Semester by Semester

Graduate students who have not completed the prerequisite coursework in education are admitted provisionally to the M.A.T. program. Admitted students needing to complete prerequisite coursework can enroll during the May Term, just prior to the start of the M.A.T. program, and/or during the January Term to complete one of the three prerequisite courses in education (there is an additional per credit cost for these courses):

• EDUC 21010: Educational Psychology (3 credits)
• EDUC 21910: Early Field Experiences: Theory and Practice (3 credits)
• EDUC 34000: Social and Cultural Foundations of Education (3 credits)

Note: Most M.A.T. students complete these prerequisites before they begin their graduate study. These courses are offered every semester at Ithaca College, and two are offered during the January and May terms, but equivalent coursework can also be taken at other accredited colleges and universities.

The M.A.T. Program begins on the first day of Ithaca College's first full summer session in late May (after Memorial Day) with a Program Orientation designed to provide an overview of the program's goals and structure, an introduction to the work of the summer session, and the opportunity to engage with fellow learners in the cohort.

During Summer Session I students enroll in 6 credits:

• Foundations of Language, Literacy, and Culture (3 credits)
• 3 credits of graduate study in the academic discipline (note: agriculture education students take this course at Cornell University)

During Summer Session II students continue with 6 additional credits:

• Pedagogy and Practice Across the Disciplines (3 credits)
• Educational Technology for Middle and Secondary Educators (3 credits)

Students also complete a field experience consisting of the regular tutoring of adolescents. In addition, M.A.T. students participate in AVID tutorial training and attend the Ithaca City School District's orientation for new teachers.

Students enroll in an intensive program of 12 graduate credits and participate actively in multiple and diverse field experiences.

• Language Development and Second Language Acquisition (3 credits)
• The Exceptional Child in the Classroom (3 credits)
• Pedagogy and Practice in the Discipline (English, Languages, Mathematics, Science*, Social Studies) (3 credits)
• 3 credits of graduate study in the academic discipline (note: agriculture education students take this course at Cornell University)
• Professional Development Seminar (0 credits)

*Agriculture education students take the pedagogy course in science.

In addition, students attend state-required workshops on Child Abuse; Drug and Alcohol Abuse; School Violence Prevention; and Harassment, Bullying, and Discrimination.

Fall field experiences include the following:

• Weekly observations and participation in classrooms with diverse learners in local-area public schools
• An October field experience at Frederick Douglass Academy, our partner school in Harlem; agriculture education students also spend time at John Bowne High School in Queens.

During the spring semester in the program, students participate in their student teaching internships, enrolling in 9 credits:

• Professional Semester in Education (6 credits)
• Seminar in Reflective Practice (3 credits)

M.A.T. students participate in two student teaching internships, one in grades 7-9 and the other in grades 10-12. Experienced mentor teachers provide modeling and ongoing feedback throughout the internships. College faculty meet regularly and work closely with the M.A.T. students and their mentors in shared discussions and analyses of teaching and learning.

Reflective practice and teacher research are core components of the professional experience. Students meet weekly in collegial seminars to engage in critical reflection on their teaching practices and to support one another's professional development. Each M.A.T. student explores a classroom issue in a teacher inquiry project that helps support student learning in middle and high schools.

The May Term provides M.A.T. students with some time to reflect on and analyze the results of the teacher inquiry project conducted during the professional experience in the spring. Written reports on these research projects are completed, and oral presentations are prepared for the annual conference on teacher inquiry in June. This research project paper/presentation is completed in lieu of a thesis or comprehensive exam and is expected to demonstrate the candidate's strengths as a reflective practitioner, knowledgeable about both recent research and current best practice.

The M.A.T. Program concludes at the end of Summer Session I, approximately 13 months after its start. During this final semester, students

• Enroll in 3 credits of graduate study in the academic discipline (note: agriculture education students take this course at Cornell University)
• Complete the final revision of the Teacher Inquiry Paper
• Give a presentation on their research project at IC's annual Conference on Teacher Inquiry

Upon completion of this final semester in the program, M.A.T. graduates work with our Office of Teaching and Certification to apply for an initial teaching certificate in New York State. Initial certification as a teacher in the state of New York requires passing scores on four certification exams. Fees for these exams total approximately $700; specific information about exam costs is available on the state's teacher certification exam site. The application for certification in New York costs $40.