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Sue Ruskin-Mayher, Director: 212-875-4780
Master of Science in Education: 45 credits
This 45-credit program in Middle School General Education is specifically designed for teachers and prospective teachers who wish to work with children and young adolescents in grades 5 through 9.
Adolescence is a period in which children perceive themselves and the world they inhabit as fragmented. In this program, you will learn interdisciplinary approaches for helping young adolescent students engage in active learning in all subject areas while also tying their learning together through various unifying contexts.
You will learn about the interrelationship of the academic, intellectual, emotional, physical and social development of early adolescents. You will also come to understand the school structures that best support cognitive and emotional growth - why do some schools succeed in meeting the needs of these children while others do not?
You will use your growing understanding of developmental issues to inform your work in curriculum across all subject areas, as well as in your area of specialization.
Certification in Education
You will earn initial and professional New York State certification to work with children in grades 5 through 9. As a graduate, you will be certified both as a middle childhood generalist, qualified to teach all subjects, and as a middle childhood specialist to teach English, social studies, a foreign language, mathematics, biology or earth science, as determined by your undergraduate major.
Supervised Fieldwork/Advisement
During one academic year, while you take courses, you will gain teaching experience and intensive advisory support through supervised fieldwork/advisement. If you are not currently working in a middle school or junior high setting, you will do your student teaching with placements both at the 5th or 6th grade level and at the 7th, 8th or 9th grade level. Working teachers and assistants who stay with a particular grade in the age range may use their own classroom as their primary site for college-supervised teaching, but they will also need additional college-supervised field experiences with children of diverse populations and other ages within the certification range. This requirement might be met, for example, through after school or summer school experiences.
Throughout your year of supervised field work/advisement, your advisor will visit you in your setting each month. You will meet individually twice a month with your Bank Street advisor, and you will gather with a small, supportive peer group once a week throughout the fall and spring terms. The year of supervision and advisement is central to your professional growth and development as you become a successful educator.
Integrative Master's Project
Before graduating, you will complete an independent study (master's thesis), directed essay or portfolio. Your choice will depend on your own goals and learning style. This project allows you to pursue an area of particular interest to you, or to weave together the threads and understandings of your Bank Street graduate experience.
Admissions Requirements
Applicants to the Middle School General Education program need to have a strong background in the liberal arts and sciences and to have majored in a subject taught at the middle school level: English, a foreign language, mathematics, social studies (history), biology or earth science.
Further information
More Middle School Education programs (Middle Childhood certification, grades 5 to 9):