Curriculum and Course Schedule

This course is designed to explore how the ways that we live culturally provide strengths for teaching, learning and design. The course draws from the interdisciplinary study of sociocultural, linguistic, and contextual influences of education, as well as perspectives from learning, teaching, research and policy. Candidates will examine how issues of power and privilege as they pertain to race, ethnicity, language, class, gender, sexuality and identity politics shape and are shaped within our education system. Candidates will be asked to consider their own schooling experiences, and deeply evaluate their beliefs, thoughts and assumptions about the influence of various legal, historical, socio-cultural and linguistic factors on their ideas about teaching, learning, and schooling. Special attention will be given to the major trends that influence contemporary landscapes of PK-12 education and the potential systemic benefits and harms associated with them. Candidates will produce an autoethnography that considers the impact of personal formal and informal learning experiences rooted in racial, cultural and linguistic identity on their life view, as well as how they move through the world as advocates for justice. This course can be applied towards endorsements in English as a Second Language and Bilingual Education on a Professional Educator License and carries 15 clinical clock hours of experience.

Teaching and education are complex, intellectual, and iterative endeavors. Skilled educators continually take experiences from the field in the form of observations, curiosities, and challenges to inform structured inquiry—with the purpose of improving conceptual and pedagogical understandings for themselves and their students. This sequence is grounded in a model of action research. In our view, action research is not distinct from the work of teaching and educating, rather when done well it drives the work of teaching and learning. Data we use in action research is precisely that which we encounter in our educational settings on a daily basis—we are responsible for mining and learning from them. As a result of these courses you will not only have designed and conducted action research— your Master’s Project —but more importantly, you will have a set of stances and tools to embark on a career as an educator scholar who continues to notice various aspects of teaching and learning, ask important questions, and engage in meaningful, guided examinations of practice to evolve learning.   

The goal of this sequence is to help you become informed educators who are able to turn curiosities and challenges from your settings into potential areas of structured reflection and research. The basis of the course is the model of action research — of studying our own settings around questions we are passionate about, for the purpose of improving our students and colleagues learning as well as our own practice. Action research is not distinct from the work of teaching, rather the data we use in action research is precisely that which we encounter in our educational settings daily. As a result of these courses you will not only have conducted action research— your Master’s Project —more importantly, you will have the tools to embark on a career as an educator scholar who continues to ask important questions and embark on meaningful, systematic examinations of teaching and learning in your selected setting. 

Approaches to teaching and learning that focus on student sensemaking and meaningful learning require creating an environment where much of this sensemaking work occurs through talk. Supporting productive discourse is a key element in engaging learners in meaningful work and has become central in attempts in improving education across the K-12 curriculum. This course explores the theory and practice of centering discourse in approaches to learning, focusing on teaching and learning in K-12 classrooms. Work in the course will involve analyzing discourse strategies, reviewing studies of discourse in classrooms, and analyzing video of classroom interactions to see these approaches in action. We will consider examples from elementary, middle school, and high school classrooms, and across multiple disciplines including math, literacy, history, science, and others. We will examine how learners engage in and learn through discourse, and how a teacher or facilitator can support an environment in which students feel welcome and responsible for contributing by sharing their ideas, building on one another’s thinking, and working together to further their learning as a community. Students will have the opportunity to apply the theories, tools, and strategies to design or analyze a discourse-rich environment for a context of their choice, or to try out these tools in facilitating discussions with their peers. 

This course can be applied towards endorsements in English as a Second Language and Bilingual Education on a Professional Educator License and carries 15 clinical clock hours of experience. 

The Designing for Culturally and Linguistically Sustaining Teaching course engages pre-service candidates in developing equitable and sustaining planning and instructional techniques reflective of the lives, languages, literacies, and cultural ways of being that represent the children they will teach. Through exploring diverse heterogeneous instructional practices, this course delves into understanding strategies and ways of thinking about content that transform the daily instructional experiences we can offer our students, making connections a reality.    

The tools and strategies utilized in planning for culturally and linguistically sustaining instruction begin with understanding the core work of developing mini-lessons, daily lesson plans, and a unit plan. As a basis for this work, we will work to understand our students from an asset-based stance where learning about their knowledges, experiences, and hopes for an engaging learning environment become foundational in planning, instruction, and assessment. We will do this through intentional practices that examine an understanding of content area literacies and ways to leverage the assets of a diverse, multilingual classroom community inclusive of cultures represented in communities, including literature, art, music, and popular culture of those communities. Exploring how to support students in developing these literacies will also be core to this work.    

