Bachelor of Arts/Master of Arts in Teaching, BA/MAT

Overview

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The Master of Arts in Teaching (M.A.T.) program is an intensive, full-year program designed to qualify students interested in elementary, middle or high school teaching in urban settings for the Education Initial Teacher Licensure  . The program requires successful completion of ten or eleven courses, including two or three summer courses and a practicum in the spring of the fifth year. The initial Massachusetts teaching license supports teacher licensure in 31 other states.

The program is based on the idea that all students are powerful learners and deserve every opportunity to experience and develop the power of their minds, voices, and capabilities in meaningful learning.

The M.A.T. degree culminates a five year “accelerated degree” program for Clark students. The accelerated degree is available to highly qualified students, and includes a tuition-free fifth year.

The five year program includes courses in Clark’s program of liberal studies, a liberal arts major, and a slow immersion in education courses and field work beginning in the senior year. Prior to their senior year, students take a foundational course in the program, EDUC 152 - Complexities of Urban Schooling . Additionally, students interested in teaching at the Elementary level are required to take MATH 101 and MATH 102- Concepts of Elementary Math I & II (Preferably prior to senior year). As seniors students take 2-3 courses that apply to the M.A.T., creating room for a concentrated full year internship in a Worcester partner school during the fifth year. The fifth year includes a set of summer courses, and an integration of several more courses with the full academic year internship - a scaffolded immersion approach. Students assume increasing teaching responsibility over the course of the year and complete an electronic portfolio illustrating their development as teachers and the progress of their students as learners.

The program functions to provide a pool of strong beginning teachers for the Worcester Public Schools, although each year a good number of students are lured elsewhere by districts with shorter hiring timelines. Many recent graduates of the program have been hired in partner schools in Worcester, with many now in a position to act as mentors for a new generation of aspiring teachers.

Program of Study

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Students enter the M.A.T. program having completed their liberal arts degree. In addition, Clark accelerated degree students must have completed at least three (3) education courses: EDUC 152 - Complexities of Urban Schooling  and two additional courses, taken during the senior year, per department advising. Those interested in the elementary level are advised also to tailor their undergraduate course of study as much as possible to the state subject matter requirements, which call for specific background in the humanities, history, mathematics and the sciences (check with the Education Program Administrator for details). Those aiming to teach at the middle or high school level generally choose to teach in the subject area, such as history or mathematics, which corresponds to their major.

All students in the M.A.T. program take the “Teaching and Learning” course sequence (three courses), regardless of their chosen teaching level.  These courses help unify the program for all students. Students take EDUC 311 - Teaching and Learning, Part I  in late spring/early summer. 

  and   follow during the fall and spring semesters.  Teaching and Learning II and III are essentially “practice workshops” focused on the development of each student’s teaching practice, and support students in the development of their final reflective electronic portfolio (their “practice thesis”).

Students are assigned to a cohort group with mentor teachers in one of the Adam Institute’s partner schools in the Main South neighborhood of Worcester for the entire academic year (from the beginning of the school year to late April/early May).  Students also have a dedicated university mentor.

Program Advisor

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(Signature Required on Accelerated Degree Program Advisor Form)
Andrea Allen, Education Program Administrator
Adam Institute for Urban Teaching & School Practice
508-793-7685
aallen@clarku.edu