2025-2026 Graduate & Professional Studies Catalog
English Education, MAT
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Return to: School of Education
The Master of Arts (MAT) program in English Education offers students a rigorous course of instruction in teaching English Language Arts content in grades 7-12. Upon graduation, the MAT program satisfies the requirements for earning a Pennsylvania Instructional I Certificate and provides students with a Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) degree.
Through coursework and a two-semester internship, the MAT program prepares teachers to enact dialogic, student-centered, research-based instruction to teach English Language Arts content to students in grades 7-12. The program also focuses on implementing three pillars: a) centering care and relationality in teaching; b) inviting and honoring diverse ways of knowing; and c) seeking to unsettle and remake unjust system, structures, practices, and norms in today’s schools.
Accreditations: PA Department of Education accredited
Certification Requirements: Our graduates satisfy the requirements to earn a Pennsylvania Instructional I Certificate and a Master of Arts in Teaching degree by achieving the following:
- Earning a passing score on the PRAXIS II Exam in their content area Teaching Interns must take and pass the Content Knowledge (PRAXIS II) test either the summer before the program or during the first semester of the program in order to obtain their Intern Certificate.
- Completing Stage 3 competencies
- Completing the PA Statewide Evaluation Form for Student Professional Knowledge and Practice (PDE 430); and
- Demonstrating satisfactory performance in courses and the student internship
Internship Experience: During the school year, students complete an internship in a local public school under the supervision of a mentor teacher and teacher candidate coach. Interns observe, analyze, and practice teaching skills in the grade levels and subjects of their mentor teacher. In the fall term, MAT students spend approximately 15 hours per week working with their mentor teacher. In the spring term, students in the MAT program are in their school sites full-time, culminating in a two-week take-over of their mentor teacher’s full responsibilities.
GPA and Grade requirements: All students enrolled in the MAT majors are required to maintain a grade point average (GPA) of at least 3.0. A student is automatically placed on academic warning if the cumulative GPA, exclusive of transfer credits, falls below 3.000. No student on academic warning is permitted to participate in student teaching, a teaching internship, or an advanced teaching practicum.
All classes that are not directly field-related (i.e.: student teaching placements and related seminars) must be taken for a letter grade.
Graduation Requirements: Students must complete the 36 credits required by the program plan of study, fulfill all PA Department of Education (PDE) requirements, and obtain the required GPA of 3.00 to meet graduation requirements.
Comprehensive requirement: Completed in TLL 2290 research seminar capstone project
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Admissions Requirements
Students must have completed a bachelor’s degree with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher.
EDUCATION COURSE PREREQUISITES
- 3 credits of Foundations of Special Education
- 3 credits of Adolescent Development
EXPERIENCE WORKING WITH CHILDREN PREREQUISITE
- 30 hours of experience working with K-12 children (preferably adolescents). Typical experiences include work at summer camps, tutoring, community involvement, or other volunteer or paid work with children.
- To document experience with children, candidates, complete the Hours Documentation Form (PDF), is submitted with application materials
ENGLISH COURSE PREREQUISITES
- 12 credits of English Literature
- This area requires a minimum of 4 three-credit courses.
- Courses must include reading, analysis, interpretation, and writing about literatures which reflect a diversity of genders, races, and cultural perspectives.
- A single course may satisfy more than one of these required foci. Examples include, but are not limited to literature courses such as, American, Women’s, African American, Native American, African, Latino/a, Caribbean, LGBTQ, Asian, World, British, or Adolescent.
- 3 credits of English Composition
- This area requires a minimum of one, 3-credit course.
- Courses must have a composition or writing focus.
- Examples include, but are not limited to, Fiction Writing, Journalism, Poetry, or Prose.
- 6 credits of English Electives
- This area requires a minimum of two, 3-credit courses.
- Courses should focus on writing, English language, or English-related areas.
- Examples: Linguistics, Sociolinguistics, Uses of Literacy, Fiction, Non-fiction, Journalism, Poetry, Media Studies, Theater Arts, Film Studies, Film Production, Film Analysis, or Rhetorical Studies.
Curriculum
Summer semester (6 credits):
Fall semester (15 credits):
School placement: Mid-August through placement school district’s last day before winter break
Spring semester (15 credits):
School placement: Placement school’s first day back through the end of April
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Return to: School of Education
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