Middle School Education

Teaching middle school can be a very exciting and challenging journey. Teaching young adolescents gives you the opportunity to be a positive influence during a very formative period of a student’s life.

Graduate Programs Tuition and Fees

Career Outlook

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, there will be shortage of middle school teachers through 2018. Critical need areas are in mathematics, science, bilingual education, and foreign languages.

Programs

Bachelor of Science/Bachelor of Arts Degree in Middle School Education (Grades 5-9)

The middle school undergraduate program prepares graduates for teaching certification in their choice of content areas: mathematics, science, English/Communications, and social studies in grades 5-9. Undergraduate students in the middle school education certification program complete programs of study in three general areas. After you have completed Murray State University's required University Studies Program, you will complete the professional education courses sequence and the content requirements for your selected content areas. For certification, you must earn a passing score on content-specific Praxis exams plus the PLT Exam.

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Master of Arts in Education Middle School Teacher Leader Program

This MA degree program is designed to fulfill course requirements for Rank II classification. The program must be preplanned with your advisor and consist of 30 semester hours of graduate level course work with a minimum of 18 hours in professional education and a minimum of 17 hours of courses at the 600 level. You must hold a Middle School (5-8, 5-9) Provisional Certificate or its equivalent. To complete the program and graduate, you must develop two leadership projects (an internal and external project). These projects will require approval and collaboration with your school principal or a district administrator.

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Mission Statement

The Murray State Middle School Education program collaboratively prepares educators to succeed in the growth and development of middle school students. To that end, and grounded in the college’s goals of formulating inclusive, responsible, enthusiastic, caring, confident, and ethical educators, the middle grades program prepares educators through the development of professional habits of mind, heart, and practice. This includes an emphasis on the following core attributes of middle grades education:

1. an understanding of the development of adolescents’ cognitive, social, moral, physical, and psychological characteristics;
2. an understanding of differentiated instruction: an educator can differentiate the content, product, process, and learning environment, by a student’s readiness, interest, and learning style; and
3. an understanding of the role student relationship building has on the success of learning within the classroom