Students pursuing a master degree with a concentration in Bilingual Education or TESOL will complete the nine credit hour education core and 27 graduate credit hours in the concentration. A K12 Teaching Endorsement in BLED/TESOL requires the completion of 12 – 18 credit hours.

Bilingual Education/ TESOL coursework

This concentration is designed to prepare teachers working in Early Childhood Education, but do not hold licensure in Early Childhood Education, to better meet the needs of their students and to work effective and an Early Childhood setting and develop skills which align with Early Childhood Education Philosophy.

With focus on preparing our graduates to be “Day One” ready, our coursework includes hands-on, anchored learning activities, which engage teacher candidates in applying best-practice to address the knowledge, skills, and dispositions embedded within the identified outcomes. Our Early Childhood Education programs exemplify this in their coursework. The beliefs which underscore these programs include:

• Early Childhood Professionals significantly influence children’s learning and development that correlates with future academic and social success.
• Preparation of quality early childhood educators involves opportunities for candidates to:
  • Understand and become familiar with systems that serve children from birth – grade 3 and their families
  • Work effectively with young children in a variety of settings
  • Provide opportunities to build knowledge, practice skills, and support dispositions through reflective practice and early childhood theoretical perspectives.

Coursework:

• ECED 536: Advanced Early Childhood Education Curriculum
• ECED 532: Advanced Childhood Development, Growth, Learning, and
• ECED 571: Teaching of Reading/Writing
• ECED 579 Teaching/Learning Practicum
• ECED 551: Language, Families & Culture
• ECED 515: Emergent Literacy
• ECED 591: Practice Teaching – Early Childhood Education
• ECED 596: Practice Teaching Seminar

An endorsement in Gifted Education prepares to teach students with exceptionalities. To complete an endorsement in Gifted Education, a student must complete 12 credit hours, selected from the course below and submit a passing score of 157 on PRAXIS: Gifted Education (5358) to NMPED.

Coursework:

SPED 540 – INTRODUCTION TO GIFTED EDUCATION – FALL – 8 WEEK COURSE:  This course provides an introduction to gifted learners and gifted education, including an overview of various exceptionalities that often accompany giftedness, procedures and processes for identifying students with gifts and talents, partnerships that are required to develop appropriate educational plans that highlight the student’s strengths and set goals to address the students challenges, placement in the least restrictive environment, and implementing evidence based practices for gifted students. Teacher candidates also learn the guiding philosophies of the field, historical and current local, state, and federal policies as they relate to gifted education, and gain a strong understanding of the national standards that guide teachers of gifted and talented students. (3)

SPED 543 – TWICE EXCEPTIONAL AND SPECIAL POPULATIONS OF GIFTED STUDENTS – FALL – 8 WEEK COURSE: This course provides gifted teachers with information to guide and inform greater understanding of the nature of gifted learners with co-morbidity that can result in diagnoses of Twice Exceptional. The focus is on the identification, characteristics, and education of gifted children with dual diagnosis of gifted and other disabilities such as specific learning disabilities, autism, and emotional and behavior disorders. Students will learn techniques to identify these students and learn evidence based strategies and classroom applications that enhance and enrich their learning experiences. (3)

SPED 546 – CURRICULUM AND METHODS – SPRING – 16 WEEK COURSE: This course is an introduction to Curriculum and Methods for Gifted Students and provides teachers of gifted and talented students theoretical knowledge and practical application skills to implement evidenced based instructional strategies, methods, materials, and curriculum development for gifted students. (3)

SPED 585 – CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN GIFTED EDUCATION – SPRING – 16 WEEK COURSE: This course is an opportunity to explore a range of issues such as Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) for Gifted Students, developing cultural, personal and scholastic identity as a student with gifts and talents, and issues related to gender responsiveness in gifted education programs (3)

OR

SPED 541 – PRACTICE TEACHING – GIFTED – SPRING AND FALL – 16 WEEK COURSE: One semester of supervised classroom experience as a practice teacher in a gifted classroom; involves a full-time assignment of one academic semester with licensed educational personnel supervision. Attendance of a weekly method seminar is also a course requirement. Seminars will emphasize teaching methods, behavioral management, ethics, multiculturalism, and tutoring/coaching (3)

Visit the Endorsement in Instructional Technologies and Design Page

Courses reflect the broad area of the state-adopted competencies. Students who pursue a master’s degree in reading education must complete the 9 credit hour graduate core, and the 27 credit hours in the Reading requirement Reading Education Core. A K12 Teaching Endorsement in Reading requires the completion of 12 – 18 credit hours.

