Education M.A.T.: Requirements

Degree Requirements

Degree requirements are established by the faculty on recommendation from the School of Education and the director of graduate study. All graduate programs in the School of Education require a minimum of eight (8) units of graduate credit which must be taken for letter grades. No P/F grades are permitted, unless a course is mandatory P/F. Unless otherwise noted in the course description, graduate courses are valued at one (1) unit each. A unit of credit is equivalent to four (4) semester hours or six (6) quarter hours. Up to two (2) units of independent study may be applied toward the degree.

No more than two (2) courses with C grades, or a maximum of two (2) units of C grades, may be counted toward a degree, subject to approval by the School of Education. Grades of D and F are not used in meeting graduate degree requirements but are computed in the cumulative grade point average.

A candidate falling below a 3.0 grade point average, or receiving a grade lower than C, will be removed from candidacy or placed on probation. When candidacy is removed for any reason, the student may not register for additional degree work without the prior approval of the Academic Standards Committee.

Students who violate the ethical standards observed by the academic and professional community may be removed from candidacy. Such standards are delineated in the codes of the National Association of Secondary School Principals, the National Association of Elementary School Principals, the American Counseling Association, and chapters 180-87 of the Washington Administrative Code.

Course of Study

Prerequisites (summer or during undergraduate years)

419 (1 unit) American Schools Inside and Out
420 (1 unit) Multiple Perspectives on Classroom Teaching and Learning

Fall Semester

Elementary

614 (no credit) Introductory Professional Issues
616 (3.5 units) Elementary Curriculum and Instruction
621 (.5 unit) Classroom Assessment

Middle School

614 (no credit) Introductory Professional Issues
616 (2 units) Elementary Curriculum and Instruction
618 (.5 unit) Seminar in Curriculum and Instruction
620 (1 unit) Adolescent Development
621 (.5 unit) Classroom Assessment

Secondary

614 (no credit) Introductory Professional Issues
617 (1 unit) Secondary Curriculum and Instruction
618 (.5 unit), Seminar in Secondary Curriculum and Instruction
619 (1 unit) Literacy in Secondary Schools
620 (1 unit) Adolescent Development
621 (.5 unit) Classroom Assessment

Spring Semester

615 (.5 unit) Special Populations
622 (3 units) Student Teaching
623 (.5 unit) Professional Issues Seminar

Summer

628 (1 unit) Educational Thought and Practice
629 (2 units) Seminar in Educational Experience, Context and Meaning

Program Goals

MAT students should develop the capacity to see complexity, appreciate diversity, develop multiple explanatory systems, and manage on multiple levels simultaneously. The intent of the Master of Arts in Teaching program is to prepare teachers who have

deep understanding of subject matter and pedagogies that teach for understanding;
ability to manage the complexities of teaching;
ability to promote the teaching-learning of challenging content;
ability to reflect on their own practice, to look for principles underlying what "works" or "does not work" and to persist in determining their own appropriate practice;
commitment to serving everyone’s children, particularly those who historically have not been well served by traditional schooling;
ability to learn and work in collaborative fashion and to create settings in which others can learn and work;
capacity to engage in the remaking of the profession and the renewal of schools with understanding of the social and cultural context in which students live and learn.

Learning, Teaching, and Leadership Master’s Program 8-8.5 units

A student admitted to the MAT program, who later decides not to complete the preparation for classroom teaching, may consider completion of the Learning, Teaching, and Leadership Master of Education degree. A decision to undertake the Learning, Teaching, and Leadership program is made in consultation with the School of Education faculty and is generally made in the first semester of the MAT program. The program of study blends the fall semester MAT courses (see previous page) with the core of the Master of Education program and other specially selected courses for the spring and summer semesters:

601 (1 unit) Program Evaluation and Assessment
632 (0.5 unit) Introduction to Counseling and Interpersonal Communication

628(1 unit) Educational thought and Practice
(another course could be substituted for EDUC 632 with advisor approval)
695 (0.5 to 1 unit) Independent Study
697 (0.5 to 2 units) Master's Project