Instruction, K-8, Graduate Certificate

The Graduate Certificate in Instruction for K-8 program on the Twin Cities and Winona campus is tailored to serve students who have completed a bachelor’s degree with little or no previous coursework in education, and who wish to obtain a teaching license in Elementary Education (K-6) with an Early Adolescence (5-8) Specialty. The program is designed for both the recent graduate with a bachelor’s degree who subsequently decides to pursue a teaching career, or for the person who may wish to make a career change and enter the teaching profession.

The program is based on the standards required by the Minnesota Board of Teaching. All standards and requirements must be satisfactorily completed prior to recommendation to the state for licensure.

Program Outcomes

Consistent with the mission of Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota, the Minnesota Standards of Effective Practice, and the educational outcomes for the School of Graduate and Professional Programs, the Graduate Certificate in Instruction program expects its graduates to be able to do the following:

1. Create learning experiences that make the central concepts, tools of inquiry, and structures of the disciplines taught meaningful for students.
2. Provide learning opportunities that support a student’s intellectual, social, and personal development.
3. Create instructional opportunities that are adapted to students with diverse backgrounds and exceptionalities.
4. Encourage student development of critical thinking, problem-solving, and performance skills through the use of a variety of instructional strategies.
5. Create learning environments that encourage positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, and self-motivation.
6. Foster active inquiry, collaboration, and supportive interaction in the classroom through the use of effective verbal, nonverbal, and media communication techniques.
7. Plan and manage instruction based upon knowledge of subject matter, students, the community, and curriculum goals.
8. To evaluate and ensure the continuous intellectual, social, and physical development of the student through the use of formal and informal assessment strategies.
9. Reflect on and evaluate the effects of personal choices and actions on others, including students, parents, and other professionals in the learning community, and actively seek out opportunities for professional growth.
10. Communicate and interact with parents or guardians, families, school colleagues, and the community to support student learning and wellbeing.

Program Structure

Students will be asked to demonstrate preparation in a specialty, or content area, which is determined by undergraduate coursework. Specialty areas include Communication Arts and Literature, Mathematics, Social Studies, Science (Life, Physical), Music, or World Languages and Cultures (Spanish or French).

All students will be required to present evidence of successfully completing content area courses that fulfill the state requirements for content area competence. Documentation may include syllabi, course descriptions, or other evidence that can detail the student’s competence. Content courses completed with a grade of C or above may be submitted as evidence of competence. Students will be required to retake coursework completed with a grade of CD (C-) or lower. Prerequisites must be completed and documented (by submitting an official transcript) before placement for student teaching.

The program director, in consultation with content faculty, will complete a transcript analysis during the application process to determine whether content area coursework is needed. Preferably the student will have completed the content area coursework as an undergraduate. However, students may complete content coursework while enrolled in the master’s program.

Prerequisites

Licensure in Elementary Education (K-6) with an Early Adolescence (5-8) Specialty:

• The American Experience
• Mathematical Concepts I: Systems
• Mathematical Concepts II: Geometry
• Botany & Zoology II
• Earth and the Solar System
• Foundations of Physics
• American National Government