This course can be applied towards endorsements in English as a Second Language and Bilingual Education on a Professional Educator License and carries 15 clinical clock hours of experience.   

This course is designed to support the development of practices and methods for equitable teaching in both informal and formal settings. These settings can include museums, libraries, out-of-school programs, enrichment opportunities, classrooms, and other educational spaces. Central to this work is understanding inquiry as a pedagogical approach that can inform equitable work as an educator.

This course is designed for students to come to understand and utilize the complex web of elements that are involved in learning and the development of equitable learning environments. Key activities in the course are for students to: 1) experience and reflect on their own learning; 2) examine the learning of others through close observation and field work; 3) situate/ ground their learning in the context of existing research, theory, and practice; 4) examine equitable methods and design in order to create their own designs for equitable learning and teaching.

The Foundations of Learning in a New Language course engages pre-service teacher candidates in exploring historical, political, sociocultural, philosophical and educational practices that impact linguistically and culturally diverse learners in American schools. Topics include historical and current federal and state laws regarding the learning of English as a new language, foundations of first and second language acquisition, child development, sociocultural theory, and comparative international language instruction. Research and evidence based instructional models are discussed, with a deepened appreciation for factors contributing to sustained student achievement, including, but not limited to the psychological, cognitive, sociological, and cultural factors that impact student learning. An emphasis is placed on the standards for initial Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) Pre-K-12 Teacher Preparation Programs and the WIDA Language Development Standards.

This course can be applied towards endorsements in English as a Second Language and Bilingual Education on a Professional Educator License and carries 15 clinical clock hours of experience.

The objective of this course is for students to understand and explore the dynamic environment of middle schools and young adolescents, and to consider the impact of middle school principals, structures and practices on classroom learning and instruction. Students will examine the unique characteristics of middle school learning and the educational needs of young adolescent learners, and they will compare and contrast a variety of middle school models, including policy statements, visions and reform proposals. Students will share and consider their personal experiences, and those of the entire class, as they investigate the many and varied issues that impact any middle school and its community. Major topics include public policy issues, adolescent development, standards and curriculum, measures of intelligence, learning differences, school structure and culture, instructional relationships and strategies, literacy and reading in the content areas, the development of critical thinking skills, culturally responsive and equitable practices, interdisciplinary instruction, assessment methods, middle school leadership, and technology. 

This course reviews current research on professional development with adult learners. In particular, it examines the knowledge needed for teaching and how to support teacher learning by establishing a community of learners. Participants will design supports for teacher learning at their schools through an examination of existing teaching routines and a diagnosis of challenges particular to the school. 

This course introduces teaching and learning strategies that aid students in becoming effective educators in the middle grades setting. Emphasizing current research, each course is a comprehensive study of teaching methods in the following middle grades disciplines: English, mathematics, sciences, and social sciences. Lesson and unit planning and assessment of student learning are elements of the seminar. 

 Enrollment in this course is selective and is determined in consultation with your academic advisor. 

This course introduces teaching and learning strategies that aid students in becoming effective educators in the middle grades setting. Emphasizing current research, each course is a comprehensive study of teaching methods in the following middle grades disciplines: English, mathematics, sciences, and social sciences. Lesson and unit planning and assessment of student learning are elements of the seminar. 

Enrollment in this course is selective and is determined in consultation with your academic advisor. 

This course introduces teaching and learning strategies that aid students in becoming effective educators in the middle grades setting. Emphasizing current research, each course is a comprehensive study of teaching methods in the following middle grades disciplines: English, mathematics, sciences, and social sciences. Lesson and unit planning and assessment of student learning are elements of the seminar. 

 Enrollment in this course is selective and is determined in consultation with your academic advisor. 

This course introduces teaching and learning strategies that aid students in becoming effective educators in the middle grades setting. Emphasizing current research, each course is a comprehensive study of teaching methods in the following middle grades disciplines: English, mathematics, sciences, and social sciences. Lesson and unit planning and assessment of student learning are elements of the seminar. 

Enrollment in this course is selective and is determined in consultation with your academic advisor. 

