Master of Education Course Descriptions - McPherson College Catalogs

CI 610 Issues in Learning

3 cr hrs
This course will identify national and regional issues surrounding education and the ways these issues impact educators.

CI 615 Foundations of Education/ Cultures in Education

3 cr hrs
This course will explore issues, problems and solutions relevant to schooling in a pluralistic society by viewing schools as social institutions that reflect and influence both the values and the cultural dynamics of a society at large. Issues of race, social class, and gender will be explored as factors of inequity that shape students and teachers both in and out of the classroom. Starting with their own lives, students investigate education as an agent of social change.

Class work as well as experiential assignments will assist participants’ exploration of their own as well as their students’ identities in order to identify the effects of various factors on the teaching experience, educational culture, and school change efforts. Special attention will be given to considerations necessary to implement action research projects.

CI 620 Fundamentals of Action Research.

3 cr hrs
This course provides a structured approach to the practice of action research. Educators learn how to identify relevant issues, become involved in collaborative inquiry, and use data and research to inform their practice, improve student academic success, and contribute to positive change in their schools. Students will begin to apply action-research methodologies in their own environments.

CI 625 Curriculum and Instruction

3 cr hrs
This course begins with a historical look at the development of the curriculum in American schools followed by a review of current curricular trends. After exploring what is taught, attention is turned to how it is taught. Multiple approaches of instructions will be explored; each based on a different philosophical theory.

CI 630 Changes in Education

3 cr hrs
This course will focus on systemic and structural change at the school and classroom levels. Case studies of school change models, both traditional and experimental, will be examined and discussed as possibilities and springboards for candidates’ own action research projects. Emphasis will be placed on the collaborative nature of successful school change as well as analysis of examples of failures. Guest speakers will also provide insight into dimensions of school change.

CI 640 Teacher as Leader

3 cr hrs
Teacher as Leader is a graduate course designed to explore several roles that instructional leaders engage in, such as classroom leader, team leader, school leader, organization leader, and/or professional leader. Theoretical perspectives and research examining issues related to group dynamics, motivation, communication, and human relations are explored. Students will look at organizational change, ethical decision-making, team building and adult learning theory.

CI 645 Data Collection and Proposal Development

6 cr hrs
Educators will engage in reflective practices as they develop a plan for action research, collect and analyze appropriate data, and develop data-informed decisions/actions to improve student learning and enhance professional growth.

CI 665 School and Community Partnerships

3 cr hrs
The purpose of the School and Community Partnerships course is for students to connect business and community resources with school resources to enrich students’ educational experience and increase student achievement and/or knowledge. Real world examples will inform students’ inquiry into ways partnerships can be forged and sustained. Particular consideration will be paid to the schools and communities in which students work.

CI 670 Legal Issues: Litigation v. Advocacy

3 cr hrs
This course is designed to familiarize educators with the legal system as it pertains to the educational process in order to empower educators to employ educational law to students’ advantage.

CI 675 Project Implementation

6 cr hrs
In this course, educators will use collected data to enact change. At the end of the implementation period, students will engage in reflective assessment of themselves and their program.

CI 650 Elective: Mentoring the Researcher

min 5 cr hrs
Additional courses / directed studies can be requested at any time for students seeking to better understand specific issues related to their projects. Students are required to take two hours of elective courses during their coursework.

SE 610 Foundations for Special Education Services

4 cr hrs
Our ultimate goal is to create classrooms in which future citizens can learn to respect individual differences, value diversity, and get along with one another. This course provides a safe environment in which to explore the history and philosophy of special education, policies and procedures in special education, and diversity in the classroom.

SE 615 General Methods for Special Education Services

4 cr hrs
This course addresses assessments used for eligibility, placement and curricular decisions (Module A), the special education process from pre-identification through individual program implementation (Module B), and effective collaboration and communication skills with diverse learners, families, colleagues, and community stakeholders (Module C). The course includes a supervised field experience (Module D) including a mandatory observation of the SPED 615 student’s teaching completed by the ACCK instructor. Prerequisite: SPED 610.

