Curriculum and Teaching Sec Education MA Professional Peace Corps

Overview

The MA Program in Curriculum and Teaching with Professional Certification at the Secondary level (MA-CUSD), provides students with a core of common courses and experiences in critical study of pedagogy and curriculum in combination with systematic study of disciplinary foundations of school subject matters (“content”) and subject-specific pedagogies (“pedagogy”) in the area of licensure.

This 32 point program is designed for early career educators currently practicing in, or intending to practice in, New York State. A basic criterion for admission is possession of a valid initial license to teach in New York, or eligibility to acquire such a license (e.g., by virtue of holding a comparable license from another jurisdiction). Some prior experience (beyond student teaching or equivalent) is desirable, but not required. A commitment to public education is welcome (but not required). In conjunction with satisfaction of all other requirements determined by the New York State Department of Education (NYSED), successful completers of the program are eligible for professional certification in New York State in Secondary Education, subject specific (grades 7 – 12; currently, English, Social Studies, Science, Technology, or Mathematics).  Detailed and up-to-date information about licensure requirements and procedures may be found at TC’s Office of Teacher Education, OTE, https://www.tc.columbia.edu/office-of-teacher-education/

Prospective students whose professional interests center around teaching in school settings, regardless of licensure status or future plans are urged to consult with Admissions and/or the Program Director early in your process. We have several different program pathways you may want to consider (including some that do not lead to certification), and we may have suggestions with respect to subjects/licensure areas in addition to those listed above. Also, licensure requirements are complex, and they differ from state to state. We can give preliminary advice on these, and can refer you to the licensure/certification experts at Teachers College as needed. though Teachers College has not made an official determination if the program leads to certification in any other state.

The MA with Professional Certification, Secondary (MA-CUSD for short) helps educators who bring imagination, critical spirit, respect for the capacities of all children and young people, and love of teaching and learning to their work. We seek to prepare educators who will increasingly exert leadership (informally and/or formally) with their colleagues, in their school settings, and in the field more broadly. The program revolves round three core tenets:

• teaching as inquiry,

• teaching as curriculum making, and

• teaching for social justice.

Structurally, the program is organized around a core of common coursework, and associated field experience, dealing with principles, history, and skills of curriculum design and of pedagogy, in context of an alert and critical attention to social, ethical, professional and other challenges facing educators and children in schools today. Simultaneously, CUSD students, working closely with an advisor, select from an array of “content pedagogy” courses, from within the Department of Curriculum and Teaching and across the College, appropriate to their specialty, individual interests, and licensure requirements. As a connecting and culminating activity, all students conduct an “Integrative Project,” focused on an issue, problem, and/or question identified by the student.

With careful planning and advising, this 32 point program can be completed in twelve months for full-time students starting in the fall or summer semesters. However, program faculty believe that students get more out of the experiences if the program is done at a slower pace. Students have five years to complete their program.

Students in the MA-CUSD take some courses, and engage in some joint activities, with students in other Curriculum and Teaching programs, in particular, the MA in C&T with Professional Certification at the Elementary level (MA-CUED), the Master of Education (Ed.M) in C&T (60 points) and the MA in Curriculum and Teaching (MA-CURR). Faculty, as well as students, work together across all of these programs—all of which are devoted equally to the critical study and improvement of pedagogy, curriculum, and society.

Please see “MA in Curriculum & Teaching with Professional Certification (MA-CUED, MA-CUSD) Program Guide” for further information about program purposes, structure and expectations; and for answers to Frequently Asked Questions.

Advising

All students are assigned an advisor upon admission. It is essential that students begin working with their advisor well before commencing their studies and arriving at Teachers College. Advisors can help students decide what program timeline makes best sense for them; students and advisors work together to develop the Program Plan; students are required to consult with their advisor prior to initial course selection and registration.

Please see  “MA in Curriculum & Teaching with Professional Certification (MA-CUED, MA-CUSD) Program Guide” for further information about advising. 

Courses

Requirements and schedule notes are correct as of publication. Please check the online schedule for most current scheduling information: https://www.tc.columbia.edu/courses/. In case of confusion, consult with your advisor. Students are responsible for meeting all program requirements. Please plan accordingly.

