As a graduate-level initial certification program, the MAE offers multiple pathways for students interested in becoming teachers. Students can enter the “pre-MAE” portion of the program as early as their freshman year or as late as their senior year (with the proviso that an additional semester of undergraduate coursework may be necessary). Once formally declared pre-MAE, students are guided and advised through the certification and graduation requirements at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Regular advising from multiple sources ensures that the individual curriculum for every student in every certification area communicates clear expectations and is properly aligned with state standards for teacher certification.
Description of the Pathways to and through the MAE
Truman State University has multiple events for first-year students as they register in June for courses, and it is during that time that freshmen interested in the MAE meet with advisors, MAE faculty, and MAE students to discuss the MAE and create a plan for their undergraduate and graduate coursework. Most candidates complete an undergraduate major in the MAE content area, with the exception of candidates who pursue Elementary or Special Education MAE Programs.. Candidates interested in pursuing certification in Elementary and Special Education come from any undergraduate program at Truman, including an interdisciplinary liberal arts and sciences degree that students can craft with the support of advisors. Truman offers multiple minors that increase the opportunities for undergraduates to work in the education field such as the education minor, disability studies minor, or child studies minor. Rarely do we get candidates who have earned undergraduate degrees elsewhere and then attend Truman to earn a Masters in Education. In fact, in the last three years all but two of the 261 MAE candidates have attended Truman State University as undergraduate students. There are undergraduate certification courses woven into the students’ undergraduate programs (e.g., ED 388: Exploratory Field Experiences, ED 389: Educational Foundations, ED 393/ED 394: Clinical Experiences in Teaching and Experiences in Classroom Teaching, ED 593: Psychological Foundations of Education) before they are our degree-seeking students at the master’s level.
Transfer students and upperclassmen undergraduates may decide to become teachers through the MAE program as well. They meet with the Certification Officer and create a plan for the courses. Some of the undergraduate certification courses may be taken while they are graduate students rather than completing them in the undergraduate program. If a candidate who has attended another university has not met criteria for admission, they start as a non-degree seeking student until they meet all of the requirements for admission. Once those have been met, the student is admitted as an MAE graduate student and completes the cycle of courses with their cohort in the program of their choice (Music (Instrumental or Vocal), Health/Physical Education, Foreign Language (French or Spanish), Social Science, English, Elementary Education, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, or Special Education).
Candidates who are interested in our add-on certifications can take the set of courses from any university, and then apply through the Department of Secondary and Elementary Education (DESE) to earn their certification. A majority of candidates take all of the required courses through Truman— especially if they are in the MAE program or a graduate of the MAE. The only exception to that is for the gifted certification. The gifted certification candidates are current teachers who have certification already and may or may not be undergraduates from Truman. They typically take all of the courses through Truman once they start, but they are not required to do so. The Office of Academic Outreach is the contact point for these students as they register for the courses as non-degree seeking students. Once they have completed the courses they need for certification, they submit them to DESE to earn the gifted certification.
MAE certification candidates/completers with secondary (9-12) certification in Biology, Chemistry, English, Mathematics, Music (Vocal or Instrumental), Physics, or Social Science have the option to take courses to be eligible to teach dual credit classes at the high school level. Recommendations from the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) state that a high school teacher teaching a dual credit class (a high school class that also earns a student college credit), must have a master’s degree that includes 18 credit hours in the content subject they teach. Students completing the graduate program at Truman have the option to take additional graduate level content courses (in the content areas noted above) beyond the required 12 hours of graduate content courses required for completion of the MAE.
DESE requires that students earn a 3.0 GPA in approved content courses and a 3.0 in approved professional courses as a component of certification. Each matrix of courses is posted on each program’s MAE webpage (e.g. social science/history) for students to know which courses count for DESE’s content and professional courses. Previously, students needed to earn a 2.75 GPA overall to earn certification from DESE; however, this requirement was eliminated by DESE as of Spring 2021.
Truman State University’s Liberal Arts and Sciences Undergraduate Program(s)
Development of Course Syllabi
All undergraduate course syllabi are developed with course goals and objectives based on Missouri Teaching Standards published by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) after approval of the Missouri Board of Education.
The Missouri Teacher Standards convey the expectations of performance for professional teachers in Missouri. The standards are based on teaching theory indicating that effective teachers are caring, reflective practitioners, and life-long learners who continuously acquire new knowledge and skills. Effective teachers are continually seeking to improve their teaching practice to provide high academic achievement for all students.
