Secondary Education

College of Education
Dean: Jacob Perea

Department of Secondary Education
BH 41
415-338-1201/1202
Chair: Nathan Avani

Graduate Coordinator: Nathan Avani
Middle/Junior High School Studies Coordinator: Judith Blomberg

Faculty

Professors—Avani, Blomberg, Flores, Fox, O'Sullivan, Phillips

Associate Professor—Cancino

Assistant Professors—Bloom, Casarez-Levison, Cooks, Irvine, Kysh, Watanabe

Programs

M.A. in Education: Concentration in Secondary Education
M.A. in Education: Concentration in Mathematics Education
Certificate in Middle School Studies

Program Scope

Master of Arts in Education: Concentration in Secondary Education. The Master of Arts is uniquely designed to provide experienced teachers with new perspectives and challenges that will result in practical pedagogic outcomes. The program affords teachers the opportunity to pursue the study of teaching and learning in their subject area and special interests such as urban education, multi-cultural education, implications of social and technological change for teaching, adolescent values, middle school education, mathematics education, science education, and alternative education. One aim of this program is to improve educators' effectiveness as teachers, leaders, and educational scholars, and to contribute to the knowledge base for teaching and learning.

Graduate study for this degree may be combined with programs leading to the Reading Specialist or Bilingual Specialist Credentials.

Students are urged to observe the general requirements in this Bulletin as well as the specific departmental requirements stated here and in the special bulletins available from the department upon request.

Flexibility in the selection of courses from secondary education and related fields allows for a wide range of individual interests. The program offers each candidate a thorough grounding in responsive education that is sensitive to the needs of the working professional. Evening and summer courses are offered.

Master of Arts in Education: Concentration in Mathematics Education. The Master of Arts in Education: Concentration in Mathematics Education provides middle and high school teachers with advanced knowledge of research, theory, and practice in the teaching and learning of school mathematics and expands their knowledge of mathematics content. Teachers holding single subject credentials will have the opportunity to learn additional mathematics and to relate their study of mathematics to the teaching and learning of mathematics. Teachers with single subject credentials in subjects other than mathematics will be eligible to apply for a supplementary authorization in mathematics for middle school teaching. This degree also prepares teachers to assume leadership roles in their schools and districts.

Certificate in Middle School Studies. The certificate identifies the holder as a specialist in middle level education and as a desirable candidate for teaching positions over a broad age range. Earning the certificate improves the qualifications of holders of other teaching credentials for teaching positions in middle level schools. The certificate program forms an acceptable area of emphasis within the M.A. in Elementary Education or Secondary Education and may be acceptable as a related field in other degree programs. (The completion of this certificate does not fulfill the requirements for teacher credentialing in the State of California.)

Career Outlook

Career possibilities for high school teachers are variable, with a particularly good outlook for mathematics and science teachers and for teachers who are bilingual in Spanish and/or one or more Asian languages.

Career possibilities for middle school teachers are excellent, particularly for those with specialized middle level training.

MASTER OF ARTS IN EDUCATION: CONCENTRATION IN SECONDARY EDUCATION

Admission to Program

The Master of Arts in Education: Secondary Education is open to all qualified teachers. All admittees must hold bachelor's degrees from accredited universities. Additional entrance requirements include the following:

• A 3.0 GPA in the last 60 semester (90 quarter) units attempted;
• A valid preliminary or clear single subject teaching credential;
• Completion of at least two years of successful full-time teaching;
• Evidence of written English proficiency; and
• An interview with the graduate coordinator and/or other graduate advisers.

A limited number of students not meeting the 3.0 GPA may be admitted conditionally, particularly applicants who have been identified as highly promising or particularly talented teachers.

Written English Proficiency Requirement

Level One: met by passing the SFSU Graduate Essay Test (GET) or completion of an upper-level writing course before enrolling in S ED 850. Level Two: satisfied by successfully demonstrating written competence in papers submitted in required course work.

Course Requirements. After completing the electives and related field courses, students are expected to take the three core courses in sequence: ISED 797, S ED 850 or 865, S ED 895 or 898. Each is prerequisite to the next.

On-line course descriptions are available.

Culminating Experience

Early in the semester prior to enrollment in either S ED 895 or S ED 898, the student must submit his/her Graduate Approved Program (GAP), the Proposal for Culminating Experience, and the Human Subjects Approval forms. Enrollment in these courses is contingent upon approval.

Courses Taken in the Single Subject Credential Program

Up to eighteen units of course work in secondary education completed to satisfy the requirements of the Single Subject Credential program may be used to fulfill the requirements for the Master of Arts, as long as they were taken within the seven-year time limit for the master's degree. Courses that may be counted as electives or as "related or distributed field" courses include S ED 701, 720, 759, 769, 778, 780, 781, 785, 790, 800. Student teaching and the associated seminars, S ED 710, 751, 752, and 753, may not be counted. Curriculum and instruction courses taken in other departments may be counted.

MASTER OF ARTS IN EDUCATION: CONCENTRATION IN MATHEMATICS EDUCATION

Admission to Program

Admission to the Master of Arts in Education: Concentration in Mathematics Education is based upon:

1. Possession of a multiple subject teaching credential.
2. At least two years experience teaching mathematics at the elementary or middle school level.
3. In the event the candidate has not met the requirements in (1) or (2) above, he/she may meet with a mathematics education adviser to evaluate his or her academic and professional background.
4. Applicant must complete a program application, which includes a written statement of purpose.
5. Two letters of recommendation regarding the ability to pursue graduate-level work and successful experience with children.

CERTIFICATE IN MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDIES

Coordinator—Judith Blomberg

Admission Requirements

Applicants must hold a valid California teaching credential or be currently enrolled in a credential program and must satisfy all requirements for post-baccalaureate admission to the university.

Written English Proficiency Requirement

Before completing the certificate in middle level studies the candidate must demonstrate an appropriate level of writing competency. This may be done in one of two ways after faculty advisement: (1) examples of writing done during course work, or (2) by passing an individual or departmental examination.