Core (shared) courses. All students in the MAs in Curriculum & Teaching with Professional Certification (CUED, CUSD) are required to take the following (14 points):

C&T 4002    Curriculum Theory and History (3) Fall, Spring, Summer

C&T 4005    Principles of Teaching and Learning (4) Fall only (includes a required 50 hour field experience component: see below) to be taken prior to or concurrently with C&T 4502 semester 1

C&T 4052    Designing Curriculum and Instruction (3) Fall, Spring, & Summer

Consult with advisor to assure proper section. Note: One section per year focuses on design for social studies at the elementary level, and may be preferred by CUED students.

One of the following age/grade level specific courses:

C&T 4130    Critical Perspectives in Elementary Education (K — 6) (3) Fall only. CUED; OR

C&T 4145    Critical Perspectives in Secondary Education (3) Fall only. CUSD

C&T 4502.001    Integrative Project seminar (0 - 1) Fall only

Pre- or co-requisite: C&T 4005

Register for section designated for MA-CUED and CUSD students

Consult with advisor regarding credit allotment

C&T 4502.001    Integrative Project (0 — 1) Spring only

To be taken immediately following first semester of C&T 4502

 

Field Experience (in conjunction with C&T 4005)

Students who are teaching, while in the program, generally do their field experience in their own school, although for the most part not in their own classroom. In other cases, program staff work with students to find placements in New York City schools for 50 hours of independent observation and reflection on instructional practices, interactions between and among students and teachers, critical issues, curricular enactments, and design activities. The field placement typically spans ten weeks and averages five hours per week.

Social Context selective courses: Diversity. (One course/2 - 3 points)

Note re: Special Education. NYSED requires that Professional Certification candidates have in their record a 3 credit stand-alone special education course aimed at developing “the skills necessary to provide instruction that will promote the participation and progress of students with disabilities in the general education curriculum.”

If you do not have such a course in your record (e.g., undergraduate transcript), you should take CT 4001, Differentiating Instruction in Inclusive Classrooms. This will satisfy the “Social Context: Diversity” requirement.

If you do have such a course in your record, you may take any approved selective in fulfillment of the “Social Context: Diversity” requirement. To determine if you have already taken an acceptable Special Education course, consult with your advisor or with the Office of Teacher Education (OTE).

Following are examples of courses that will satisfy the “Diversity” requirement. (Information is correct as of publication.) There are numerous other possibilities (within and beyond C&T) that would satisfy this requirement. Just remember to get advisor approval—in advance, please—to use a course not on this list in fulfillment of this requirement.

C&T 4000     Disability, Exclusion, and Schooling (3 cr) Fall, Spring, & Summer

C&T 4001     Differentiating Instruction in Inclusive Classrooms (2-3 cr) Fall, Spring, & Summer

C&T 4078     Curriculum and Teaching in Urban Areas (2-3) Check course schedule

C&T 4010     Immigration and Curriculum (2-3) Check course schedule

C&T 4114     Multicultural Approaches to Teaching Young Children (2-3) Fall, Spring, & Summer

C&T 5037 Literacy,  Culture and the Teaching of Reading (2-3) Spring

EDP 4023     Reimagining Education (2-3) Spring (or/and, Summer Institute)

Social Context selective courses: General . (One course/2 - 3 points)

Following are examples of courses that will satisfy the “General” requirement. (Information is correct as of publication.) There are numerous other possibilities (within and beyond C&T) that would satisfy this requirement. Just remember to get advisor approval—in advance, please—to use a course not on this list in fulfillment of this requirement.

C&T 4021     Nature and Needs of Gifted Students (2 – 3) Fall

C&T 4023     Differentiated Curriculum for Gifted Students (2-3) Check course schedule      

C&T 4032     Gender, Difference, and Curriculum (2-3) Fall, Spring?, Summer?

C&T 4161      The Teacher: Socio-Historical, Cultural Contexts of Teaching (2-3) Spring

C&T 4615    Young Children and Social Policy (2-3) Spring, Summer, Fall

C&T 5004     School Change (3) Fall

C&T 5033    Globalization, Democracy & Curriculum (2-3) Spring

Content Pedagogy courses (12 points). Students in the MA-CUSD program take 12 points (typically, four classes) in their specialty area (area of initial licensure), from appropriate TC programs and departments, e.g.,. Social Studies Education, Science Education, Mathematics Education, or English Education. Following are examples of suitable courses, offered regularly, in each area. Each program develops new courses, too: again, there are generally a good number of other possibilities. Students are encouraged to search out and propose other courses to their advisor. The basic criterion for such courses is that they will extend the student’s understanding of both the content and of pedagogies appropriate to that content.

