Elementary Teaching (MS)

Summary

Elementary Teaching MS prepares students to obtain a MN K-6 Elementary Teaching license. This program is intended for students who have already earned a bachelor’s degree and are now interested in seeking a K-6 teacher licensure program. This includes students who have earned a bachelor’s degree in a non-teaching major and are seeking initial K-6 licensure and students who have earned a bachelor’s degree in a teaching major and are now seeking additional licensure in K-6. 

Catalog Year

2024-2025

Degree

Master of Science

Major Credits

42

Total Credits

42

Locations

Online

Career Cluster

Education and Training

This program satisfies licensure-to-practice standards for Minnesota and may satisfy standards for other states or US territories.

Licensure/Certification Disclosure

Apply

Program Requirements

Common Core

This course will engage teacher candidates in critically analyzing children¿s texts. Teacher candidates will learn how to integrate diverse literature across the elementary curriculum. Teacher candidates will learn how to engage in critical literacy themselves, as well facilitate critical literacy discussions and tasks with elementary students that promote the learning of skills and strategies within the context of critical engagement with learning content. Teacher candidates will learn how to guide students in developing their literacy identities in order to promote reading engagement and students as independent and collaborative readers.

Prerequisites: none

This is the first of two courses designed to equip teacher candidates with mathematical knowledge, pedagogical skills, and dispositions for fostering an inclusive classroom environment. This course explores research on how children learn mathematics, effective teaching practices, and equitable approaches. Mathematics topics addressed in this course are number quantity & counting, meaning of the operations, fact fluency, place value, computation strategies, for whole and rational numbers.

Prerequisites: none

This course will explore practical information, assessment tools, instructional ideas and activities for effective implementation of an inquiry-based approach in elementary curriculum. Teacher candidates will focus on developing inquiry-based methods and strategies for improving student learning while linking one or more elementary content areas.

Prerequisites: none

Understanding classrooms as part of a broader community context, this course explores strategies to collaborate with students in designing curricula. Students will learn to integrate community assets into the classroom and develop partnerships to ensure teaching reflects and engages with the local context.

Prerequisites: none

In this course students learn about and use a variety of developmentally appropriate, motivating techniques and assessments to disrupt predictable patterns of achievement and to advance children's: oral and written language, phonemic awareness, phonics, and concepts about print. Additionally, the interdependent nature of reading, writing, listening, and speaking, stages of spelling development, and role of vocabulary and fluency in comprehension are addressed.

Prerequisites: none

Elementary school teachers must know and understand the fundamental concepts and practices in all domains of science (physical, life, earth and space) and health education so that they can plan and effectively implement meaningful, engaging, and safe inquiry learning experiences that are accessible for all learners in the elementary classroom.

Prerequisites: none

This course is designed to prepare teacher candidates with the understanding and application of concepts related to human diversity and interactions, structures of power, the identity of individuals and communities, and explicitly connects social studies concepts with their influence on educational experiences of diverse learners. The course addresses issues of oppression and social justice related to race/ethnicity, gender, age, class, religion, disability, physical appearance, sexual orientation and nationality.

Prerequisites: none

This is the second of two courses designed to equip teacher candidates with mathematical knowledge, pedagogical skills, and dispositions for fostering an inclusive classroom environment. This course explores research on how children learn mathematics, effective teaching practices, and equitable approaches. Mathematics topics addressed in this course are number theory, integers, algebraic patterns, relations, and functions, data investigations, probability, geometry, measurement, and discrete mathematics concepts.

Prerequisites: none

The first semester of a year-long student teaching experience that provides an opportunity for teacher candidates to experience fully the role of the professional elementary educator and demonstrate their ability to successfully enter the induction phase of teaching.

Prerequisites: none

Analyze and design instruction and assessment that bridges curriculum with students¿ cultural, racial, linguistic and community assets and reflects students' diverse experiences.

Prerequisites: none

The second semester of a year-long student teaching experience that provides an opportunity for teacher candidates to experience fully the role of the professional elementary educator and demonstrate their ability to successfully enter the induction phase of teaching.

Prerequisites: none

Seminar brings together knowledge from a variety of disciplines to help students meet the needs of learners within inclusive settings. Specific attention is given to English language support, special education services, ethical and legal issues in teaching, and the edTPA.

Prerequisites: none

Research/Methods Course(s)

Examines, synthesizes, and applies the research base for a problem of practice within elementary level education.

Prerequisites: none

For students completing a Master's degree with the creative project option.

Prerequisites: none

Policies

Admission

  1. A bachelor's degree from an accredited U.S. institution, or a comparable degree from a recognized college or university in another country, is required.
  2. 2.75 GPA or above is required for immediate consideration of your application. If your GPA is less than 2.75, your application will require special review. In this situation, an Extenuating Circumstances statement may be appropriate.
  3. Transcripts: Official transcripts from all previous institutions.
  4. Resume
  5. Two letters of recommendation. 
  6. Extenuating circumstances statement (optional). While this is not required, if there is something on your transcript that does not accurately reflect who you are as a student, please write no more than 500 words documenting unusual circumstances or hardships you have faced and the ways in which you have overcome or responded to them.

P/NC Standards: Courses may not be taken as P/NC. 

Retention Standards: Continuance throughout the program is not automatic. Students will be monitored for: successful completion of coursework, successful completion of field experiences, a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher, and evaluation of professional dispositions.