Graduate School Question

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helloiswill
Posts: 75
Joined: Tue Jul 28, 2015 10:39 am

Graduate School Question

Post by helloiswill »

Hey all,
I am applying to a graduate school and they have two degree options:

""- Master of Science in Education with a Concentration in Educational Studies/Elementary
Choose this option if you are/will be an Elementary (grades 1-6) educator

- Master of Science in Education with a Concentration in Educational Studies/Secondary
Choose this option if you are/will be a Secondary (grades 7-12) educator""

I am currently teaching ESL at an Elementary school in the US. However, it seemed that there are significantly more international jobs at the secondary level. Is this true? I would like to move into teaching ESL at the secondary level or at least keep my resume as flexible as possible. This is only my first year teaching in the US and I'm a little wary about getting "tracked" into elementary teaching if that will hurt my chances in the next couple years as I look to move abroad. What do you guys think? Is there an advantage to going Elementary or Secondary? Would a concentration one way or the other be a deal breaker/maker? Thanks for any feedback!

Will
PsyGuy
Posts: 10789
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Northern Europe

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Post by PsyGuy »

The vacancies are about the same. Special population areas such as SEN and ESOL are generally EC-12/all grade qualification areas. Many ISs hire ESOL ITs for whole IS services. You may be hired or assigned to a particular division (primary, secondary), but the expectation is you will be able to work with any age group.
I would do research on your state and determine how it classifies ESOL. Its very likely regardless of your degree you will have an all grades ESOL certification and if not you can transfer it to a state that does. In addition, what options are available for you to add additional certifications. You should also determine if your state offers a combined ESOL and HRT/Primary credential, which it is unlikely to have a combination certification at secondary.

From an IE perspective the difference isnt going to effect your marketability, regardless of the concentration its a M.S. in Education. There are only two things that matter, what an IT can do (degrees ,qualifications) and what they have done (experience). Of those two experience is king. What your concentration is in, isnt going to matter compared to your experience in a classroom.

From a professional perspective, you will be prepared better through the primary track. In the states ESOL training in primary tends to focus more on developmental language acquisition, whereas at secondary its more focused on vocabulary and grammar growth. The differences are in the structure of instructional delivery. Primary education in a Language Immersion classroom allows you to integrate language acquisition throughout the entire instructional day and across subjects. In secondary, you have an hour a day and you arent likely to have much collaboration across other subjects. Depending on the year/grade/age of the student you very likely will just be adding vocabulary words in that hour. Its very difficult to do much more in such a limited amount of time.

My advice is to forget both tracks, go though a cheaper alternative program to get your certification and then do your masters in something that gets you into a niche market and credential such as librarian, counselor, or administration.
shadowjack
Posts: 2138
Joined: Sat Oct 06, 2012 9:49 am

Re: Graduate School Question

Post by shadowjack »

Honestly, a Masters of SCIENCE in Education is something not often seen. What university are you at?
helloiswill
Posts: 75
Joined: Tue Jul 28, 2015 10:39 am

Re: Graduate School Question

Post by helloiswill »

@psyguy Thank you for all the info.

"I would do research on your state and determine how it classifies ESOL. Its very likely regardless of your degree you will have an all grades ESOL certification and if not you can transfer it to a state that does. In addition, what options are available for you to add additional certifications. "

Right now my certification is K-12. I can add a certification to teach English (literature and writing not ESL) at the secondary level. Hopefully, that combined with the ESL will make me more marketable.

"My advice is to forget both tracks, go though a cheaper alternative program to get your certification and then do your masters in something that gets you into a niche market and credential such as librarian, counselor, or administration"

I selected this masters program because I got a decent amount of scholarships and grants from the government which will make it comparatively inexpensive. Its also connected with the alternative certification program I am going through.

@shadowjack

The Masters of Science in Education would be through Johns Hopkins. I know the MAT is more common and I'm not really sure what the difference would be.
PsyGuy
Posts: 10789
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Northern Europe

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Post by PsyGuy »

@helloiswill

ESOL and English Lit isnt a typical IE assignment. What you see (and its uncommon) is an IS that has a part time vacancy in a content area and then adds ESOL courses to make the appointment a full time position, but the focus is on the content area subject not the ESOL. While more common in a DS you do find SEN and ESOL as part of a dual appointment in an LS program.

Well John Hopkins offers a MS in Education with a concentration in Administration and Supervision. I dont know what your ACP program includes, but if the program is cheap enough then a Masters and certification is better than just certification (unless time is important to you).

A MAT like an M.Ed is a practitioners degree. MATs conceptually focus on the methodology of content delivery, where an M.Ed C&I focuses more on pedagogy and curriculum. MSs and MAs are more academic (scholar degrees) with the MS conceptually having a stronger research emphasis. MSs generally require a thesis, whereas a MA will have some kind of capstone project if anything.
Thats all conceptually, in practice they mean whatever the institution wants them to mean. MATs in the States are usually an MA degree that provide (an expensive) pathway that includes teacher certification. They are essentially graduate EPP/ITT programs.
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