MAT in English Education 

The Master of Arts in Teaching degree (MAT) is designed to prepare secondary teachers of English/language arts who are grounded in contemporary theory and research and in the discipline of literary study. Students who enroll in the MAT will have completed an undergraduate degree in English or in a closely-related discipline and will have taken very few, if any, professional education courses as undergraduates. Students who complete the MAT will meet the course requirements listed below, and, in addition, will complete comprehensive projects near the end of their program.

Application Process

Application forms for admission to the MAT program may be obtained through the Office of Student Services in Room N310 Lindquist Center. The application deadline for Fall admission is June 15, Spring admission, October 15, and Summer admission, March 15. Each application must be accompanied by transcripts for all post-secondary course work, GRE scores, at least two letters of recommendation, and a personal essay. Specific information is included in the application packet. A limited number of applicants are accepted into the MAT program, so meeting the minimum requirements listed below does not ensure admission. Other criteria relevant to teaching success are also considered. Upon acceptance to the program, students are assigned an advisor who is also a professor in the English Education program.

To be considered for admission to the MAT program, students must have the following minimum requirements:

• Completion of an undergraduate degree in English or equivalent area with a minimum g.p.a. of 3.0 in their major
• Evidence of a strong predisposition for successful teaching in secondary schools
• Strong writing skills
• Two letters of recommendation, at least one from a college instructor, preferably one who teaches English
• Completion of 10 hours of volunteer work in a secondary classroom (more information is provided in the application packet)
• Completion of the Graduate Record Exam, reporting an overall minimum score of 1200 and not below 400 on any particular section of the exam

The Program  

MAT students complete at least 18 hours of graduate work in English as part of the program, but the exact requirements in English will vary depending on the courses students have taken as undergraduates. The English requirements listed below must be met before students complete the program, but they can be met through any combination of undergraduate course work and work completed as part of the MAT. In brief, the more requirements that have been met in a student’s undergraduate studies, the fewer will have to be met as part of the MAT. No matter how many of these courses have been taken as part of students’ undergraduate work, however, the 18 hours in graduate English, as well as a minimum of 45 total semester hours, are still required Meeting the requirements early means only that students may have the opportunity to explore graduate electives in English as part of their program. Students will work with their assigned advisor to determine an appropriate plan of study.

English Requirements

• One Shakespeare course
• Three courses on American literature
• One course on British literature
• One course on Creative or Expository Writing
• 07S:182/08P:182 Language and Learning
• 07S:193/08P:198 Reading and Teaching Adolescent Literature
• 07S:155/08N:141 Approaches to Teaching Writing

Professional Education Requirements

• 07B:180 Human Relations for the Classroom Teacher
• 07E:102/07S:102 Technology in the Classroom (this class must be taken during the first semester in the program)
• 07P:075 Education Psychology and Measurement (may be taken prior to TEP admission) or 07P:200 Educational Psychology
• 07S:100 Foundations of Education
• 07S:114 Introduction and Practicum: English/Speech (this course is a prerequisite to 07S:115 and 07S:194 and must be completed during the first or second semester after admission
• 07S:115 Methods English
• 07S:187 Seminar: Curriculum and Student Teaching
• 07S:190 Orientation to Secondary Education (must be taken during first semester in the program)
• 07S:191 Observation and Laboratory Practice in the Secondary School
• 07S:192 Observation and Laboratory Practice in the Secondary School
• 07S:194 Methods: High School Reading
• 07U:100 Foundations of Special Education

Please note the following:

• Program requirements cannot be satisfied by courses taken through correspondence study.
• All students must take a college-level Math course (22M:1/2/3 will not work) which may also be used to satisfy the Quantitative and Formal Reasoning General Education requirement.
• Student teaching will not be approved unless all program course work has been completed. If any course is carrying a grade of “I” (incomplete), approval for student teaching will be delayed until the incomplete has been removed.

Field Experience

All students in the English Education program participate in two formal field experiences during the course of their program – a half-day practicum during the first or second semester in the program, and student teaching during the final semester.

Practicum

07S:114 Introduction and Practicum: English/Speech

This course places students in local classrooms for 15 hours/week for ten weeks (150 hours total) of the semester in which students are enrolled and must be taken during a student’s first or second semester in the program. In addition to gaining experience in the classroom, this exposure helps ensure students that teaching is the right career choice for them. Students should plan to take the practicum during a semester where they have a fairly flexible schedule since they will be in schools at least three hours a day. An accompanying Seminar that meets twice a week is also a component of the class. The field experience begins six weeks into the semester, at which point Seminar meets once a week.

Student Teaching

07S:187 Seminar: Curriculum and Student Teaching

The student teaching semester is the culmination of any teacher-education program It allows teacher candidates to apply knowledge from their coursework to a real teaching situation over an extended period of time. This is the most vital and critical phase of a teacher’s preparation; the goal is to professionalize teacher candidates as confident, informed, reflective practitioners who are committed to students’ learning, passionate and knowledgeable about their subject, and grounded in theory. We are proud of our English Education graduates. Many of them serve as mentors to our student teachers regularly.

Student Teaching Placement.
Our placement assignments provide optimal growth for each of our teacher candidates. We are careful to select each school, classroom, and cooperating teacher with each student teacher in mind. Each student teacher works one-on-one, all semester, with both the supervising classroom teacher and a carefully selected college supervisor who has had prior experience as a classroom teacher. The English Education program is diligent about finding supervisors and area cooperating teachers who are enthusiastic mentors, highly competent colleagues, and familiar with the theories and practices we teach. Our partnerships with area schools are strong, supportive, and reflect longtime working relationships. In addition, each student teacher attends a weekly on-campus seminar that considers common concerns related to the teaching of English and preparatory materials for the job market: the resume, the teaching philosophy, the electronic portfolio, the interview process. We make every effort to create a positive learning experience for each student teacher, a model for what we hope they’ll do for their own students.

Special-site Placement.
Most of our English Education students spend their student teaching semester at schools within driving distance of the University of Iowa. However, a few candidates apply each semester for permission to student teach at a special site. The College of Education has established partnerships with a number of school districts that allow our teacher candidates to experience both urban and rural, more linguistically diverse school settings different from the area surrounding the university. These include Aldine, TX; Rialto, CA; and Las Vegas, NV. Our students apply, too, for special sites in the Chicago area and within driving distance of the other Iowa Regents’ Institutions (the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls and Iowa State University in Ames).

Special-site placements require that the student teaching responsibilities be completed without the support of the university community (seminar assignments, e-Portfolio requirements, application for licensure, consultations with peers and professors). While student teachers at special sites do maintain contact with a selected University supervisor, they miss the weekly support of others who are familiar with the program’s course of study. For these reasons, our application for special site placement requires additional steps and a thorough review by the English Education faculty. We base our collective faculty decisions on students’ ability to work independently and overall performance in the program. For this reason, we strongly advise our students to discuss their special site plans with their faculty advisors before applying.

Procedure for applying for a special-site placement:

1. Submit the special-site application along with your student teaching application (available from the Office of Student Field Experiences) one full academic year before the student teaching semester.
2. Write a clearly articulated rationale (500-800 words) that explains your reason(s) for a special-site placement, and submit it with your application.
3. Maintain a 3.0 overall University of Iowa grade point average and in your program area.
4. To be considered, we expect you to demonstrate qualities of independence, maturity, and ability to meet deadlines throughout your course of study.

The English Education faculty will consider your application and notify you by October 15 (for Spring semester) and by February 15 (for Fall semester). Any questions, please contact Amy Shoultz.