Simpson College

 

 

  

Education

Simpson College Graduate Programs in Secondary Education

Simpson College Graduate Programs in Secondary Education

The Simpson College Education department offers two graduate programs for students pursuing secondary licensure in the areas of business, foreign language, language arts, math natural sciences, social studies, and social sciences.  These programs are referred to as the Masters of Arts in Teaching, which results in both licensure and a master's degree, and the Transition for Teaching program, which results in licensure only.  Below are the requirements particular to those programs.  In addition to these requirements, graduate students must complete the requirements for licensure required of all students seeking teaching credentials in Iowa. 

I.  Requirements for entry into the program. 

Prospective students must:

A) Have earned a bachelors degree from a regionally accredited institution with a major in an endorsement program that qualifies for initial Iowa licensure.  If a student has a major related to, but not fulfilling an Iowa Department of Education-approved major endorsement, additional coursework in the major endorsement will be required.

B) Have earned a cumulative G.P.A. of 2.75 with a minimum of 3.00 in the major endorsement, if pursuing the M.A.T. program.  If seeking admission into the Transitions to Teaching program, earned a cumulative G.P.A. of 2.75 with a G.P.A. of at least 2.75 in the major endorsement. An applicant with a cumulative G.P.A. lower than those required may be accepted to enroll provisionally in the appropriate program.  This student will need to take additional coursework in the major endorsement. 

C) Have earned a bachelors degree within the past ten years.  A student whose degree is older than ten years may enter the program under the understanding that he or she need to complete content courses in their major teaching endorsement.

D) Have met with the Division of Adult Learning (DAL) advisor to complete an initial transcript analysis.  The initial analysis may involve contact with the chairs of the education and the content area department, or their designees. 

E) Have been approved by the M.A.T./Transitions to Teaching Admissions Committee and the Teacher Education Committee before enrollment in Graduate Groundings in Education (Educ 501), the first education class taken by graduate students seeking secondary education licensure. 

F) Have passed the Writing Skills Assessment administered through Simpson?s DAL and assessed by the Education Department.

G) Provided three letters of recommendation from separate sources. Suggested recommending sources are employers/supervisors, college instructors, or clergy. Family and friends are not appropriate sources. These letters may address knowledge and work skills in content area, suitability for the teaching profession, character assessment and should include a contact phone number or email address for the referral source.

* Note:  If a student allows more than two years to lapse in pursuing graduate coursework, the student must apply for re-admittance.

* Note:  in the case of M.A.T. candidates, the Master?s Project must be completed and approved within five years after student teaching for a student to complete the M.A.T.

II.  Areas of Major and Additional Endorsements for the Graduate Programs

Major and additional endorsements

--Business-General 

--Business-Marketing/Management 

--English

--French 

--German 

--Spanish 

--Mathematics 

--Biology

--Chemistry

--Earth Science

--Physics

--American Government

--American History

--World History

--Economics

--Psychology

--Sociology

--Speech Communication/Theatre 

Additional endorsements only

--Business?Office

--Journalism

--General Science

--Physical Science

* Note:  a student must have one or more major endorsements to be eligible for licensure.

III.Coursework Required for the Graduate Programs in Secondary Education

Educ 501.  Graduate Groundings in Education.  5 hours.  This course focuses on developmental psychology?particularly that of pubescence and adolescence?and the philosophical, sociological, historical, and legal foundations of the American school system.  Includes 10 hours of daytime classroom field experience.

Educ 502.  Content Area Analysis and Enrichment.  For M.A.T. candidates only.  1 hour. This course focuses on the student demonstrating knowledge in the major endorsement area and in doing preliminary research for the master?s project.

Educ 509.  The Learning Process.  3 hours.  This course on cognition and motivation as they relate to formal learning.  Pre-requisite:  Educ 501.  Includes 10 hours of daytime classroom field experience.

Educ 512. Education and Collaboration for Students with Special Needs.  3 hours.  This course focuses on the characteristics and needs of students who exhibit a wide range of special needs in the regular school classroom, and strategies to meet these needs. Prerequisites:  Educ 501 and 509.

Ed 516.  Secondary Education and Practicum.  3 hours.  This course focuses on instructional strategies and techniques well supported by research in the field of middle school and secondary Education.  Includes 25 hours of daytime classroom field experience where the student will teach one lesson or more.  Prerequisites:  Educ 501 and 509.

Educ 521. Human Relations in Teaching.  3 hours.  Students will become aware of and understand the various values, life styles, history, and contributions of various identifiable subgroups in our society. They will recognize and deal with dehumanizing biases against such groups, particularly in the school setting.  Prerequisites:  Educ 501 and 509.

Educ 541?546.  Content-Specific Strategies and Practicum.  2 hours.  These are a series of courses aimed at strategies specifically applied to the students? endorsement areas and taught by master teachers of those content areas.  Students pursuing additional endorsements must take all of the appropriate sections of Educ 541-546.  Includes 25 hours of daytime classroom practicum in the school where the respective master teacher works. The student will teach one lesson or more.  Prerequisites:  Educ 501 and 509; Educ 516 must be taken prior to or concurrent with this course.

Educ 588.  Student Teaching.  14 or more hours, full-time.  Students will work for at least 14 weeks with a secondary or middle school teacher in the student?s major endorsement area and possibly in other endorsement areas if the student is seeking an additional endorsement. Prerequisites:  Educ 501, 512, 516, 521, and one or more of the Educ 540 series.

Educ 389.  Student Teaching Seminar.  1 hour.  Students will meet to discuss topics of interest from their student teaching and to apply their previous instruction to the student teaching experience. Prerequisites:  Educ 501, 512, 516, 521, and one or more of the Educ 540 series.

Educ 573.  Masters Project, 5-6 hours.  Students will work with both Education faculty and faculty from their major subject areas to design and satisfactorily complete a project that weds content area scholarship with skills and understandings arising from pedagogical coursework.  Students complete this course after they are licensed and teaching.  Prerequisites:  All courses leading to licensure.  For M.A.T. candidates only.

IV. Other Program Requirements

A. Take and pass the basic collegiate skills C-BASE examination (scores of 275 or higher in math, reading and writing/English for Transitions to Teaching candidates and 275 in math, and 300 in writing).  Students may request that they be allowed to enter the program under the condition that they take the test the first semester they are in the program.

B. M.A.T. candidates must receive a B- or higher in each course to remain eligible for the masters program.

C. Students must have completed the major coursework judged to be equivalent of the coursework Simpson College has had approved by the Iowa State Department of Education.  In addition, students may pursue additional endorsements.

D. Have achieved the minimum cut-off score on the PRAXIS II examination related to their major endorsement.  Students must pass their respective PRAXIS II exam to be recommended to student teach and for licensure. All students develop and maintain a portfolio containing a set of artifacts indicating that they are competent in a variety of areas essential to successful teaching. 

E. All students must submit that portfolio periodically.  For graduate students this means submitting the portfolio immediately after completing Educ 501 (level 1A), immediately after completing Educ 509 (level 1B), the semester before student teaching (level 2), and while applying for licensure (level 3). 

F. All teacher candidates must pass an FBI criminal background check.

One additional note:  Some students may have a major endorsement in one subject area, but gain employment in a second field endorsement.  In that case, student will be required to complete their Master?s Project in the subject area in which they are employed for the majority of their contact hours.  For example, a person may pick a major endorsement in psychology, but also gain an additional field endorsement in economics.  If that person were hired to teach economics for three periods and psychology for two, that person would need to do her or his Master?s Project in the area of economics and its pedagogy.

 

 

SEARCH: