Coursework

IB/M Coursework

First-Year Coursework

During the First Year of the IB/M program, all teacher candidates take courses that are designed to build a solid foundational knowledge about: a) multicultural education; b) how students learn, c) learning differences, and d) how schools influence student learning. The courses that students take during this initial phase of the IB/M program are:

Fall Semester

  • EDCI 3100/W - Multicultural Education, Equity and Social Justice (3 Cr.) — Introduction to multicultural education. Includes the nature and purposes of schooling, the relationship between diversity, schooling and society, and the concepts and practices of multicultural education and equity pedagogy.
  • EPSY 3010 - Educational Psychology (3 Cr.) - this course can be taken prior to entering program. — The psychology of learning and teaching, and the study of the nature and development of children and adolescents.
  • EGEN 3100 - Seminar/Clinic: The Student in the School Context (3 Cr.) — Integration of concepts of social and community issues, and exceptionality with clinical experiences.

Elementary Education majors also take:

  • EDCI 3010 - Elementary Curriculum Standards and Integration (1 Cr.) — The role of national curriculum standards and analysis of curriculum resources and the implementation of curriculum in the elementary setting. Focus on media arts-related standards found across language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies curriculum standards.

Special Education majors also take:

  • EPSY 3115 - Collaborative Program Planning in Special Education (3 Cr.) — Covers basic knowledge and skills related to collaboration with families, paraprofessionals, other teachers, and professionals from other disciplines, including specialized services for children with disabilities (EG, Health, Assistive Technology, Related Services). Introduction to library and computer resources for school leaders.

Music Education majors also take:

  • EDCI 3020 - Choral Methods (2 Cr.) — Pedagogical techniques in choral settings, evaluation of vocal and choral literature and texts, and guidelines for choral performance at elementary and secondary levels.

Spring Semester

  • EPSY 3110 - Exceptionality (2 Cr.) - Fall or Spring junior year (Special Education students do not take this class) — Overview of characteristics of students with exceptionalities and of educational programming for exceptional learners.

Elementary Education majors also take:

  • EGEN 3120 - Teaching and Learning in School Contexts (1 Cr.) — This course examines the relationship between instructional planning and student learning as it occurs in elementary classrooms.
  • EDCI 4110W - Teaching Reading and Writing in the Elementary School (3 Cr.) — An introduction to the teaching of reading and writing in the elementary school.

Secondary Education majors also take:

  • EDCI 3210 or 3211 or 3212 or 3213 or 3214 - Introduction to Secondary Methods and Clinic (3 Cr.)
    • World Language education students take: EDCI 3215 - Teaching World Languages to the Elementary-Age Student: Seminar and Clinic (3 Cr.)
  • EDCI 4010 - Teaching Reading and Writing in the Content Area (2 Cr.) — An introduction to the teaching of reading and writing in the learning of the content areas taught in secondary schools.

Special Education majors also take:

  • EPSY 3130 - Methods for Teaching Students with Disabilities (4 Cr.) — Informs students of research-based methods and instructional formats for teaching students with disabilities.
  • EPSY 4110 - Advanced Foundation of Disability (3 Cr.) — Provides students with knowledge and understanding of both the unique and common cognitive, academic, physical, cultural, social, and emotional needs and characteristics of individuals with various disabilities.

Music Education majors also take:

  • EDCI 3305 - Methods in Elementary School Music (3 Cr.)

In addition to Teacher Preparation Coursework, first-year students continue to build their content-area knowledge by taking courses in their chosen subject area majors.

Second-Year Coursework

Fall Semester

The Core courses that students take during this phase of the IB/M program are as follows:

All Students take:

  • EPSY 3125 - Classroom and Behavior Management (3 Cr.) — Overview of preferred practices for providing positive behavior supports for students with disabilities across a variety of classroom and other educational environments.
  • EGEN 4100 - Seminar/Clinic: Methods of Teaching (3 Cr.) (Elementary majors do not take EGEN 4100; they take EGEN 4200) — Integration of concepts of learning assessment and exceptionality with area specific methods.

Plus one of the following groups:

Elementary Education
  • EDCI 4115 - Teaching Mathematics in the Elementary School (2 Cr.) — A study of current approaches to teaching and learning school mathematics. Opportunities will be provided for participants to develop an awareness and knowledge of the Standards for Teaching School Mathematics.
  • EDCI 4120 - Teaching Science in the Elementary School (2 Cr.) — A study of curriculum materials, laboratory experiences and teaching techniques in science.
  • EDCI 4125 - Teaching Social Studies in the Elementary School (2 Cr.) — A study of the organization of learning experiences and teaching methods emphasizing the social sciences as the foundation of the social studies.
  • EDCI 4130 - Teaching the Language Arts in the Elementary School (3 Cr.) — A study of current theory and approaches to teaching the language arts effectively by connecting the teaching of speaking, listening, reading, and writing and by integrating this instruction with children's literature and content learning. Field experiences may be included.
Secondary Education
  • EDCI 4210W - Instruction and Curriculum in the Secondary School (3 Cr.) — A study of the selection and organization of learning experiences, instructional materials and teaching methods. Course activities will include a combination of lecture, seminar, and clinical experiences in local schools.
  • EDCI 4205W - Teaching World Languages to the Secondary-Age Student (4-12) (3 Cr.) — Preparation of candidates and instructors for world language instruction at the middle and high school levels in alignment with research and theory in the field as well as CT and national standards for language teaching. Students will be able to: discuss current research findings and trends in world language learning and languages methodology and apply these to planning in middle and high school classrooms; identify the developmental stages of adolescents and create developmentally appropriate objectives and activities for this age group. Course activities include a combination of lecture, seminar, and clinical experiences in local schools.
  • EDCI 4215 - The Teaching of Reading in Middle and High School (English Education only) (3 Cr.) — Methods of teaching reading to middle and high school students.
Special Education
  • EPSY 4120W - Diagnosis, Assessment, and Program Planning (3 Cr.) — Introduction to assessment in special education focusing on current purposes, policies, and practices in schools.
  • EDCI 4110W - Teaching Reading and Writing in the Elementary School (3 Cr.) — An introduction to the teaching of reading and writing in the elementary school. Field experiences may be included.
  • EDCI 4115 - Teaching Mathematics in the Elementary School (3 Cr.) — A study of current approaches to teaching and learning school mathematics. Opportunities will be provided for participants to develop an awareness and knowledge of the Standards for Teaching School Mathematics.

Spring Semester

During the first two weeks of the student teaching semester, students take courses at the university related to their specialization area. They enroll in the EGEN 4110 seminar for the entire semester. Students are strongly discouraged from taking any other courses during the student teaching semester so that they can devote their energies and attention to the challenges of daily student teaching.

All Students take:

  • EPSY 4010 - Assessment of Learning (2 Cr.) — Theory and practices of the assessment of learning.
  • EGEN 4110 - Seminar/Clinic: Analysis of Teaching (3 Cr.) — Analysis of instructional concepts and implementation in the clinical setting. Relationship of instruction to theory and implications for instructional evaluation are stressed.

Plus the following:

Elementary Education Majors

EDCI 4150 - Directed Student Teaching (9 Cr.) — Student teaching in selected elementary schools. Provides opportunity for students to observe teaching, to develop teaching skills through practice, and to engage in other school activities for which elementary teachers are responsible.

Secondary Education, Music Education, Agricultural Education Majors

EDCI 4250 - Directed Student Teaching (9 Cr.) — Class meetings providing orientation to student teaching followed by teaching in schools supervised by a member of the staff of the Curriculum and Instruction Department. It is the policy of the department to extend its practice-teaching opportunity to a point sufficient to indicate adequately a student's teaching ability and aptitude.

Special Education

EPSY 4115 - Directed Student Teaching (9 Cr.) — Practicum experience with students with disabilities.

Student Teaching Seminar

The EGEN 4110: Analysis of Teaching seminars are scheduled by the seminar leaders and take place in schools within Professional Development Centers to which students are assigned. Students who are student teaching in the same PDC enroll in the same section of EGEN 4110 which encourages reflection on and analysis of curricular and instructional methods and challenges within a specific school district.

Seminars address issues related to the act of teaching, the teaching profession, and the role of professional educators within the community. Specific agendas vary depending upon the needs and interests of the students, cooperating teachers, and seminar leaders. Cooperating teachers and administrators are invited and encouraged to attend the student teaching seminars to participate in collaborative reflection with student teachers.

The EGEN 4110 seminar provides a framework for two very important activities for IB/M students: building the teaching portfolio and preparing a teaching-focused portfolio segment in TaskStream, focused on self-assessment and based on Connecticut's Common Core of Teaching principles.

Building the teaching portfolio. All students in the IB/M program are expected to build a professional portfolio, documenting their work and progress in the IB/M program. The expectations about specific items to be included in the portfolio are dictated by the students' advisors. The student teaching experience provides an exceptional platform for gathering and creating many resources—unit plans, instructional differentiations, instructional materials, assessment tools, examples of student work—to add to the portfolio. Student teachers should take advantage of all avenues open to them during their student teaching assignment to gather input, ideas, and materials from teachers.

Preparing the TaskStream Portfolio. All IB/M students have a TaskStream account as part of the NSoE Technology Initiative. During the student teaching semester, students participate in a Connecticut's Common Core of Teaching principles experience, building an electronic portfolio consisting of a lesson plan including assessment strategies, student profiles, student work samples, examples of feedback to students, videotape of a lesson being taught by the student teacher, analysis of student work, and reflective analysis of the entire portfolio segment. Specific requirements for the TaskStream portfolio are discussed in the 4110 seminar. The TaskStream portfolio assignment is modeled after the Connecticut's Common Core of Teaching principles and provides teacher candidates with early guided experiences for assembling their portfolio.

Many students continue to take subject-specific courses in CLAS to meet their requirements for their subject area majors during the fall of the second year. All subject area major requirements must be met by the end of the first semester of the second year in the IB/M program, prior to the start of student teaching.

Third-Year Coursework

Students must complete 30 graduate credits to earn a Master's degree and complete the program. In addition to the core courses listed above, students must take 9 credits of graduate level electives (including a content or content pedagogy course), spread out across the two semesters, to complete 30 credits. Students should work with their faculty advisor to determine suitable electives. See program guidelines for additional information.

The core courses that students are required to take during the Master's year of the IB/M program are:

All students take:

  • EDCI 5092 - Practicum (3 credits fall) — The implementation and application of theory in the student's area of specialization.
  • EDCI 5094 - Seminar (3 credits fall) — Analysis of the issues and research in the field of education.
  • EDCI 5093 - Practicum (4 credits spring) — The implementation and application of theory in the student's area of specialization.
  • EDCI 5095 - Seminar (3 credits spring) — Analysis of the issues and research in the field of education.
  • EPSY 5195 - Methods of Inquiry (1 credit fall; 1 credit spring) — Professional personnel to work cooperatively on problems arising out of actual school situations.

Choose one course from the following groups:

Language and Cultural Diversity in Education

  • EDCI 5700 - Foundations of Bilingual Education (3 Cr.) — Study of the political, social and legal aspects of bilingual education, including principles of second language acquisition.
  • EDCI 5715 - Bilingualism and Second Language Acquisition (3 Cr.) — Developmental sequences and theories of first and second language acquisition.
  • EDCI 5720 - Bilingual Education and Biliteracy (3 Cr.) — Current methods, strategies and techniques of read- ing in the mother tongue (L1); transfer of reading skills into english (L2); and, evaluation and adaptation of L1 and L2 reading materials. Principles of second language acquisition.
  • EDCI 5740 - Latinos and U.S. Education (3 Cr.) — Conditions of schooling Latinos in the U.S. educational system via an historical and economic context, including principles of second language acquisition. Policy issues and theoretical discussions of underachievement. relationship between dominant and subordinate cultures and their effect on class- room discourses.
  • EDCI 5742 - Sheltered English Instruction for English Language Learners (3 Cr.) — Current approaches and techniques with respect to academic language development in sheltered environments. This course attempts to disclose the most important issues surrounding content area teaching for English Language Learners (ELLs). Special attention is placed on the teaching of mathematics, science, and literacy in English for second language learners, including second language acquisition and development within the content areas.
  • EDCI 5750 - Language Diversity and Literacy (3 Cr.) — Overview of issues and debates concerning the theory and practice of literacy development for non-native english speaking students in the United states. includes principles of second language acquisition.
  • EDCI 5875 - Multicultural Education (3 Cr.) — Interrelationships between education and various sociocultural aspects of cultural diversity and cultural pluralism, including language acquisition and diversity.
  • EDCI 5890 - Educational Linguistics (3 Cr.) — Overview of the study of language and linguistics, and especially applied linguistics, with emphasis on their implications for classroom teacher. includes principles of second language acquisition.
  • EDCI 5895 - Language Ideology & Education (3 Cr.) — Interrelationship among language, ideology, education and society, including examination of issues of social classes, ethnicity, gender, social context, power, and politics. Also covered are literacy, language prescriptivism and standardization, language policy and discourse in critical perspective. Principles of second language acquisition.

Leadership

  • EDLR 5015 - Teacher Leadership and Organizations (3 Cr.) (special education students do not take this course) — Teachers' role in providing leadership that extends beyond the walls of the individual classroom and includes collaboration with other adults.

In addition, Special Education majors must take:

  • EPSY 5116 - Individual Pupil Assessment (3 Cr.) — Diagnosis and prescription for children with special learning and behavioral disabilities, including administration, scoring and interpretation of pupil assessment instruments.
  • Literacy Course: EPSY 5113, 5114 or 5115 (3 Cr.)

In addition, Music Education majors must take:

  • EDCI 5041 - Theoretical Foundations of Music Education (3 Cr.) — Considers issues including music education programs, practices, curricula, and policies. Objectives for the course are to: (a) develop professional rationales for broadly used music education practices that involve information derived from relevant research in history, sociology, and philosophy, and critical theory; (b) analyze and critique selected music education programs, practices, curricula, and policies; (c) write a paper that reviews and critiques a broad area of practice in music education and recommends policy alternatives.