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Appendix C

Brief Description of the M.S. in Education

The M.S. in Education degree at Radford University is a program that not only serves both in-service and pre-service teachers, it also works with professionals in other areas. The degree has four different concentrations:

1) Curriculum and Instruction

  • without licensure–advanced teaching program - (30 credit hours)– for people who already hold a teaching license – they may be teaching or may not be at the time they are pursuing the degree. The degree offers them professional development-oriented coursework, and all students in this concentration must take at least 3 credits hours of coursework in each of the following subjects:
  • Educational technology
  • Educational foundations
  • Multicultural foundations
  • Education research
  • Reading
  • Assessment and evaluation
  • Teaching and curriculum development
  • Special education
  • with licensure (credit hours vary by licensure area)– for people who wish to pursue a license to teach along with a Masters degree. Students take licensure coursework (including field experiences), graduate level coursework in the above listed subjects (sometimes licensure coursework is available at the graduate level, thus the two overlap), as well as any content area deficiencies. Licensure is offered in the following areas:
  • Elementary (minimum credits – 54)
  • Middle (minimum credits- 54)
  • Secondary English (minimum credits – 45)
  • Secondary Social Studies (minimum credits – 45)
  • Secondary Mathematics (minimum credits – 36)
  • Secondary Science (Chem., Earth/Space Science, Physics, or Biology) (min credits –36)

2) Math Education Content Area Studies– advanced teaching program (33 credit hours) for people who are already secondary mathematics teachers and/or people who wish to be able to teach math at the community college level. Students take coursework in the following subjects:

  • Educational technology
  • Educational foundations
  • Multicultural foundations
  • Education research
  • Math education
  • Mathematics content (18 credit hours)

3) Educational Technology – advanced program (30 credit hours) for professionals in business, industry, as well as K-16 schools who wish to pursue professional development in a variety of technology-related areas. Students in this concentration take coursework in the following subjects:

  • Educational technology (21 credit hours)
  • Educational foundations
  • Multicultural foundations
  • Education research

4) Early Childhood Education/Early Childhood Special Education, with licensure—(36 graduate credit hours) this concentration is only open to students who are in the 5 year program that begins when students are undergraduate early childhood majors at RU. Students take coursework in the following subjects:

  • Educational technology
  • Educational foundations
  • Multicultural foundations
  • Education research
  • Reading
  • Special education
  • Field experience

Current demographic data of students (as of Sept 9, 2011)

241 M.S. in Education students

  • 148 Curriculum and instruction
  • 58 without licensureadvanced teaching program
  • Years of K-12 teaching experience at matriculation range from 0-24 (average is 5.5 years experience)
  • 90 with licensureinitial licensure
  • 14 in secondary biology
  • 3 in secondary earth/space science
  • 1 in secondary chemistry
  • 2 in secondary physics
  • 31 in elementary
  • 6 in secondary English
  • 4 in secondary math
  • 14 in secondary social studies
  • 15 in middle school
  • 54 Math Education Content Area studiesadvanced teaching program
  • Years of K-16 teaching experience at matriculation range from 0-29 (average is 6.5 years experience)
  • 21 Educational Technologyadvanced teaching program
  • Years of K-16 teaching experience at matriculation range from 0-32 (average is 5.5 years experience)
  • 18 Early Childhood/Early Childhood Special Education initial licensure

Gender:

190female

51 male

Race/Ethnicity:

Caucasian: 226

African American: 8

Hispanic: 1

Asian: 3

Two or more races: 3

Advanced Teaching Students vs. initial licensure students

Outcome goals for the MS in Ed program: Four Core Courses

Student Learning Outcome. Students will….. / EDEF 607 / EDEF 606 / EDUC 670 / EDET 620
demonstrate a high level of competence in the use of English language arts (through oral and written communication). / X / X / X / X
Gain knowledge of intersections between students’ diverse environments (home, school, cultural community –both local and global) and learning / X / X
Dispositions:
Demonstrate an attitude of scholarly, critical questioning toward contemporary education issues.
Consider multiple perspectives of issues; contemplate the effect of professional decisions and actions on various populations and in light of the nature of a democratic and pluralistic global society. Show fledging steps toward becoming informed advocates for sound educational practices and policies. / X / X / X / X
Student Learning Outcome. Students will….. / EDEF 607 / EDEF 606 / EDUC 670 / EDET 620
Become knowledgeable about historical and contemporary models and organizations of schooling and evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of these. Explore how school as an organization is integrally tied to the community/culture/society context as well as to political and economic structures. Gain knowledge about the role of the teacher (including professional characteristics and dispositions) and the student in this organization (e.g. legal status under both federal and state laws and regulations) / X
Become knowledgeable and understanding of learning goals in a pluralistic society and the philosophies of education that support each / X
Develop an understanding of multiple forms of assessment (formal and informal, formative and summative, standardized/traditional and alternative/authentic) and their various impacts (both positive and negative) on instruction, student learning, and student and teacher commitment to education / X / X
discern the differences between both qualitative and quantitative research; / X
carry out research including identifying research problems, conducting reviews of literature, planning methodology, and connecting to theoretical bases; / X
analyze various approaches to data collection and analysis; / X
critically evaluate educational research studies and issues; / X / X / X / X
Understand and raise their self-awareness of identity, social and critical consciousness. / X
Be able to discuss, analyze and explain the social construction of difference – theories, ideology and beliefs. / X
Be able to discuss and analyze the Effects of Dominance and Oppression on Schools and Social Organizations / X
Understand and be able to apply theories and applications of multicultural education and culturally responsive teaching to schools and social organizations. / X
understand the value of including diverse perspectives in content, instructional strategies, materials, and resources; Identify the implications for educational equity and diversity in the public K-12 system in relation to technology / X / X
Identify and describe characteristics of effective technology-supported learning environment / X
Describe different ways in which the field of educational technology impacts the practice of professional educators (i.e. instructional planning, evaluation, management, professional development) / X
Student Learning Outcome. Students will….. / EDEF 607 / EDEF 606 / EDUC 670 / EDET 620
Integrate various instructional technologies to meet the needs of diverse learners in a variety of educational settings. These technologies include productivity software (e.g., Word, Power Point), interactive media (e.g., asynchronous threaded discussion sites, multi user virtual environments), instructional frameworks (e.g., web-based learning environments), devices (e.g., Smartboard, wireless mobile handhelds), applications, and assistive technologies (e.g., Wikispaces, Google Earth, educational podcoasts) / X
Apply effective instruction design to the development and/or use of various interactive media and applications, including research-supported principles associated with: Multimedia Use, Contiguity, Modality, Redundancy, Coherence, Personalization, Segmenting and Pretraining / X
Discuss how emerging technology innovations (i.e. augmented reality, multi-user virtual environments, online gaming, computer-supported collaborative learning, technology-assisted mentoring, social networking) shape the development of educational tools and resources / X
Apply research-based principles to the evaluation of computer-supported instructional resources, instructional planning and evaluation strategies, and the selection of appropriate professional development experiences / X
Apply technology-supported communication strategies to the development of meaningful learning environments as well as improve and increase the amount and type of interaction with all stakeholders in the teaching and learning enterprise (parents, administrators, teachers, experts etc.) / X