this graduate program concurrently meets the master’s degree requirements for professional certification. Because each teaching field has course distribution requirements specified by the state, candidates who do not have an undergraduate major in the field in which they are seeking certification are advised to ascertain needed course requirements in the content area (a minimum of 30 credit hours in the content area) before entering the program.
All candidates will complete the Pedagogical Core requirements and other required courses described below. While in the program, teacher candidates also complete a minimum of 100 hours of field experience (usually classroom observation in grades 7-12, tutoring, after school educational activities, etc.), before entering the student teaching practicum. Field experience hours are related to assignments in three courses in the M. Ed. program. The teaching practicum takes place in the last semester in the program, and is school day long, five days per week, for 15 weeks teaching in Middle and High Schools.
In addition, all teacher education candidates, in order to graduate with a Masters degree, are required to complete, submit, and defend an electronic portfolio based on the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards, as their capstone project for completing the Masters program. The electronic portfolio demonstrates the professional knowledge and skills candidates have developed across the program. This is a multimedia, standards-based document that is stored online. An early course - Content Area Assessment and Portfolio Development, (EPSY 506) prepares candidates to use the online Marist system for portfolio development. Candidates are required, in their last semester in the program, to participate in meetings across the semester in order to receive guidance and help to complete their electronic portfolio. Candidates will complete, submit, and defend their electronic portfolio in front of an evaluation committee, no later than five years from matriculation. Completion is recorded when the portfolio is passed. Passing the electronic portfolio is a requirement for the Masters degree.
PEDAGOGICAL CORE CURRICULUM
The M.Ed. program is oriented around a 15-credit pedagogical core curriculum that cuts across the five essential areas of knowledge and skill needed by teachers: 1) Art and Science of Teaching. 2) The Learner. 3) Literacy. 4) Foundations, Context, and Purpose. 5) Research and Inquiry. Candidates complete coursework in each domain as specified in the program curriculum.
The pedagogical core domains are described as follows:
1. Art and Science of Teaching
Teaching comprises an ever-changing, unique combination of scientific reasoning and artistry intended to promote the highest level of student achievement. Skills that foster student motivation, communication, self-worth, and content mastery provide a foundation for developing artistry to further enhance the learning experience. This domain encourages students to explore the techniques of teaching while developing effective teaching styles consistent with their individual personalities.
2. The Learner
At the center of all education is the learner. In order to provide effective education to all learners, teachers need to understand the specific learning needs of each student, and how those learning needs are affected by differences in development, temperament, cognitive functioning, and social, economic, and cultural contexts. In this domain, contemporary psychological theory and research are applied to learners in the context of the study of development, assessment, and learning. Study in this domain allows educators to create classroom learning communities where everyone, including teachers, are unique and respected learners who participate actively in their own education.
This domain is the cornerstone of all teaching and learning. Here teachers acquire the knowledge and skills necessary for teaching others to become critically literate in all six domains of literacy: reading, writing, listening, speaking, viewing, and visually representing. Furthermore, teachers learn to appreciate how the acquisition of critical literacy is a necessary requisite for a lifetime of growth and empowerment. A wide variety of theoretical and practical matters pertaining to literacy are explored in this domain.
4. Foundations, Context, and Purpose
The purpose and meaning of any educational activity is not a given, but must be constructed, articulated, and justified within the particular context in which it occurs. Teachers and other educational professionals must, therefore, have a deep awareness of this context—including its cultural, historical, linguistic, technological, and philosophical roots—in order to engage in purposeful and meaningful teaching. This essential domain of study prepares teachers who are able to reflect critically on teaching practices and educational policies in light of their complex relations to the environing culture. This study aims to equip teachers to make sense of classroom practices through an understanding of the larger social context in which these classrooms are embedded.
5. Research and Inquiry
Teachers, in order to be effective, must be adept researchers and they must be actively engaged in meaningful forms of inquiry. Moreover, teachers must have the capacity to critically examine various research claims and to assess the relative worth of such claims to understanding their own classroom practice and environment, which includes using technology to obtain and evaluate information from the Internet.
Teachers must also be able to foster research skills in their own students and create a learning environment that encourages inquiry and critical thinking. This domain gives teachers experience from which to sharpen their expertise in this key area.
Admissions requirements for the Master of Education degree are as follows:
- earned baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution with a cumulative grade-point average of minimum 3.0;
- completion of an academic major or its equivalent in the area of certification sought; or a minimum of 30 credit hours in the content area completed before admission to the program;
- a current résumé;
- submission of a written personal essay describing the applicant’s background, experiences, and goals, and how these factors relate to the person’s future work in education;
- two letters of recommendation (preferred from former professors);
- interview with the Director of the Graduate Education programs, which includes a short written task.
NOTE: Cooperating teachers who take graduate education courses as an exchange of a teaching voucher need only to complete an application form, to provide a statement that the course they intend to take is a voucher exchange, submit the original voucher, and receive permission from the Program Director who will advise on the appropriate course. There is no limit to the number of graduate courses a cooperating teacher with a valid voucher may take; however, if the person later decides to become a degree candidate, he/she must then satisfy the requirements for matriculation. It is important to note that a maximum of nine (9) credits may be applied toward the degree using courses taken with a voucher.
Acceptance of credits will be determined on an individual basis:
-No more than six (6) graduate credits will be accepted from another institution.
-A grade of B or better is required for acceptance of any transfer credits.
To qualify for the Master of Education Degree, a candidate must:
- Complete all program requirements not later than five years after matriculation;
- Maintain a 3.0 cumulative grade-point average, and maintain appropriate dispositions necessary to assume the responsibilities of a classroom teacher;
- Complete, present, defend, and pass an electronic portfolio to the satisfaction of the portfolio evaluation committee during the candidate’s final semester.
To qualify for New York state certification candidates must also pass a series of state-required exams including: the Educating All Students test (EAS), Academic Literacy Skills test (ALST), Content Specialty Test (CST), and edTPA. Marist candidates have a very high passing rate on these exams and graduates are teaching in many districts in the region as well as across the country.
At the time of matriculation, each student will meet with the Director of Graduate Programs to design a Study Plan, which candidates are to follow. Candidates will have regular meetings with the Director of Graduate Programs for purposes of discussing academic progress and planning.
Candidates who fail to maintain a 3.0 or higher grade-point average, or do not demonstrate the dispositions necessary to assume the responsibilities of a classroom teacher, will be subject to review by the Teacher Education Candidate Review Board (TECRB) and may be placed on probation or dismissed from the program.
A minimum GPA of 3.0 and no more than one grade of C+ in graduate courses attempted are requirements for graduation. If at any time the student’s GPA falls below 3.0, or has more than one grade in the range of C in graduate courses, the student will be sent a letter notifying him/her of academic review. Academic review will result in assignment of probationary status or dismissal.
A student on probation is expected to take immediate steps to raise his or her GPA. This can be done by (1) earning enough grades of B+ or A, or (2) retaking the course(s) in which a grade of C+ or below was earned and achieving a B or better in this course. NOTE: while a grade of B in any subsequent course may raise a GPA that is below 3.0, it may not by itself be sufficient to raise the GPA to 3.0 or above.
A student is allowed up to 12 credit hours of work to raise his or her GPA above 3.0 after being placed on probation. If after attempting 12 credit hours the GPA has not been raised to 3.0, the student will be dismissed from the program. Any dispositions that are in obvious deviation from the teacher candidate dispositions stated in accordance with our Conceptual Framework and teaching standards may result in assignment of probationary status or dismissal. The candidate will be informed of any decision or recommendation by the TECRB. Teacher candidates will be presented with a list of expected dispositions at matriculation to the program.
A limited number of assistantships are available in research and student activities, as well as tutoring, and require ten hours of experience each week during the fall and spring semesters. Up to $4,500 per year for a graduate assistantship may be awarded, in the form of tuition waiver or stipend, to full-time students in the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences. Candidates may apply for assistantships at the time of application to be accepted in the program. Selection for assistantships is highly competitive and candidates must maintain full time status and a 3.0 GPA.
Fall: April 15
Spring: December 1
The program is a combination of coursework on campus in Poughkeepsie, New York, possible online course offering, and 100 hours of field experiences in nearby schools in the Hudson River Valley region. Coursework may be completed either through full-time or part-time study. Candidates are accepted to the M.Ed. program in the fall and spring. A very limited number of courses are offered in the summers; for this reason candidates are advised to start fall or spring semester. The program is designed so that it can be completed by a full-time student in three to four semesters, completing 9 or 12 credits each semester. A full-time student usually takes 9 credits per semester. Each course is worth three credits and meets one evening per week; at this point we offer on-campus evening classes (Monday to Thursday, 6:30-9pm), and a few online courses depending on each student’s study plan and course offerings. Part-time graduate students/candidates must complete the program within five years from matriculation in the program. Study plans can be customized for individual student needs. Some courses are offered both fall and spring, other courses are offered only fall or only spring. The study plans will reflect the order of course offerings. Since candidates are currently accepted mainly with fall or spring start (summer possible with a reduced number of courses), and candidates can register as full-time or part-time, at this time there are no specifically coordinated cohorts. Study plans are customized according to individual needs and availability of courses. Due to course availability and course planning, candidates in collaboration with the Director of Graduate Programs will design a study plan for each student upon their acceptance into the program. Candidates should follow the study plan and consult with the director for any changes.
The Professional Education Unit at Marist College is accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), www.ncate.org. This accreditation covers initial teacher preparation programs and advanced educator preparation programs at Marist College located in Poughkeepsie, New York. However, the accreditation does not include individual education courses that the institution offers to P-12 educators for professional development, relicensure, or other purposes.