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MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES DEPARTMENT |
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MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES DEPARTMENT |
During 1998-1999, the state of North Carolina substantially changed the M.Ed. degree program, shifting its emphasis from subject matter to pedagogy. This page gives the Graduate Director's understanding of the changes.
The new M.Ed. degree has been developed exclusively for high school teachers. It is called the "Master of Education in Instruction: Mathematics Education Concentration, Teacher Leadership Track" (sic). It is available for people who have an undergraduate degree in Mathematics or Mathematics Education, an initial ("A") licensure in Mathematics, and two years of teaching experience. The old M.Ed. degree, which is no longer offered, consisted of 24 hours of mathematics courses and 9 hours of education courses. The new M.Ed. degree consists of 15 hours of mathematics courses and 24 hours of education courses (a total of 39 hours). Due to the shift in emphasis from subject matter to pedagogy, the new M.Ed. in Mathematics (and in many other areas) is now offered by the Department of Curriculum and Instruction in the School of Education. The department of Mathematical Sciences no longer offers the M.Ed. degree.
The standard degree for community college or lower division college teaching is the master's degree in mathematics (pedagogical courses are not required by community colleges or colleges). Unlike the old M.Ed., the new M.Ed. does not meet the mathematics requirements for community college or college teaching of mathematics (the new M.Ed. is intended for high school teachers). The Department of Mathematical Sciences has offered the Master of Arts in Mathematics (M.A.) for over 30 years, and many of our graduates currently teach in community colleges or colleges. The M.A. is a 30 - 33 hour program of mathematical sciences courses with a thesis or non-thesis option. The thesis option (including 6 hours of thesis) is a 30 hour program. The non-thesis option consists of 33 hours of course work. Thus, the thesis option in the M.A. program is 9 hours (3 courses) less than is required in the new M.Ed. program. High school teachers applying to the M.A. Program in Mathematics may not need all items in the standard application packet, and should discuss the applicaton process with the Graduate Director of the department.
Anyone with a bachelor's degree (or above) in mathematics can get into high school teaching through what is informally called lateral entry. That is to say, immediately upon getting a contract from a high school, they can get a temporary license (for 3 years), and enroll in a regionally accredited institution's approved licensure-only program. Eventually, after passing several PRAXIS tests, they will obtain a clear (5 year) license. UNCG offers a licensure-only program through ACES (there are similar programs elsewhere). The ACES program consists of a minimum of twelve courses that generally follows those for the undergraduate secondary education programs. An alternative is being planned by the CUI department (the Classroom Practices Track) which, loosely speaking, allows a person to take the lateral entry courses at the graduate level, so that the courses can be counted towards the M.Ed. and "M" licensure.
Anyone going through lateral entry who already holds a master's degree should inquire about the master's ("M") degree licensure classification which pays more than the "A" licensure classification (bachelor's degree) (previously 6.25% more, maybe now 10% more). A plan for obtaining the "M" licensure, similar to the lateral entry offered for the "A" licensure, is in the planning stages. At the moment, the only way to obtain "M" licensure is to earn the M.Ed. through the CUI program.
For more information, see the State Department of Public Instruction. As of today, this web site, however, is not keeping up with the changes mentioned above.
For further details about math science programs, see electronic catalog pages for this department.
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The above information was last modified 6 December 2000.