Department of Teacher Education and Higher Education
Elementary Education Concentration
Teacher Leadership Track
Designed for:
Students who have an undergraduate degree in Education and an initial ("A") license for elementary grades K-6, plus experience as a classroom teacher.
Program Description:
The Master of Education (Teacher Leadership Track) can be taken on a full-time or part-time basis. The program is aligned with the North Carolina Advanced Competencies and the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. A culminating portfolio based on these sets of standards is required. The program is oriented toward improving results in teaching practice, as well as gaining critical knowledge, skills, and dispositions in action research, professional development, leadership, and working successfully with diverse learners in elementary schools.
Program Goals and Standards:
Students in the Elementary Education M.Ed Teacher Leadership Track program will show evidence of mastering the North Carolina Advanced Competencies of a Master Teacher through successful completion of a portfolio. This is a program requirement for graduation and for recommending the M license.
North Carolina Advanced Competencies of a Master Teacher:
1. Instructional Expertise
- The candidate plans, implements, and evaluates instruction that is rigorous, coherent, and consistent with a well-developed theoretical and philosophical base and best practices emerging from educational research.
- The candidate designs and modifies instruction and learning environments based on assessment of student learning problems and successes.
- The candidate monitors the effects of instructional actions, selection of materials, and other instructional decision on students’ learning and behavior.
- The candidate incorporates findings from educational literature into school and classroom strategies to improve student learning.
- The candidate understands and links subject matter and students’ developmental and diverse needs in the context of school settings.
- The candidate uses technology to create learning environments that support students’ learning.
- The candidate seeks, implements, and evaluates the best pedagogical practices for the subjects taught within the context of a specific school setting.
- The candidate demonstrates the ability to integrate literacy across the curriculum.
2. Knowledge of Learners
- The candidate seeks to increase understanding of and respect for differences in students, including exceptionalities.
- The candidate designs and delivers instruction that is responsive to differences among all learners.
- The candidate reflects on and modifies instruction that fosters student learning.
- The candidate understands and respects differences between the learning behaviors and outcomes expected in diverse communities.
- The candidate creates and maintains a classroom environment conducive to learning in which all learners feel welcome and can be successful.
3. Research Expertise
- The candidate critically reads and applies historical and contemporary educational literature including theoretical, philosophical, and research materials.
- The candidate uses student and school performance data to improve student learning, classroom process, and school practices.
- The candidate investigates educational problems through action research.
4. Connecting Subject Matter and Learners
- The candidate analyzes and articulates relationships between and among theory, philosophy, research findings, and current practice as appropriate to the discipline.
- The candidate analyzes and articulates relationships between and among theory, philosophy, research findings, and current practice across disciplines.
- The candidate demonstrates theoretical and applied advanced content knowledge.
- The candidate understands current knowledge and trends in education.
5. Professional Development and Leadership
- The candidate initiates professional inquiry through reading, dialogue, reflection, professional development, and action research.
- The candidate seeks, evaluates, and as appropriate, acts on input from educators, parents, students, and other members of the community for continuous improvement.
- The candidate participates, formally and informally, in appropriate professional communities.
- The candidate participates in collaborative leadership to address education problems.
- The candidate provides leadership in working with parents and strengthening the home-school partnership.
The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Core Propositions:
1. Teachers are committed to students and their learning.
- Accomplished teachers are dedicated to making knowledge accessible to all students. They act on the belief that all students can learn. They treat students equitably, recognizing the individual differences that distinguish one student from another and taking account of these differences in their practice. They adjust their practice based on observation and knowledge of their students' interests, abilities, skills, knowledge, family circumstances and peer relationships.
- Accomplished teachers understand how students develop and learn. They incorporate the prevailing theories of cognition and intelligence in their practice. They are aware of the influence of context and culture on behavior. They develop students' cognitive capacity and their respect for learning. Equally important, they foster students' self-esteem, motivation, character, civic responsibility and their respect for individual, cultural, religious and racial differences.
2. Teachers know the subjects they teach and how to teach those subjects to students.
- Accomplished teachers have a rich understanding of the subject(s) they teach and appreciate how knowledge in their subject is created, organized, linked to other disciplines and applied to real-world settings. While faithfully representing the collective wisdom of our culture and upholding the value of disciplinary knowledge, they also develop the critical and analytical capacities of their students.
- Accomplished teachers command specialized knowledge of how to convey and reveal subject matter to students. They are aware of the preconceptions and background knowledge that students typically bring to each subject and of strategies and instructional materials that can be of assistance. They understand where difficulties are likely to arise and modify their practice accordingly. Their instructional repertoire allows them to create multiple paths to the subjects they teach, and they are adept at teaching students how to pose and solve their own problems.
3. Teachers are responsible for managing and monitoring student learning.
- Accomplished teachers create, enrich, maintain and alter instructional settings to capture and sustain the interest of their students and to make the most effective use of time. They also are adept at engaging students and adults to assist their teaching and at enlisting their colleagues' knowledge and expertise to complement their own. Accomplished teachers command a range of generic instructional techniques, know when each is appropriate and can implement them as needed. They are as aware of ineffectual or damaging practice as they are devoted to elegant practice.
