How It Works

Overview

Students apply to Western as a traditional undergraduate in the Elementary Education program. Students work with their advisor to make sure they are on track to transfer to the graduate program.

For the first three years, students take courses in their major discipline to learn the content they need to become excellent teachers. By December of their Junior year, they apply to the MAED. If they meet the requirements, they become “MAED Candidates with Provisional Acceptance.” Students then attend an on-campus summer session and spend the senior year in a year-long residency. The residency is completed in a location of their choice in conjunction with 27 credits of online coursework. Students earn their B.A. in Elementary Education upon completion of the licensure year and are eligible to apply to the Colorado Department of Education for their Initial Teaching License. Students then continue into the fifth year as “MAED Degree Seeking Students” and complete the remaining 16 credits of online coursework for their Master of Arts in Education Degree.

Students who complete the 3+2 program will graduate with a degree in Elementary Education, a Colorado Teaching License, and a Master of Arts in Education degree. The first three years of the program are completed on campus, but the final two years can be completed anywhere in the world.

Admissions Criteria

Students will apply to the program by December of their junior year. To be accepted into the 3+2 program, each student must:

• Provide letters of recommendation from at least one Education Department faculty member and one faculty member from the student’s major
• Prove content, as defined by the Colorado Department of Education
• Be accepted into Western’s Teacher Licensure Program
• Successfully complete EDUC 340 by spring of junior year
• Be on track to complete all coursework required within the academic major

Upon satisfactory completion of these requirements, students will be designated as “MAED candidates with provisional acceptance.” Upon completion of the final undergraduate credits for the Western B.A., students will be designated as “MAED degree-seeking students.” Students who have completed all other requirements of the 3+2 Elementary Education Degree Program and all Western undergraduate requirements, yet choose to leave the MAED program before year five, will still have completed the B.A. in Elementary Education, and will be eligible to apply to the Colorado Department of Education for initial teacher licensure.

Degree Specific Details

• To earn the M.A. in Education with emphasis in K-12 Online Teacher Leadership, the candidate must successfully complete 43 graduate credits of education course work in conjunction with in-classroom/school practical experience.
• To earn the M.A. in Education with emphasis in Reading Leadership, the candidate must successfully complete 43 graduate credits of education course work in conjunction with in-classroom/school practical experience.
• To earn the M.A. in Education with emphasis in Teacher Leadership, the candidate must successfully complete 43 graduate credits of education course work in conjunction with in-classroom/school practical experience.

Course Sequence

See the major map below for a sample course sequence for the M.A. in Education 3+2 with Teacher Licensure