SE 645 Behavior Management

2 cr hrs
This course addresses culturally sensitive methods for preventing and intervening with problem behavior. Topics include positive behavior intervention and supports, classroom management, social skills instruction, student support meetings, and functional behavioral analysis, non-aversive intervention, and behavior intervention plans.

SE 621 Grades K-6 Methods for Special Needs

4 cr hrs
This course addresses IEP implementation using evidence-based practices. Emphasis is on collaborative teaching models. Topics of study include lesson planning, basic skill and content area instruction, adapting methods and materials, and progress monitoring. SPED 631: Grades K-6 Field Experience must be taken concurrently. SPED 631 will involve 15 to 20 contact hours with school aged children including 10+ intervention sessions with one student with high-incidence special education needs. Prerequisites: SPED 610 & 615

SE 631 Grades K-6 Field Experience

1 cr hr
This course is a supervised field experience with children in grades K-6 who have an identified disability. The course will emphasize evidence-based practices and techniques presented in SPED 621. Students will participate in IEP development, lesson planning, and instruction.

SE 661 Grades 6 – 12 Methods for Special Needs

4 cr hrs
This course covers both general and specific methods used by special educators to teach students with disabilities. The course includes transition planning and IEP development, instructional planning, and selection of instructional methods to meet the needs of students with high-incidence special education needs. Approaches for selecting methods and materials, for delivering instruction, and for evaluating instructional outcomes based on assessment information will also be demonstrated.

SE 671 Grades 6 – 12 Field Experience

1 cr hr
This field experience course requires the learner to be assigned to work with a cooperating special education teacher for 15 hours and to work in the same setting(s) as the cooperating teacher. The learner may function in programs described as self-contained, interrelated, categorical, resource, itinerant, special day school, or some combination of these. This one-hour credit placement is made by arrangement through ACCK. Outside preparation time will be required (six to nine hours per week outside preparation) beyond attendance at field experience meetings and required field-based hours. The grade for this class is contingent upon successful completion of the SPED 661 Methods course.

SE 641 Grades PreK-3 Methods for Special Needs

4 cr hrs
Grades PreK-3 Methods addresses matching strategies to individual and group needs using evidence-based practices. Topics of study include learning plans, embedded instruction within a tiered framework, setting up the environment, adapting methods and materials, positive behavior supports, and progress monitoring.

SE 651 Grades PreK-3 Field Experience

1 cr hr
This is a supervised field experience with children in grades PreK-3 who have an identified disability. The course will emphasize evidence-based practices and techniques presented in SPED 641. Students will participate in IEP development, lesson planning, and instruction.

SE 681 Grades 4-12 Methods for Special Needs

SE 691 Grades 4-12 Field Experience

1 cr hr
This field experience course requires the learner to be assigned to work with a cooperating special education teacher for 15 hours and to work in the same setting(s) as the cooperating teacher. The learner may function in programs described as self-contained, interrelated, categorical, resource, itinerant, special day school, or some combination of these. This one-hour credit placement is made by arrangement through ACCK. Outside preparation time will be required (six to nine hours per week outside preparation) beyond attendance at field experience meetings and required field-based hours. The grade for this class is contingent upon successful completion of the SPED 681 Methods course.

SE 733 Grades K-6 Internship

4 – 6 cr hrs
This course is a supervised teaching experience with a special educator who provides services for elementary level students with high-incidence learning needs. The pre-service teacher will work collaboratively with the cooperating special educator, families, and school team members to apply research-based knowledge of assessment, instruction aligned to IEP goals, and positive behavioral supports. Emphasis is on reflective, culturally sensitive practice.

SE 771 Grades 6-12 Clinical Experience

SE 773 Grades 6-12 Internship

SE 751 PreK-12 Clinical Experience

SE 753 PreK-12 Internship