The standards recognize that teachers continuously develop knowledge and skills. Therefore, the Missouri Teacher Standards employ a developmental sequence to define a professional continuum that illustrates how a teacher’s knowledge and skills mature and strengthen through the career. Teaching professionals are expected to demonstrate professional judgement and to use these standards to inform and improve their own practice.
Missouri Educator Evaluation System
The Missouri Educator Evaluation System (MEES) consists of 36 indicators and nine teaching standards. The standards are based on teaching theory focused on the qualities of effective teachers. These qualities are: having a caring attitude, completing reflective practices, and being life-long learners. The MEES is used by many Missouri school districts in Missouri and is required by DESE. Teacher candidates are assessed with the MEES standards in the internship by the internship mentor teacher and the University Supervisor. Teacher candidates must score at least a combined value of 42. The Education Department additionally uses the MEES standards in assessing the portfolio completed by the teacher candidate during the internship. Faculty participate in training for inter-rater reliability of the MEES standards every August. Training is provided by the Regional Professional Development Center (RPDC), which is located on campus.
MO Standards for the Preparation of Educators
The MO Standards for the Preparation of Educators (MoSPE) includes four standards focused on providing guidance and outlining the responsibilities of Educator Preparation Programs (EPP). The standards address a candidate’s professional knowledge and their application, clinical experiences and the program’s partnerships, and recruitment, progress, and retention. Additionally, they address the program’s commitment to quality and diversity. DESE requires EEPs to use the MoSPE standards.
Alignment of the InTASC Standards and MEES Standards
The alignment of InTASC standards and MEES standards illustrate how the standards guiding Truman’s MAE program also align with national standards. (See Appendix C.)
Truman Curriculum Matrix
Presented in Appendix C, the Curriculum Matrix details which Education courses at Truman State University include content that reflect the MEES and the MoSPE standards. The courses included in the Curriculum Matrix are divided into three sections: undergraduate courses, courses that could be taken for undergraduate or graduate credit, and graduate courses. Each X marked on the curriculum matrix sheet tab indicates that the course meets the MEES and/or MoSPE standard, as determined by a content analysis of the verbiage from syllabi and from input of the course’s professor(s). The matrix also contains the direct verbiage from either syllabi or catalog descriptions that indicates how it meets the corresponding MEES and/or MoSPE standard. In addition to these core courses, which are listed below, students in each of the 13 initial certification areas take advanced content courses in their area, which are also listed in Appendix C.
The undergraduate courses are:
- ED 100: Introduction to Education
- ED 388: Exploratory Field Experiences
- ED 389: Foundations of Education
- ED 393: Clinical Experiences in Teaching
- ED 394: Experiences in Classroom Teaching
- ED 410: On Becoming an Educator
- ED 483: Independent Study in Education
- ED 593: Psychological Foundations of Education
The courses that could be taken for Undergraduate or Graduate Credit are:
- ED 520(G): Principles of Early Childhood Education
- ED 521(G): Teaching Experience: Early Childhood Field Experience
- ED 550(G): Introduction to Gifted and Talented
The graduate courses are:
- ED 601G: Measurement and Evaluation
- ED 603G: Content Area Academic Literacy
- ED 605G: Psychology of Exceptional Children
- ED 607G: Applied Educational Psychology
- CML 608G: Management of Instruction
- ED 608G: Management of Instruction: Elementary Education
- ENG 608G: Management of Instruction: English
- ES 608G: Management of Instruction: Health
- LING 608G: Management of Instruction
- MATH 608G: Management of Instruction: Mathematics
- MUSI 608G: Management of Instruction: Music
- SED 608G: Management of Instruction: Special Education
- SSTE 608G: Management of Instruction: Social Sciences
- STEM 608G: Management of Instruction: STEM
- ED 609G: Teaching Internship
- SED 610G: Management of Instruction: Secondary
- ED 618G: Co-Teaching Experience: Elementary Education Professional Development School
- ED 621G: Psychology of Reading
- ED 622G: Integrating the Language Arts
- ED 623G: Reading Assessment and Implementation
- ED 624G: Instructional Interventions for Secondary Students (Grades 6-12) with Reading Deficiencies
- ED 626G: Creativity
- ED 627G: Argument in Gifted Curriculum
- ED 632G: Research/Applied Educational Psychology
- ED 650G: Identification of Gifted
- ED 651G: Curriculum for Gifted
- ED 652G: Meeting the Affective Needs of Gifted
- ED 653G: Programming Planning and Development: Administration and Supervision of Gifted Programs
- ED 672G: Middle School Philosophy, Organization and Curriculum
- ED 681G: Research Study in Education