Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction

The Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction program is best suited for those who are seeking enhanced and advanced knowledge of the teaching and learning process. M.Ed. students are typically practitioners with teaching credentials or educators in environments where such credentials are not required. Students who complete the Master of Education program take coursework related to curriculum, instruction, social contexts of education, as well as a core group of courses in their specified area of interest.

Mission Statement

The M.Ed. degree program is designed to provide advanced professional studies in graduate course work for persons who currently hold teaching credentials (such as those found in formal PK-12 settings) or for those with experience as educators in environments where such credentials are not required (i.e. instruction in the community college, informal educational environments such as zoos, nature centers and museums and/or private educational organizations).

Rationale for the M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction

The M.Ed. enables those who complete it to:

• Engage in a range of professional development opportunities providing both a general core along with a focused experience in a variety of areas
• Gain enhanced ability and practice skills and expand content knowledge both as a teacher and educational leader
• Acquire a broad and deep knowledge of and insights into curriculum models, education programs, educational standards, human growth and development and learning theories
• Earn additional licensure or endorsement (where appropriate) in fields such as Gifted and Talented Education, Middle Level and/or Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages
• Engage the teaching profession at a deeper level than possible within the initial credential program by exploring its history, nature and professional network
• Learn about, critique and demonstrate the ability to integrate research and practice
• Demonstrate leadership in the application of research and inquiry skills to analyze and evaluate trends, problems and practices
• Expand knowledge of the diversity of learners and plan instructional experience responsive to the intellectual, psychological, social and physical needs of individual learners
• Develop advanced skills that integrate the use of modern technologies in instruction
• Consider the nature of advanced graduate work since the M.Ed. degree interfaces with and prepares students for the Ed.S., Ed.D. or Ph.D. degrees