COURSE CURRICULUM

The Middle Level Education (Grades 4–9) program prepares students to become effective educators for early adolescents, combining theory, practice, and licensure preparation. The curriculum requires 120–130 credit hours, including 36 credits in General Education, 51–52 credits in Professional Education, and 39–48 credits in Areas of Concentration. General Education includes foundational courses in mathematics, statistics, communication, and writing, along with breadth of knowledge requirements in arts, humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences, incorporating diversity and applied learning components. Professional Education courses focus on pedagogy, educational psychology, literacy, instructional design, mentoring, and supervised student teaching experiences, ensuring practical classroom readiness and meeting licensure requirements. For students choosing the Language Arts concentration, the program emphasizes literature, writing, and language instruction, requiring courses such as Black American Literature, World Literatures or Special Topics in Literature & Language, History of the English Language or Grammatical Structures of Modern English, Modes of Writing for the Middle Grades, Teaching Adolescent/Middle Level Literature, and a 300/400-level English elective, totaling 18 credits. This concentration equips students with specialized skills in teaching reading, writing, and literary analysis, fostering the ability to engage middle-level learners in critical thinking, communication, and a deeper appreciation of language and literature.