Reading Education Coursework

Visit the Reading Concentration page for more details

The Master in Arts in Teaching, Special Education specialization is designed for teaching candidates who enter the program with an existing K-12 Teaching License and who are interested in adding an additional Special Education License. This class requires that students complete 9 credit hours of education core coursework, coupled with 27 credit hours of Special Education coursework. Please see the MAT Specialization Overview for a more detailed explanation of degree requirements (exit criteria, application materials, etcetera).

There are two tracks for people seeking a degree in Special Education, and each track has been altered according to student’s background. Option 1 has been designed for students who have an undergraduate degree that is unrelated to professional education preparation. Alternatively, option two can be adopted by student who are pursuing an MA and have an undergraduate degree in related to professional education preparation. Specific information related to course requirements can be found on our degree plans, located here (link to degree plans page).

The required coursework breaks down as follows, although less is required of students who are on the option 2 track.

Education Core Requirements (9)

EDUC 500 -Methods of Research (3)

or EDUC 503 Action Research (3)

EDUC 506 History & Philosophy of Education (3)

EDUC 528 Student Growth & Development (3) OR

Education Core Requirements (7)

EDUC 511 Foundation of Education (1)

EDUC 534 Integrating Technology in Curriculum (3)

SPED 508 Intro to Exceptional Children (3)

NES Essential Academic Skills subtests I, II, III passed with a score of 220

Professional Education Requirements (31)

Foundation (6)

SPED 555 Family, School, Comm. & Culture & the Exceptional Child (3)

SPED 570 Nature & Needs of Persons with Learning Disabilities (3)

Application & Reinforcement (23)

BLED 545 ESL Methods/Content Literature (3)

EDUC 547 Field Experience Lab (1)

RDG 510 Teaching of Reading (3)

RDG 511 Corrective Reading Instruction (3)

SPED 528 Curriculum & methods Special Ed (3)

EDUC 547 Field Experience Lab (1)

SPED 551 Behavior Management Application (3)

or EDUC 536 Classroom Management (3)

SPED 554 Evaluation & Assessment (3)

SPED 569 or SPED 576 Nature & Needs Pers ID or E&BD

NES Professional Knowledge Assessment (Elementary or Secondary depending on your interests) with a score of 220

NES Special Education Content Knowledge with a passing score of 220

Capstone

SPED 541 Practice Teaching Special Ed (1-5)

SPED 596 Practice Teaching Seminar (1)

The course work is designed to introduce teachers to the design, methodologies and techniques associated with research/evidence based educational practices; support teachers’ efforts to make informed decisions that affect student achievement; and prepare mentors for new and low performing teachers who can foster the development of effective and highly effective teachers. Teachers in this program will apply strategies to analyze the strengths and challenges that affect the culture of learning and practice building learning communities through coaching and mentoring professional teams. Teacher leaders assume a wide range of roles to support school and student success. Whether these roles are assigned formally or shared informally, the role of teacher leader helps build the entire school’s capacity to improve.

ETL 5xx: Scientifically Based Research and Assessment to guide Instructional Decisions, ETL 5xx: Family and Community Engagement to Support Student Achievement, and ETL 5xx: Peer Mentorship and Coaching. These 3 new courses, in addition to EDL 560: Legal Aspects of Education, ITD 456: Learning Theories, and ITD 552: Change and Organization Development

The Master of Arts Specialization program allows students to continue to develop skills as educators, while simultaneously furthering their knowledge in specific concentration areas. In order to be afforded the opportunity to teach at the community college level, students need to fulfill 18 credit hours within a specific content field, and 12 credit hours are required for K-12 teachers. For the Elementary and Secondary MAT Specializations, students are required to take 18 credit hours in one content field and 9 in a separate area. However, for the Special Education Specialization students are required to take all 28 credits in the Special Education content area. The MAT specialization degree, encompassing all overarching concentrations, can be accompanied with licenses and endorsements, and areas of specialization are as follows:

• Art
• Bilingual Education
• Business
• Early Childhood Education
• Educational Leadership
• English
• Gifted and Talented Instruction
• Health Science Education
• History
• Instructional Technology and Design
• Mathematics
• Political Science
• Psychology
• Reading
• Science
• Social Studies
• Spanish
• Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)