- They know how to engage groups of students to ensure a disciplined learning environment, and how to organize instruction to allow the schools' goals for students to be met. They are adept at setting norms for social interaction among students and between students and teachers. They understand how to motivate students to learn and how to maintain their interest even in the face of temporary failure.
- Accomplished teachers can assess the progress of individual students as well as that of the class as a whole. They employ multiple methods for measuring student growth and understanding and can clearly explain student performance to parents.
4. Teachers think systematically about their practice and learn from experience.
- Accomplished teachers are models of educated persons, exemplifying the virtues they seek to inspire in students -- curiosity, tolerance, honesty, fairness, respect for diversity and appreciation of cultural differences -- and the capacities that are prerequisites for intellectual growth: the ability to reason and take multiple perspectives to be creative and take risks, and to adopt an experimental and problem-solving orientation.
- Accomplished teachers draw on their knowledge of human development, subject matter and instruction, and their understanding of their students to make principled judgments about sound practice. Their decisions are not only grounded in the literature, but also in their experience. They engage in lifelong learning, which they seek to encourage in their students.
- Striving to strengthen their teaching, accomplished teachers critically examine their practice, seek to expand their repertoire, deepen their knowledge, sharpen their judgment and adapt their teaching to new findings, ideas and theories.
5. Teachers are members of learning communities.
- Accomplished teachers contribute to the effectiveness of the school by working collaboratively with other professionals on instructional policy, curriculum development and staff development. They can evaluate school progress and the allocation of school resources in light of their understanding of state and local educational objectives. They are knowledgeable about specialized school and community resources that can be engaged for their students' benefit, and are skilled at employing such resources as needed. Accomplished teachers find ways to work collaboratively and creatively with parents, engaging them productively in the work of the school.
Application Process:
- Applicants can obtain an application from the Graduate School. The application fee is $45.
- Two official transcripts are required from every college and university attended.
- Three recommendations are also required.
- A Residency Statement is required for applicants claiming North Carolina residency.
- Applicants must take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) and submit their test scores to the Graduate School.
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Applicants are required to submit a personal statement expressing why they
want to complete this program and a copy of an updated resume. The personal statement should address:
- your background and expereince with elementary-age children
- your reasons for pursing a Masters degree at this time
- your future goals
Pre-requisites/Co-requisites:
- Bachelor’s degree in any field
- Initial or "A" license for elementary teaching
- Two years teaching experience
Curriculum:
Core: (9 hours)
- TED 669 (3) Educational Implications of Learning & Developmental Theory
- TED 545 (3) Diverse Learners
- ERM 605 (3) Educational Measurement & Evaluation or ERM 604 (3) Methods of Educational Research
Pedagogical Expertise: (18 hours)
- TED 622 (3) Differentiated Instruction
- 15 hours elected with advisement about an approved Plan of Study.
Professional Development/Leadership: (12 hours)
- TED 628 (3) Trends & Issues in Curriculum & Instruction or ELC 697 (3) Selected Critical Issues in American Education or an approved substitute
- TED 656 (3) Teacher As Leader (to be taken at the end of program)
- TED 675 (6) Teacher As Researcher (to be taken as two separate courses during Fall and Spring of final year)
Licensure Process:
- Completion of Program of Study.
- Successful completion of Advanced Competencies Portfolio*
- Application for licensure through UNCG Certification Officer.
*Note: UNCG and this program of study support the Advanced Competency and NBPTS process, but neither UNCG nor TED can assure successful National Board certification. Evidence from NB portfolio may be used in Advanced Competency Portfolios where appropriate.
Contact Person:
Dr. Barbara Levin
Director of Graduate Studies
310 Curry Building
bblevin@uncg.edu
(336) 334-3443
Frequently Asked Questions:
I haven't taught for two years. Can I start my Masters?
Teaching experience is a co-requisite. That means that you should have completed two full years of teaching by the time you complete your Masters Degree program. First-year teachers are asked to wait and apply for the master's program during their second year in the classroom so that they can devote their energies to their students during their first few years in the classroom.
Should I take these courses in any particular order?
Most courses can be taken any time they are offered, however, we suggest that you take the core courses (TED 669, TED 545 and ERM 604 or 605) early in your program, while TED 656 and TED 675 should be saved for the end of your program.
How quickly can I complete the program?
Because some courses are not offered every year the answer to this question depends on when you start the program. If you are a part-time students taking one or two courses a semester, it may take you approximately 4-6 semesters plus summers to complete your coursework.
How quickly can I complete the program?
You can see the M.Ed. Portfolio Guidelines and the M.Ed. Handbook online by going to http:/www.uncg.edu/cui and clicking on M.Ed. Programs. The Portfolio Guidelines and M.Ed. Handbook are posted as PDF files.