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Program Outline

The requirements below intend to provide a pathway towards the middle school specialization for endorsement by the TCNJ School of Education. Middle school is defined as teaching grades 6-8. Students interested in adding the middle school specialization can do so through either the Department of Elementary and Early Childhood Education or the Department of Educational Administration and Secondary Education by meeting the criteria outlined below. Please email Dr. Richardson at Richarli@tcnj.edu if you have questions regarding the criteria listed below.

1. Major in a content area (e.g, math, istem, history or English) or in a related field that the candidate intends to teach. Secondary education students already meet this criteria through their program. In addition to the aforementioned content areas, EECE students may major in Women and Gender Studies or African American Studies.

2. Methods courses (applicable for EECE students): EECE students pursuing endorsement in Language Arts must complete EED 380Methods of   Teaching Writing–as an elective. Additionally, EECE students must register for a section of SOM 203 not associated with the early childhood cohort of ACB. 

3. Student-teaching in a middle school setting: Elementary and early childhood education (EECE) majors and secondary education (EASE) majors are to complete Clinical I in an elementary or high school classroom, respectively. For secondary education majors, we will do our best to place the student in a 9th grade classroom. Both EECE and EASE students will complete Clinical II in a middle school placement. For EECE students, this will be in a 6th grade classroom. In addition, secondary students should be in the middle school-focused JFE section (usually taught by Dr. Davis).

4. Complete the .5 unit middle school courseSED 240-01, INTRODUCTION TO MIDDLE LEVEL EDUCATION. At present, this is only offered in the spring semester. This course is listed in PAWS under educational administration and secondary education (SED).

5. Become a member of and maintain active status in TCNJ’s chapter of CMLA (Collegiate Middle Level Association).

6. Participate in after-school mentoring/tutoring at Kilmer or Rivera middle schools for a minimum of:

A full academic year ____

                 OR

         Only the Spring semester (so students do not feel abandoned over the holidays by a TCNJ student only mentoring in the Fall)

  • You will sign up for this through CMLA

7. Attend a minimum of five middle school colloquia before graduation, which may include School of Education colloquia that address teaching in middle school. These are presentations led by current middle school educators and administrators in surrounding schools.

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