Nov 09, 2024  
2024-2025 Undergraduate and Graduate Catalog 
    
2024-2025 Undergraduate and Graduate Catalog

Curriculum and Instruction, MEd


The Master of Education degree in Curriculum and Instruction is a 36 graduate credit hour program. It is comprised of the following components: 

  • Core Courses (18 credit hours)
  • Concentration Courses (15 credit hours)
  • Research Capstone (3 credit hours)

Five concentrations are available:

  1. Instructional Specialist
  2. Special Education Diagnostics
  3. Special Education Mild/Moderate Elementary
  4. Special Education Mild/Moderate Secondary
  5. Teacher Researcher

The Instructional Specialist and Teacher Researcher concentrations are delivered in 100% online courses in accelerated 8-week terms. Two 8-week terms are offered during the regular Fall and Spring semesters and one term is offered during the regular summer session.

The Special Education Diagnostics concentration and the Special Education Mild/Moderate (Elementary and Secondary) concentrations are delivered in a hybrid manner, with some courses delivered fully online in accelerated terms and others via a combination of on-campus and online delivery over the course of a traditional semester.

Admissions Requirements


In addition to the general admission requirements from the Graduate School, admission to the graduate program in Curriculum and Instruction requires:

  • a valid teaching certificate
  • that three letters of recommendation address the applicant’s potential to become a teacher leader

Required Courses


Course requirements vary according to the concentration and cognate options desired by the student. The major requirements are:

Demonstration of Comprehensive Knowledge (3 credit hours)


All students are required to demonstrate a general, comprehensive knowledge of the field of study through the successful completion of the following research capstone course. All other coursework must be completed prior to enrollment:

Concentrations


Instructional Specialist Concentration (15 credit hours)


The Instructional Specialist concentration positions students to refine, reform, or develop curricula and instruction for themselves and pre-service, novice, or veteran peers. Students should already be skillful at their craft and should be seeking demonstrative ways to share their expertise beyond their own classrooms. This concentration leads to a Louisiana state certification as an Instructional Coach, and thus students will be well positioned to assume roles as content coaches, lead teachers, curriculum coordinators, department chairs, peer evaluators, and induction specialists, among others.

Special Education Diagnostics Concentration (15 credit hours)


The Special Education Diagnostics concentration provides teachers and, in particular special education teachers, more training and in depth skills in diagnosing learning and behavior challenges of students with exceptional learning needs. The coursework focuses on using diagnostic assessment data to develop appropriate instructional plans to meet students’ learning needs in reading and other core subject areas as well as behavior.

Teacher Researcher Concentration (15 credit hours)


The Teacher Researcher concentration accelerates the students’ transition from classroom teacher to teacher-scholar. This concentration focuses on research endeavors designed to position students for matriculation to a doctoral degree program in education. Students will be encouraged to become “budding experts” in their chosen field by way of the intellectual inquiry embedded in this concentration’s curriculum.