Graduate Program: Overview

Master of Education
701-858-3028
1-800-777-0750 ext. 3028

Overview
Minot State University’s Master of Education degree focuses on improving knowledge and skills relative to teaching and learning. The program concentrates on: 1) examining current trends in curriculum and instruction, 2) developing breadth and depth in knowledge and understanding of the teaching and learning process, 3) developing skills necessary to do action research, and 4) enhancing the knowledge base in the content area of their choice.

This degree is set up to allow any discipline within the Teacher Education Unit at Minot State to offer a concentration, or to allow education related vocations to access graduate studies. Each student will be required to set up a program of study with the director of the M.Ed. program or with the chair of the recognized discipline offering the concentration.

The program consists of a minimum of 30 semester hours of graduate credit with a common core of 16 semester hours that all M.Ed. candidates must take. The elective component may reflect a particular concentration or it may be a combination of graduate course work acceptable to the director of the M.Ed. program in which case there will be no mention of a particular discipline on the degree.

Mission and Goals of the M.Ed. Program
The objectives of this program are: to develop skills of scholarship and research; to increase professional competence in instructional strategies and curriculum development; and to develop perceptions of the characteristics and unique needs of the students in P-12 schools.

The Master of Education degree seeks to prepare candidates who effectively enhance student learning and demonstrate the high level of knowledge, skills, abilities and commitments reflected in the following National Board of Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS)/North Dakota Program Approval Standards Outcomes.

North Dakota Program Approval Standards Outcomes
National Board For Professional Teaching Standards Outcomes

(NBPTS Standard One: Teachers are committed to students and their learning)
• Outcome 1a: Candidates will demonstrate the ability to match instructional strategies to student needs
• Outcome 1b: Candidates will use multiple instructional strategies
(NBPTS Standard Two: Teachers know the subjects they teach and how to teach those subjects to students)
• Outcome 2a: Candidates will demonstrate appropriate pedagogy for the discipline/s they teach
• Outcome 2b: Candidates will demonstrate mastery of disciplinary subjects
(NDBPTS Standard Three: Teachers are responsible for managing and monitoring student learning)
• Outcome 3a: Candidates develop appropriate informal and formal assessment techniques
• Outcome 3b: Candidates will describe a range of assessment approaches
• Outcome 3c: Candidates will compare and contrast a variety of management models
(NBPTS Standard Four: teachers think systematically about their practice and learn from experience)
• Outcome 4a: Candidates will critique their professional practice
• Outcome 4b: Candidates will formulate plans for changes in professional practice, based on experience, professional literature and research, and then reflect on and evaluate those changes in relation to student learning.
(NBPTS Standard Five: Teachers are members of learning communities)
• Outcome 5a: Candidates collaborate with professionals in the field

ND Program Approval: 50081 Advanced Programs for Teachers Outcomes

(ND Standard 50081.1: Advanced program courses are designed to result in advanced knowledge, skills, and dispositions.)
• This standard is fulfilled through outcomes on the NBPTS and through the specialty are concentrations.
(ND Standard 50081.2: The program requires candidates develop the ability to apply research and research models relevant to the advanced field of study.)
• Performance on this standard is developed in ED 501 and demonstrated through successful defense of t eh ED 598 or ED 599 Thesis.
(ND Standard 50081.3: Study of the role of schools in society and the development of positive relationships with families and the larger community)
• Outcome 6a: Candidates will analyze the relationships between schools and society
• Outcome 6b: Candidates will describe processes by which positive relationships may be developed with families and with the larger community.
(ND Standard 50081.5: Use of current, appropriate instructional technologies)
• Outcome 7a: Candidates will use current, appropriate technologies
• Outcome 7b: Candidates will analyze best practice in relation to technology use as related to student learning
(ND Standard 50081.6: A field experience relevant to the area of advanced study. At least a portion of the practicum experience is designed to demonstrate potential impact on P-12 student learning.)
• Outcome 8a: Candidates will formulate plans for changes in professional practice, based on experience, professional literature and research, and then reflect on and evaluate those changes in relation to student learning.