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Teacher Licensure launches new master’s program
Fort Lewis College is taking a bold step forward—and all aspiring teachers can join the adventure.
Applications are now open for FLC’s new Master of Arts in Education: Teacher Licensure program. The two-year program enables participants to earn a master’s degree in education, as well as a Colorado teaching certificate.
“Community members and recent graduates who wish to use their undergraduate degree to go into the teaching profession now have a two-year hybrid, experiential, and personalized graduate program available to them,” says Richard Fulton, Director of Teacher Education at FLC.
This teacher preparation program approaches the licensure process with innovation, immersion, and structure. The hybrid nature of the program ensures both school-based placements and master’s-level college experiences.
Here’s how the program works:
Applicants should have a bachelor’s degree related to their intended field of teaching. Because all accepted students already have subject-area expertise, this program focuses on how to teach the material in a variety of specialized settings.
In the first year, graduate students are able to earn their Colorado teaching certificate in K-12 or Secondary areas. This licensure requires 800 hours of field placements, and the FLC program incorporates those hours into the Teacher Licensure program. Graduate students work with highly qualified teachers in local schools while receiving full guidance from their Teacher Education faculty.
In the first semester, participants will engage with a variety of field placements across high schools, middle schools, charter schools, Title I institutions, and culturally diverse schools. The second semester places graduate students full-time in a single school that aligns with their career goals.
Once these students earn their Colorado teaching certificates after two semesters, they can enter the profession as full-fledged teachers. At the same time, they can complete their Master of Arts in Education degrees with the constant support of the Fort Lewis College faculty.
“The first year in the teaching profession can be stressful and at times isolated,” Fulton acknowledges. “By offering coursework in a cohort model during the first year of teaching, instructors at Fort Lewis College and mentors in the schools can provide individualized emotional, academic, and professional support to our first-year teachers.”
Applications for Fall 2017 are available now. The scholarship application deadline—which is also the priority application deadline—is March 15. Furthermore, qualifying Native American students are eligible for the tuition waiver program.
For more information about the Master of Arts in Education: Teacher Licensure program, visit the program site.