Overview
A degree in Curriculum and Instruction prepares you to design, develop, and implement effective educational programs and teaching strategies. The program focuses on the theory, research, and practical applications of curriculum development, instructional design, and educational assessment.
The coursework typically covers topics such as learning theories, instructional strategies, educational technology, assessment and evaluation, research methods, curriculum development and design, multicultural education, and leadership in education.
For existing certified teachers, you will be able to develop new skills, enhance your current knowledge base and specialize in high demand areas.
Career Outcomes
Graduates can pursue a career as teachers in elementary, middle school, secondary or preK-12. They may work in a variety of settings, including public and private schools, universities, government agencies, and non-profit organizations.
Admissions
Requirements for admission can be found on The Graduate School website. If the specialization in which you are interested has additional requirements, they will be listed in the specializations dropdown below.
Degree Requirements
All of our Teacher Leadership Emphasis specializations require 30 credits.
Credit requirements for the remaining specializations vary and will be listed in the dropdowns below.
Apply
Please refer to the Guide to Applying for instructions on how to apply for graduate admission.
Specializations
The Curriculum and Instruction program offers 10 specializations.
Four of our specializations, TESOL, World Language, Creative Initiatives, and Reading Specialist, lead to teacher certification.
Our Teacher Leadership Emphasis specializations are for already certified teachers who want advanced professional development and improved knowledge in certain focus areas.
Placeholdertest test
Creative Initiatives in Teacher Education Specialization (off-campus program)This is a teacher preparation program in collaboration with Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS), the University of Maryland, College Park (UMD) and the Maryland State Department of Education. Successful program completion results in eligibility for a Maryland teaching certificate in grades 1 through 6. In addition, candidates acquire a teaching emphasis in either Special Education or TESOL instruction.
Degree Requirements
- ??
Program Structure
The 2-year program begins each Spring and consists of coursework provided over 6 semesters through a blended learning model of face-to-face and online instruction in the evenings.
Candidates participate in a 2-hour a day classroom-based internship in an MCPS elementary school, usually that of their current employment as part-time support staff personnel. In the second year of the program, interns participate in an extended Intensive Internship teaching practicum.
CITE is designed as a cohort program that allows members to be part of a diverse collaborative professional learning community who rely on one another for support and professional development, like that of a highly functioning team in an elementary school.
Program Philosophy
CITE prepares reflective practitioners for a pluralistic society through research-based inquiry. Interns preparing to be teachers in the CITE program learn to be reflective, develop a broad repertoire of teaching skills, establish cultural proficiency applications to the classroom, and base their teaching practice on sound theory and research. The structure of the program is built upon six knowledge areas: curriculum, learners, subject matter, pedagogy, social context, and educational goals and assessment.
Within these areas, CITE incorporates the following principles:
- Multicultural philosophy and education
- Higher level thinking skills
- Research: Knowledge, Inquiry and Interpretation
- Reflection
- High leverage teaching practices
- Team building and rapport with others
Key Program Components
- Inclusion of paraeducators, support staff, and other professionals interested in classroom teaching.
- Opportunities for professional growth in a multicultural community.
- Instruction provided by faculty from UMCP and MCPS.
- Focused instruction on special education or TESOL education to meet student needs.
- Collaborative support from a master teacher, school-based administration, and UMCP faculty.
- Participation in a cohort experience.
- Experiences in teaching with Montgomery County Public Schools.
More but questions.
Reading Specialist SpecializationThis specialization conforms to Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) certification requirements for P-12 and is approved by the Association for Advancing Quality in Educator Preparation (AAQEP).
Graduates are qualified to work as reading specialists and reading resource teachers. With successful completion of three years of classroom teaching experience, you are eligible for certification from MSDE as reading specialists.
Degree Requirements
- 33 credits
- One seminar paper, usually a comprehensive review of the research literature on an important topic in the field of reading.
- Summer Reading Clinic (supervised)
Special Admission Requirements:
- Minimum 3.0 undergraduate GPA.
- 3 years of classroom teaching are required for Certification as a Reading Specialist by the MSDE. Applicants may complete this requirement before, during, or after completion of the program.
- Applicants must be certified teachers with a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university.
- At least one basic course in reading is required for admission. Most students have such a course in their undergraduate record (i.e., reading methods). If no such course has been taken or if the course was taken more than five years ago, appropriate course offerings should be discussed with your advisor.
Contact
- For questions related to admissions, contact Kay Moon, TLPL Graduate Coordinator, at (301) 405-3118 or kmoon@umd.edu.
- For program-specific questions, contact Dr. Ayanna Baccus at baccusa@umd.edu OR Dr. Peter Afflerbach at afflo@umd.edu.
Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), with teacher certification option, is an area of specialization recommended for students who wish to develop expertise in TESOL. This specialization prepares students to engage with research, theory and pedagogical practice in the field of TESOL.
Completion of the degree leads to initial PK-12 certification to teach in public schools in the United States.
Degree Requirements
- 39 credits, including a year-long teaching internship.
Contact
- For questions related to admissions, contact Kay Moon, TLPL Graduate Coordinator, at kmoon@umd.edu or (301) 405-3118.
- For program-specific questions, contact Dr. Loren Jones by at ldjones@umd.edu or (301)-405-4157.
Upon completing this program, you will be eligible for the Maryland State Department of Education PreK-12 World Languages Certification to teach in elementary or secondary schools in the following languages: Chinese, French German, Latin, Italian, Russian, Latin and Spanish.
Degree Requirements
- 36 credits
Benefits
- Become a teacher in a critical needs area.
- Earn a Master’s degree and eligibility for a teaching certification by completing only 36 credits.
- Work with engaged and accessible faculty with solid content area expertise, widely known for their research and practice.
- Highly individualized advising, with detailed degree completion planning, research and internship guidance, and career counseling.
- Experience a teaching internship in a local K-12 classroom in various educational settings in immersion Elementary schools, Middle and High Schools.
- Internship support by experienced certified teachers, a university-based supervisor, and a content-based university coordinator.
- Learn to apply pedagogical theory, technology, and assessment to enhance instruction for diverse populations.
Contact
- For questions related to the admissions process, contact the TLPL Graduate Coordinator, at (301) 405-3118 or tlpl-admissions@umd.edu.
- For program-specific questions, contact Dr. Alejandro Pérez Belda, Program Coordinator, at anperez@umd.edu.
These programs support already certified beginning teachers and experienced educators in developing a sound common grounding in aspects of teaching and inquiry. The program emphasizes advanced professional development studies, which supports experienced teachers as accomplished professionals and instructional leaders.
Degree Requirements
- 30 credits
Goals
- Support teachers’ integration of studies of subject matter, pedagogy, research and theory to build on their individual strengths and needs in relation to a vision of accomplished practice (e.g., National Board for Professional Teacher Standards) and to be responsive to school contexts.
- Promote teachers’ abilities to engage in the careful analysis of and reflection on their own and others’ teaching as a basis for continuing growth as a professional.
- Develop teachers’ knowledge, abilities, and dispositions to engage in inquiry into curriculum, teaching, and students’ learning as a basis for sound decision-making in the classroom and for leadership roles in schools.
- Enhance teachers’ understanding of topics and issues on practices and policies that support effective classroom practice, including courses that focus on student learning, assessment, diversity, inclusion, social justice, and/or technology.
Flexibility
The Teacher Leadership programs are specifically designed to accommodate the academic teaching schedules of educators by offering flexibility for:
- Completion in two to five years, depending upon the course load each semester
- Candidates to conduct independent action research in their own instructional settings/classrooms
- Scheduling courses after school hours and in 3 to 6-week summer sessions
- Programs that are individually designed according to the needs and interests of each student.
Contact
- For questions related to the admissions process, contact Kay Moon, TLPL Graduate Coordinator, at (301) 405-3118 or kmoon@umd.edu.
- For specialization-specific questions, view contacts listed in the corresponding dropdown below.
The Arts Integration program is designed for classroom teachers and arts teachers alike, who are interested in integrating two or more areas of study to enrich learning opportunities for their students, while facilitating development of critical and creative thinking skills. Our program encourages teachers to apply the latest research in creative thinking and active learning to their teaching through experiential engagement in arts forms, practice in designing and implementing lessons/curriculum in clinical settings, and study of arts integration theory. Interested students have the unique opportunity to study drama integration abroad over one summer session.