The Assessment of Linguistically Diverse Students course engages pre-service teacher candidates in learning about a variety of assessment approaches, (including but not limited to standardized, formative, diagnostic, performance-based, etc.) with special attention to how assessment of English-Language Learners has been conceptualized within American historical and contemporary sociopolitical and sociocultural contexts. Issues of legality, bias, nondiscriminatory policies, and ethical considerations that must accompany decisions about standards and practices used in the assessment of culturally and linguistically diverse students will be explored. Candidates will be asked to examine policies facing educators of linguistically diverse learners over the last century, and articulate multiple perspectives associated with the issue drawing from course readings and outside research.

The focus on current practices and trends will include key assignments inviting candidates to examine policies and processes associated with the selection and interpretation of mandated assessments and practices at multiple levels–state, district, school and classroom as they relate to diagnostics, language, and achievement. Candidates will answer questions such as “How did these tools get selected? In what ways do they support or disadvantage linguistically diverse students? How are results being interpreted and used to demonstrate linguistically diverse students’ knowledge of subject matter?” Attention will be devoted to helping students develop stances and strategies that promote asset-based, culturally and linguistically appropriate approaches to assessment. 

This course can be applied towards endorsements in English as a Second Language and Bilingual Education on a Professional Educator License and carries 15 clinical clock hours of experience.

This course covers the use of formative and summative assessments for K-12 teachers to diagnose and redesign learning opportunities for students. It also focuses on measurement topics related to understanding validity and reliability as well as the use of data to inform instruction. In addition, teachers learn techniques for using formative classroom assessments to inform instruction. 

This course is a hands-on practicum in designing and building technology-enabled curricula and learning environments. We will use many rich software toolkits designed to enable novice computer users to get their “hands dirty” doing iterative software design. In addition to the hands-on component, the course is also designed to introduce you to the Constructionist Learning design perspective - first named by Seymour Papert and greatly influenced by the work of Jean Piaget - a perspective that is very influential in the Learning Sciences today.

Coding background required.

The Linguistics Informed Approaches to Literacy course supports students in analyzing the aims of linguistic science as well as how linguistic concepts apply to teaching in a variety of settings (including with multilingual students, monolingual students, and bilingual classrooms).  Students will think about the complexities of language and how they connect with identity, culture, power, and schooling.  Students explore topics like syntax, phonology, morphology, semantics, and cognates as they develop their own metalinguistic awareness in support of facilitating effective teaching and learning.  A focal area will be supporting the development of students’ literacies. Content-area reading topics include but are not limited to pre-reading, post-reading, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension.     

This course can be applied towards endorsements in English as a Second Language and Bilingual Education on a Professional Educator License and carries 15 clinical clock hours of experience.

What is “social studies”? The National Council for Social Studies (NCSS) has established a key principle which states: Social studies is composed of deep and enduring understandings, concepts, and skills from various disciplines, and emphasizes skills and practices as preparation for democratic decision-making. This course will create opportunities to connect social studies content to the NCSS Framework, as well as to Illinois State Standards. The primary goal for this course is for future elementary and secondary educators to fulfill social science content-area licensure requirements, specifically with regards to Civics, Economics and Geography. Additionally, arts, humanities, and history content will also play an important role in developing understanding of social studies content and concepts. In the process, students will explore ways to deliver content, design assessments, and create classroom cultures that promote vibrant learning.

By the end of the quarter, students should feel comfortable with and possess a working knowledge of Civics, Economics and Geography content.

Computational Tools for Justice and Inquiry-Based Learning is a course designed to help teachers use empirical models to explore new technologies, evaluate their educational potential, and develop scenarios of use consistent with their teaching philosophy. The course starts with a reflection on the relationship between teaching philosophy and technology use. We will also explore children's everyday uses of technology. We then will take an in-depth look at three emerging technologies: personal broadcasting (e.g., blogs, podcasts), Wikipedia, and gaming. In each case, you will get extensive experience with the technology, examine empirical models that can be applied to the technologies, and reflect on how the technologies intersect with your teaching philosophy. The course also provides exposure to a variety of technologies that are common in school settings. 

This course will address three core areas of school culture: understanding the connection between data and instruction for academic achievement; improving teaching and learning; and supporting the affective domain of the curriculum. We will explore several components needed to create, implement and maintain an effective school while we will examine teaching and learning, diversity in student populations, the role of the community in supporting schools, and new research in education. As a final project, course participants will write a proposal that encompasses various components needed to start a new school. 

In order to be considered graduate-level, a course must appear in the graduate course catalog. All 400-level courses are graduate-level.