Middle Childhood Licensure
Introduction

As outlined below, the post-baccalaureate licensure program in middle childhood education consists of four components: general education requirements, prerequisites to the professional education sequence, professional education requirements, and discipline-specific requirements in two of four content areas: language arts, mathematics, science, or social studies. The program is designed to prepare college graduates with little or no formal course work in education for teaching adolescents ages 9 to 14 (grades 4 to 9).

In addition to needed course work, a recommendation for Student Teaching requires taking all required PRAXIS examinations. Approval for teaching licensure requires  candidates to meet the minimum cut-off score for all required PRAXIS II examinations as prescribed by the State Board of Education. If the cut-off score is not achieved, each test may be repeated until the minimum score is achieved.

Portfolio: All teaching license students are expected to maintain a portfolio while completing their professional coursework and field experiences. The portfolio will evolve from a working portfolio to a professional portfolio and finally to an employment portfolio. In it, students are responsible for housing various required and optional artifacts that demonstrate their level of competency in each of the outcomes of their program.

At various portfolio checkpoints, students must meet specific portfolio criteria in order to be eligible to continue to the next phase of their program. For complete information on portfolios, students are strongly encouraged to access the Student Portfolio Handbook available at: http://www.csuohio.edu/cehs/students/portfolios/.

As of Fall semester, 2007, all students entering teacher license programs are required to maintain their portfolios in the Cleveland State University ePortfolio System or TaskStream for CSUTeach students.

.

Return to top

Requirements

A. General Education Requirements

Course work of at least 30 semester hours including concentrated study of at least two content areas that are broad, multidisciplinary, and encompass the major areas in those fields as described in Section D below.

B. Prerequisites

Equivalent courses taken at other universities may substitute for the following prerequisites pending prior approval of the College of Education and Human Services' Advising Office, JH 170A.

• EDC 300 Diversity in Educational Settings (3 hours)
• PSY 220 Child Development (3 hours)
• PSY 221 Adolescent Psychology (3 hours)

C. Professional Education Requirements

Course work in education and related professional experiences are included in this area for a total of 44 semester hours. Because certain courses in this sequence must be taken concurrently and in a prescribed order, students are strongly advised to seek assistance from the Education Student Services Center, JH 170A, before registering for classes.

• EDB 200 Teaching as a Profession (2 hours)
• EDB 300 Educational Technology (2 hours)
• EDB 301 Social Foundations of Education (3 hours)
• EDB 302 Psychological Foundations of Education (3 hours)
• EDB 303 History and Philosophy of Middle School: Teaching and Management in Context (4 hours)
• EDL 300 Phonics Assessment and Instruction (3 hours)
• EDL 301 Beginning and Intermediate Reading Instruction and Assessment (3 hours)
• EDL 305 Content Area Literacy (3 hours)
• EDL 313 Literature-Based Reading Methods for Adolescents (3 hours)
• ESE 404 Teaching Students of Varying Abilities (3 hours)
• EST 371 Practicum in Middle Childhood Education (3 hours to be taken concurrently with two of the following content area methods courses: EDM 313, EDM 315, EDM 316, or EDM 317)
• EDB 400 Classroom Assessment (2 hours)
• EST 481 Student Teaching in Middle Childhood Education (10 hours)

D. Discipline-Specific or Content Area Requirements

Middle childhood licensure requires concentrated study in at least two of the following multidisciplinary content areas: language arts, mathematics, science, and/or social studies. As outlined below, the distributional requirements for these fields include course work from the various disciplines of which they are comprised and may demand further study beyond that completed as an undergraduate. With approval, interdisciplinary courses may be used to fulfill multiple standards. For example, a physical science course like EDC 418 that includes coverage of both chemistry and physics could be used to satisfy the requirement for course work in both disciplines. Similarly, a course in physical geography such as GEO 209 might be used to meet concentration requirements in both science and social studies.

1. The concentration in Language Arts requires 27 to 28 semester hours of course work distributed over the following major areas of study: advanced composition, linguistics, literature, and speech/communication, theater/drama and/or media studies. The following courses or their equivalencies are required:
   • COM 225 Media Writing or ENG 304 Creative Writing for Teachers (4 hours)
   • COM 242 Public and Professional Speaking or DRA 225 Principles of Acting (3 to 4 hours)
   • ENG 206 Literature and American Culture or ENG 342 Survey of American Literature (4 hours)
   • ENG 310 Traditional Grammar or ENG 311 Elements of Linguistics (4 hours)
   • EDM 313 Teaching and Assessing Language Arts in the Middle School (4 hours to be taken concurrently with EST 371, Practicum) and
     Two elective literature courses (8 hours)
2. The concentration in Mathematics requires 24 semester hours of course work well distributed over the following major areas of study: college algebra or calculus, geometry, number systems, and probability and statistics. The following courses or their equivalencies are required:
   • MTH 326 Numbers, Patterns and Operations for Middle School Teachers (4 hours)
   • MTH 327 Algebra and Functions for Middle School Teachers (4 hours)
   • MTH 328 Geometry for Middle School Teachers (4 hours)
   • MTH 329 Data Analysis and Probability for Middle School Teachers (4 hours)
   • MTH 330 Conversational Calculus for Middle School Teachers (pre-requisite - MTH 327) (4 hours)
   • EDM 315 Teaching and Assessing Mathematics in the Middle School (4 hours to be taken concurrently with EST 371, Practicum)
3. The concentration in Science requires 33 semester hours of course work well distributed over the following major areas of study: the biological or life sciences, chemistry, earth science, environmental science, physics, and space science. The following courses or their equivalencies are required:
   • BIO 106/BIO 107 Human Biology in Health and Disease and Lab (5 hours)
   • BIO 380 Biology Content for Middle School Teachers (5 hours)
   • CHM 380 Chemistry for Middle School Teachers (5 hours)
   • EVS 380 Earth System Science for Middle School Teachers (pre-requisites - GEO 100 & GEO 102) (5 hours)
   • GEO 100/GEO 101 Introductory Geology and Lab (4 hours)
   • PHY 400 Conceptual Physics for Middle School Teachers (5 hours)
   • EDM 317 Teaching and Assessing Science in the Middle School (4 hours to be taken concurrently with EST 371, Practicum)
4. The concentration in Social Studies requires a minimum of 30 semester hours of course work well distributed over the following major areas of study: economics, geography (physical, cultural, and/or economic), history (world or non-Western, American, and Ohio), and American government. The following courses or their equivalencies are required:
   • ECN 201 Principles of Macroeconomics (3 hours)
   • ECN 202 Principles of Microeconomics (3 hours)
   • HIS 111 United States History to 1877 (4 hours)
   • HIS 112 United States History since 1877 (4 hours)
   • HIS 200 Introduction to Geography (4 hours)
   • HIS 306 History of Ohio (4 hours) or HIS 400 Local History Seminar (4 hours)
   • PSC 221 Comparative Politics (4 hours) or PSC 231 International Politics (4 hours)
   • EDM 316 Teaching and Assessing Social Studies in the Middle School (4 hours to be taken concurrently with EST 371, Practicum)

Return to top