Master of Education in Secondary Education - Initial Teacher Licensure Initial Program – Leads to Initial Teacher Licensure
Overview
Advance Your Career with a Masters in Secondary Education
Grand Canyon University's (GCU) Master of Education in Secondary Education was designed to prepare you to become a licensed junior high or high school teacher. Offered through the College of Education, this regionally accredited and Arizona State Board of Education-approved master in education degree program prepares you for employment anywhere a licensure is required, including public and private schools.
With emphases placed on technology and classroom diversity, you learn to combine sixth through 12th grade subjects (English, social studies, history and psychology) with a variety of 21st century teaching methods and strategies to improve student outcomes.
Programs leading to teacher certification may require practicum hours, state exams, student teaching and an institutional recommendation from GCU.
Degree Outcomes
Gain the Skills to Lead a Junior High or High School Classroom
With assistance from the Office of Field Experience, you gain access to a grade sixth through 12th grade classroom in order to complete the required practicum assignments for the observational field experience hours. This practical experience gives you a solid foundation and the classroom management skills needed to become a licensed secondary education teacher.
Your final semester of the masters in teaching secondary education degree program includes a full-time, 15-week student teaching component. These learning, development and applied teaching opportunities are emphasized through a Christian worldview of values and ethics.
What You Will Learn
Review Course Topics for the Masters in Teaching Secondary Education
Masters in secondary education online course topics include:
- Philosophical, historical and sociological influences on educational theories
- Common trends that professional educators face
- U.S. and Arizona Constitutions
- Adolescent development and psychology
- Creating and managing engaging learning environments
- English language teaching foundations and methods
- Assessment and evaluation for secondary education
- Teaching methods and strategies for secondary education
- Adolescent literacy
- Methods of integrating Structured English Immersion (SEI)
- Curriculum and instructional planning for secondary education
Career Outcomes
Earn Your Licensure to Teach
After earning your masters in secondary education degree, you will have the skills and credentials you need to become a licensed junior high or high school teacher, and effectively manage a secondary education environment. You can elect to teach in a private, public or charter school with this secondary education degree program.
Note: This program was recently revised. Disclosure statistics on this program before it was revised indicated 76% of students graduated on time (within 29 months) and graduated with a median loan debt of $35,686.
Course List
Program Core Courses
Course Description
Teacher candidates will survey the philosophical, historical, and sociological influences upon which educational theories and practices are constructed and explore a variety of the common issues, trends, and opportunities that professional educators face in the field. Candidates will prepare for the graduate learning experience at Grand Canyon University by developing and strengthening the skills necessary to succeed as graduate students in the College of Education. Practicum/field experience hours: 2. Fingerprint clearance not required.
Course Description
Candidates examine the United States Constitution, and the constitution of the State of Arizona. From this foundational review, candidates will explore application of the United States Constitution and the constitution of the State of Arizona in educational contexts. Practicum/field experience hours: 3. Fingerprint clearance not required.
Course Description
Teacher candidates will survey how adolescents grow and develop, recognizing that patterns of learning and development vary individually within and across the cognitive, social/emotional, and physical areas. This survey of the seminal concepts, principles, theories, and research related to development of adolescents will allow candidates to build foundational knowledge for constructing learning opportunities that support individual students' development, acquisition of knowledge, and motivation. Practicum/field experience hours: 15. Fingerprint clearance not required. Prerequisite: SEC-501.
Course Description
This course is designed to allow the teacher candidate the opportunity to learn techniques involved in the successful engagement and management of a learning environment. Major emphasis is placed to the establishment of a realistic discipline plan to manage student behavior, as well as engagement and management techniques and strategies to maximize instructional time, classroom procedures, and physical space. Practicum/field experience hours: 15. Fingerprint clearance required. Prerequisite: SEC-501.
Course Description
This course presents the historical, legal, theoretical, and sociological foundations of programs of instruction for English language learners. It includes an examination of the role of culture in learning and instructional program models, with a focus on Structured English Immersion. Teacher candidates are instructed in immersion strategies and the use of assessment data. Practicum/field experience hours: 10. Fingerprint clearance required.
Course Description
Teacher candidates will investigate multiple methods of assessment that support student engagement, monitoring student progress, and guiding decision-making. Candidates will build foundational knowledge regarding formal and informal assessment strategies for planning, evaluating, and strengthening instruction to promote continuous intellectual, social, emotional, and physical development of each student. Practicum/field experience hours: 15. Fingerprint clearance required.
Course Description
This course is designed to foster application of proven teaching and learning methodologies for both instructor and student in order to make appropriate and data-driven decisions about all aspects of teaching. Major emphasis is focused on planning instructional objectives and lessons, assessing objectives, and developing teaching methodology that encourages problem solving, active participation, and assessment. Practicum/field experience hours: 15. Fingerprint clearance required. Prerequisite: SEC-515.
Course Description
This course is designed to develop a broad range of research-based reading methodologies to enhance the learning strategies of middle and secondary school students. Major emphasis is placed on the use of reading strategies for culturally and socially diverse classrooms, including the use of literacy-based instruction in all content areas and understanding, evaluating, and promoting effective pedagogy in adolescent literacy. The development and use of integrated and thematic approaches of instruction are addressed. Teacher candidates are expected to observe and assist in a grade 7-12 classroom while taking this course. Practicum/field experience hours: 15. Fingerprint clearance required.
Course Description
In this course, teacher candidates continue to examine the fundamentals of the legal, historical, and educational foundations of Structured English Immersion and other instructional programs for English language learners. Theoretical principles of language acquisition and the role of culture in learning are examined. Methods of assessment are identified and analyzed. Teacher candidates identify strategies to promote English language development and improve student achievement. They plan, deliver, and evaluate instruction for English language learners. Practicum/field experience hours: 15. Fingerprint clearance required.
Course Description
Various orientations to curriculum development and assessment are investigated and elements of model curricula are examined. Emphasis is placed on understanding current structures and trends in high schools, as well as critical issues, as these relate to curriculum and assessment. Course content is strategically planned to enable participants to make informed curriculum decisions to meet the needs of a diverse student population. Also emphasized is the alignment of educational objectives to standards and building both formative and summative assessments, including rubrics to analyze student learning. This course focuses on the principles and practices involved in curriculum design. Teacher candidates develop their own curriculum unit. Practicum/field experience hours: 15. Fingerprint clearance required. Prerequisite: SEC-540.
Course Description
Teacher candidates are engaged in the student teaching experience that includes practical classroom experiences, research, analysis, and teaching to support the creation of a Teacher Work Sample (TWS). Fingerprint clearance required. Prerequisites: Successful completion of all courses in POS and content area; a 3.0 GPA; successful completion of NES or your state’s mandated content area exams; and approval and placement by the College of Education Office of Clinical Practice. All paperwork for student teaching must be submitted by the due date the semester prior to student teaching.
Program Locations
Online
Evening
* The Department of Education defines how an institution must calculate a program's On-Time Completion rate for federal disclosure purposes. The On-Time Completion rate is based on a program’s published required number of months to complete all degree requirements as provided in the institution’s catalog. Completion statistics are updated every January and are based on the cohort of students who graduated between 7/1 – 6/30 of the preceding year. The On-Time Completion rate is determined by the number of students in the cohort who completed the program within the published program length divided by the number of students in the cohort who graduated.
Online and Evening program disclosures (26 month program) Additional Disclosures* Please refer to the Academic Catalog for more information. Program subject to change.