Contact
- For questions related to the admissions process, contact Joy Jones, Coordinator of Graduate Studies at tlpl-admissions@umd.edu or (301) 405-3118.
- For program-specific questions, contact Dr. Margaret Walker at mwalker8@umd.edu or (301) 405-8206.
This is a multi-year program that prepares teachers to become highly qualified middle grades mathematics teachers. Our content-based program is intended for teachers already certified in elementary education, special education, or in ESOL who are, or plan to, teach in subject matter classrooms in the middle grades (4th - 9th grade).
The coursework is research-based and includes mathematics content, mathematics education, curriculum-based integrated content and pedagogy courses, as well as an action research course.
This is a cohort-only program offered in partnership with the Mathematics Department at the University of Maryland and local school districts.
History
Mathematics education faculty joined efforts with University faculty in the Department of Mathematics and with mathematics specialists from Montgomery County and Prince George’s Public Schools to define a cohort master's degree program. This degree program was initiated with the support of several Improving Teacher Quality grants from the Maryland Higher Education Commission, which allowed its development through collaboration across disciplines and research.
Outcomes
In addition to the Master’s Degree from the UMCP, MSDE has recognized our program as a suitable set of courses to be used by certified teachers seeking an add-on endorsement in middle grades mathematics. This recognition will allow teachers to submit credits of our coursework as part of the 30 credits needed to request an add-on endorsement to their elementary certification for middle school mathematics.
What pedagogical experiences do we include?
The structure of the program includes school-based components including: teachers visit each other’s classrooms; strands on inquiry, analysis of assessments, case studies, etc.
Contact
- For questions related to the admissions process, contact Kay Moon, TLPL Graduate Coordinator, at kmoon@umd.edu or (301) 405-3118.
- For program-specific questions, contact Beatriz Quintos, Ph.D. Program Director, at bquintos@umd.edu or (301) 405-5209.
This is a rigorous, content-focused program that allows in-service elementary and middle school teachers to explore relationships among science, engineering, and mathematics through a transdisciplinary approach to integrated STEM. Teachers in the program use cutting edge technology and innovative tools to build a Professional Learning Network as they develop philosophies regarding issues of authenticity, equity, and achievement in STEM.
This convenient master’s program enables teachers to earn a degree while maintaining teaching commitments, and leads to a state add-on endorsement in “Instructional Leader: STEM (PreK-6)”.
Each course in the program has been designed to reflect the MSDE STEM Standards of Practice, as well as the core ideas and practices of the Next Generation Science Standards and the Common Core State Curriculum.
History
Over the course of two years, a group of UMD faculty fellows from the departments of Engineering, Mathematics, Cell Biology & Molecular Genetics, Entomology, and Physics, along with the College of Education, the College of Information Studies, and the Center for Teaching Excellence, came together to develop course experiences for in-service elementary and middle school teachers.
Program Schedule
Classes meet once a week at the Universities of Shady Grove campus during the school year and every day for three weeks in early summer.
Contact
- For more information, contact Amy Green at amygreen@umd.edu.
This specialization is recommended for students who wish to develop expertise in teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL).
This includes:
- (a) certified K-12 teachers in the U.S. who wish to add on TESOL certification for the State of Maryland;
- (b) those wishing to teach English learners in U.S. adult, community college, or university settings; or
- (c) those wishing to teach at all levels in international contexts.
The Master's degree prepares students to engage with research, theory, and pedagogical practice in the field of TESOL. This degree does not lead to initial K-12 certification to teach in public schools in the US.
Contact
- For questions related to the admissions process, contact Kay Moon, TLPL Graduate Coordinator, at (301) 405-3118 or kmoon@umd.edu.
- For program-specific questions, contact Dr. Drew Fagan by email dfagan@umd.edu or phone 301-405-4416.
There is no specific language about this specialization.
Contact
- For questions related to the admissions process, contact Kay Moon, the TLPL Graduate Coordinator, at tlpl-admissions@umd.edu or (301) 405-3118.
- For program-specific questions, contact Dr. Alejandro Pérez Belda, Program Coordinator, anperez@umd.edu.