Program Overview

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Literacy Education – Grades 5-12 (MSEd)

This program is designed for teachers with NYS certification in Middle Childhood (grades 5-9) and adolescent (grades 7-12) content teachers to become teachers of literacy and reading at the middle and secondary school levels.

Academic Plan

• AL512-MSED

Total Credits

Earn at least 31 credits

Program Code for Certification

32010 – SECONDARY LITERACY EDU (GRADES 5-12)

Advisors

• Yang Hu, Faculty Advisor and Clinical Placement Specialist
• Arisa Baksh, Certification, Graduation and Administrative Advisor

Program Values

The mission of the Hunter College School of Education Literacy Program is to prepare literacy teachers and leaders who work in Birth through Grade 12 school communities. Our goal is to ensure that our literacy teachers and leaders provide equitable access to curriculum, instruction, and assessments that are aligned to their students' histories, literacies, communities, and identities.

Self-Reflection and Transformation

• Reflect on their own identities and communities and how those impact their students, instruction, leadership, and school communities.
• Reflect critically and continually for transformation and action.
• Acknowledge and integrate current sociopolitical and sociocultural contexts into their curriculum and instruction.

Awareness and Application of Humanizing and Equity-Based Literacy Instruction

• Engage in and use literacy research, theory, and evidence-based practices.
• Create culturally-affirming and inclusive literacy environments.
• Center students' linguistic and cultural diversities and various ability levels.
• Integrate culturally-affirming and healing-centered social-emotional learning.
• Apply differentiated and culturally sustaining instruction that includes a range of reading methods and approaches.
• Apply differentiated and culturally sustaining writing instruction.
• Engage in justice-based linguistic instruction that centers and honors students' language diversities.
• Understand the connections between literacies and equity.
• Use innovative, arts-based instruction to enliven and promote critical and socially engaged literacy teaching and learning.
• Select and use diverse children's and young adult literature that offers students windows, mirrors, and sliding glass doors.
• Develop and use rich literacy assessments that consider students' cultural diversities, languages, and abilities.
• Develop and use culturally sustaining interventions that align with differentiated assessments.
• Use critical pedagogies to empower their students to engage in social justice, agency, and advocacy efforts.

Advocacy and Leadership

• Work to decenter whiteness in literacy curriculum and instruction.
• Aim to dismantle and disrupt inequities within school communities.
• Become equity-based literacy coaches and leaders who center transformative practices.

Program Sequences

Program sequences provide a suggested order of courses for the program based on start date.

Fall Start

• 5 Semester Program Sequence

Spring Start

• 5 Semester Program Sequence

Clinical Experiences

Students in the Literacy Education – Grades 5-12 (MSEd) program participate in developmental field experiences (fieldwork), and supervised teaching (practicum).

Fieldwork

Fieldwork is a classroom experience in a New York City Public School in conjunction with a course.

Placement Processes and Procedures

Most students working full time as head teachers are eligible to complete their fieldwork requirements in their current job if it is aligned to their pending certification/area of study.

Supervised Teaching: Practicum

All students participate in practicum as part of their course of study.

Registration and Placement Processes and Procedures

If students are not currently working as a teacher, they should contact the program leader for placement.

Professional Teaching Portfolio (ePortfolio)

The Professional Teaching Portfolio (ePortfolio) is an additional requirement of the Literacy Education – Grades 5-12 (MSEd) program for graduation.

Timeline for Completion

The Initial Professional Teaching Portfolio Workshop takes place at the end of the first semester.

Graduation

Graduation is the official completion of the program and conferral of an academic degree.

Certification and Licensure

This program leads to New York State certification in Literacy Grades 5-12.

Types of Certification

• The Initial Certificate is the entry-level teaching certificate and is valid for five years.
• The Professional Certificate is an advanced certificate.

Application Checklist

• Review fingerprint status
• Take required certification exams and workshops
• Apply for graduation
• Apply for certification

Review Your Fingerprint Status

All students in programs leading to New York State certification need to have their fingerprints cleared by the New York State Education Department (NYSED).

Take Required Certification Exams and Workshops

• Educating All Students (EAS)
• Content Specialty Test (CST) – Literacy
• School Violence Prevention and Intervention
• Prevention and Child Abuse Identification and Reporting
• Dignity for All Students Act (DASA) workshop

Apply for Certification

Certification candidates must wait to apply for certification until receiving an email from the School of Education indicating their recommendation has been entered.