1. Social Studies

A&HW 4032 The Study of World History & Geography

A&HW 4033 History & Geography of Europe since 1914: Selected topics  

A&HW 4035 New York City as a Learning Laboratory

A&HW 4037 East Asia: Geographic Perspectives

A&HW 4038 The Study of American History & Geography

A&HW 4039 The United States Constitution: Civic Decision Making

A&HW 4040 Women of the World: Issues in Teaching

A&HW 4041     Economic Decision Making in Citizenship Education

2. Mathematics:

MSTM 4019        Mathematics Teaching and Learning I

MSTM 4031 Number Theory

MSTM 4034       Exploring Secondary Mathematics       

MSTM 5011         Mathematics in the Secondary School

MSTM 5019 Mathematics in Popular Culture & Media

MSTM 5020 Mathematics and Multicultural Education

MSTM 5022 Mathematics Curriculum Development

MSTM 5023 Problem Solving     

MSTM 5031 Topics in the Foundations of Mathematics

MSTM 5032 Topics in Geometry/Topology

MSTM 5035 Topics in Mathematical Modeling

MSTM 5037 History of Mathematics

MSTM 5038 Topics in Mathematical Logic

MSTM 6030 Advanced Topics in Probability Theory

MSTM 6033 Advanced Topics in Algebra

MSTM 6034 Advanced Topics in Analysis

3. Science : 

MSTC 4007   Urban & Multicultural Science Education

MSTC 4044   Biology Methods and Curriculum Laboratory

MSTC 4045              Earth Science Methods and Curriculum Laboratory

MSTC 4047   Physical Science Curriculum & Methods Laboratory

MSTC 4049   Middle School Living Environment Methods Laboratory

MSTC 4055   Concepts of Biology

MSTC 4056   Concepts of Earth Science

MSTC 4059   Concepts in Chemistry I

MSTC 4060              Concepts in Chemistry II

MSTC 4075   Concepts in Physics I

MSTC 4076              Concepts in Physics II

MSTC 4151               Modern Principles of Evolution

MSTC 5042              Science, Technology & Society

MSTC 5048   Curriculum and Pedagogy in Science Education

4.  Technology :

MSTU 4024   Television and the Development of Youth

MSTU 4133              Cognitions and Computers

MSTU 5002              Culture, Media & Education

MSTU 5027              Tools and Toys for Knowledge Construction

MSTU 5555              Technology and Emerging Global Curriculum

5.  English Education:

A&HE 4057 English Methods

A&HE 4058 Teaching of Reading

A&HE 4151              Teaching of Writing (Co-requisite with A&HE 4156 Writing: non-fiction)

 

New Student Advising and Online Registration

Please see note above and in the “MA in Curriculum & Teaching with Professional Certification (MA-CUED, MA-CUSD) Program Guide”: Newly admitted students need promptly to seek advising with the assigned advisor or Professor Roosevelt and begin to draft their Program Plan. A PIN (Personal Identification Number) will be assigned after consultation and agreement about first semester courses. The student will then be able to register for courses online. The Office of Admission may provide further information to assist you in the registration process (https://www.tc.columbia.edu/admission/; 212-678-3710; admission@tc.columbia.edu). If you have not been notified of your advisor, please seek guidance from the Program Director.

Graduation Deadlines

Teachers College students must apply (i.e., declare their intent) to graduate by a specified date well in advance of each of the College’s three annual graduation dates: https://www.tc.columbia.edu/registrar/students/degree-information--degree-audit/

Please note there is only one commencement ceremony each academic year, at the end of the Spring Term . Participation in this ceremony presumes successful completion of all degree requirements as of the end of the spring term. Under certain limited circumstances specified by the College, students in good standing who have not yet completed all degree requirements may also participate (“walk”) in the May ceremony . Please consult the Registrar's Office and/or your advisor about criteria and procedures for “walking” (taking part in the ceremony without yet being awarded the diploma).

Graduation application due	Degree awarded
August 1	October
November 1	February
February 1	May

Please also see: https://www.tc.columbia.edu/registrar/students/degree-information--degree-audit/