COURSE CURRICULUM

The Middle School Education Language Arts program requires a comprehensive set of professional education and content courses to prepare students for teaching grades 5 through 9. A total of 49 credit hours in professional education courses must be completed, with a minimum grade of C required in all courses, except for Introduction to Education as a Profession, which requires at least a B. These courses cover essential areas such as educational foundations, law and society, adolescent development, and teaching strategies.Students also study the psychology of exceptional children and learn techniques specifically for teaching English, along with advanced pedagogy courses that focus on effective teaching practices and interdisciplinary methods for middle school classrooms. Practical experience is a major component of the program, including field experiences and a comprehensive student teaching requirement, allowing students to apply their knowledge in real classroom settings. Additional coursework focuses on instructional interventions for students with special literacy needs and content literacy methods for middle and high school learners.In addition to professional education courses, students must complete 24 credit hours of language arts content courses and maintain a minimum GPA of 3.0 for graduation and certification. These courses build strong skills in writing, literature, grammar, and communication. Students study rhetoric and critical thinking, writing about literature, and the structure of the English language, along with children’s and young adult literature. They also learn how to select and teach literature appropriate for middle and secondary classrooms. Communication skills are strengthened through courses in oral communication, and students can choose additional coursework in American literature to deepen their understanding of literary traditions. Overall, this combination of theoretical knowledge, subject expertise, and hands-on teaching experience ensures that graduates are well-prepared to become effective and confident middle school language arts educators.