Mathematics (Grades 5–8)

Education professionals have the opportunity to learn to create safe, supportive, and respectful learning environments that promote social-emotional development, self-responsibility, and character, in order to optimize learning for all students. They can learn how to foster a sense of community in the classroom and develop positive relationships with and among students. Skills and strategies for managing dynamic and flexible classroom structures and for teaching conflict resolution are presented. Educators are also provided with strategies for building positive relationships and engaging in effective communication and problem solving with parents and families.

Prerequisites

• Endorsement candidates must complete special education endorsement courses and receive a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher prior to moving into MS in Education courses.

Understanding the relationship among geometry and measurement and solving problems using day-to-day real life experiences can motivate and guide students' thinking and reasoning around these concepts. In this course, middle mathematics teachers learn strategies to connect geometric thinking and measurement to other topics and develop their own conceptual understanding of geometry and measurement by learning what it means to estimate and measure attributes of objects and how to develop fundamental measurement concepts and skills. In this course educators are challenged and supported as they engage in opportunities to foster students' mathematical processes, proficiencies, and habits of mind around the concepts of shape, spatial relationships, and measurement, including estimation.

Algebra builds on a strong understanding of arithmetic and its properties in the real number system. Middle mathematics teachers have opportunities to move beyond the traditional teaching of algebra to the idea of algebraic thinking as an important component of all mathematics and everyday life. The use of tools, such as manipulative materials, calculators, and other emerging technological resources, provides educational professionals with concrete examples of how to incorporate the Common Core Standards for Mathematical Practice into their teaching. The goal of this course is to deepen educators' understandings of the role algebra plays in problem-solving and decision making so that they can apply this knowledge to support their students in developing similar knowledge and understandings. Educators explore a range of topics, including reasoning and sense-making; various types of functions; multiple uses of variables; pattern recognition; mathematical modeling; estimation; and the development of linear functions from rates, ratios, and proportional reasoning.

Understanding data, probability, and statistics is critical to making sense of the vast amounts of information available in today's world. Educators taking this course have authentic contexts for collecting, representing, and interpreting data, and they reinforce essential number concepts in promoting students' ability to think statistically. Middle mathematics teachers focus on using data as a context for developing a variety of mathematical topics and as an important step toward understanding statistical ideas and processes. The goal of this course is to develop educators' understanding and pedagogical practices so that they can promote their students' ability to use data, probability, and statistics to better understand real-world issues and to solve a wide range of relevant and engaging problems in many contexts.

Education professionals use action research in a variety of ways to positively impact P–12 student learning. They examine, design, and implement action research. They address relevant problems, become involved in collaborative inquiry, use data and research to inform their practice, improve P–12 student academic success, and contribute to positive social change in their classrooms and school environments. Education professionals collect and analyze student data, develop and implement data-informed decisions to guide instructional planning, and engage in reflective practices to ensure continuous improvement and enhance professional growth.