The Certificate of Graduate Study in middle grades certification, which meets the Rhode Island Department of Education’s (RIDE’s) middle grades certification, is a 15-credit program designed to provide advanced graduate study and practicum training for students with an undergraduate degree and either an elementary or secondary teaching certificate and who are seeking preparation to become middle level teachers. If you are already a middle level educator, you can expand your existing professional skills and develop new ones through this program.
Federal financial aid is available for students admitted into this certificate program. See more details about graduate student financial aid on the Office of Graduate Studies website.
To begin the process you will need to sign up for an account with CollegeNET. Once you have a CollegeNET account, you will be able to log in any time and see your Activity Log which shows you a personalized status page.
The six courses in this program are taught in a sequence and address the eight RIDE Middle Grades Competencies and the five Association of Middle-Level Educators (AMLE) Standards. Students fulfill a practicum in each course (either in their own classroom, if currently in a middle level position, or an assigned placement, if needed, culminating with the submission of a capstone project at the end of the sixth course.
Students must also be proficient in their content area, either having earned a secondary teaching certificate in a content area (math, science, English or social studies) or an elementary education teaching certificate, with at least 21 hours of designated coursework in math, science, English or social studies. (See course list below.) The appropriate Middle Grades Praxis Content Test must also be completed prior to applying for certification.
MLED 531: Critical Inquiry in Middle Level Education (2 credits)
MLED 532: Contextualizing Young Adolescent Development (4 credits)
MLED 533: Disciplinary Literacy with Young Adolescents I (2 credits)
MLED 534: Disciplinary Literacy with Young Adolescents II (2 credits)
MLED 535: Curriculum and Assessment for Young Adolescents (4 credits)
MLED 536: Seminar in Middle Level Education (1 credit)
Required:
MATH 209: Precalculus (4 credits)
MATH 212: Calculus I (4 credits)
MATH 220: Formalizing Mathematical Thought (4 credits)
MATH 240: Statistical Methods I (4 credits)
MATH 324: College Geometry (4 credits)
MATH 409: Problem Analysis (4 credits)
Additional Recommended Courses
MATH 213: Calculus II (4 credits)
MATH 210: Trigonometry (4 credits)
MATH 436: Discrete Math (4 credits)
Required:
BIOL 111: Introductory Biology I
BIOL 112: Introductory Biology II
CHEM 103: General Chemistry I
CHEM 104: General Chemistry II
PHYS 101: General Physics I
PHYS 102: General Physics II
Choose TWO of the following:
PSCI 211: Intro to Astronomy
PSCI 212: Intro to Geology
PSCI 214: Intro to Meteorology
PSCI 217: Introduction to Oceanography
Required:
ENGL 200: Reading Literature and Culture
ENGL 300: Intro to Theory and Criticism
ENGL 212: Adolescent Literature
SED 445: Teaching of Writing in Secondary Schools
Choose ONE:
ENGL 208, 304, 305, 306, 345, 346 (all variations of British Lit and Shakespeare)
Choose ONE:
ENGL 202, 209, 301 (all versions of American Lit)
Choose ONE:
ENGL 326, 327, 336 (All variations of Ethnic/Minority Lit)
Contact MLED coordinator for course list.
In the Department of Educational Studies, we teach you how children grow and develop and help you to use that knowledge to create learning environments and experiences that will benefit children for life.
