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Online Master of Education (MEd) in Curriculum and Instruction

Design Curriculum that Makes a Difference

This degree prepares you to respond to the cultural, demographic, technological and other forces shaping education today by designing and developing curriculum for your building or district and assessing its effectiveness. You will learn about educational trends, assessment procedures, and how to use advanced learning theories and educative design to adjust curriculum in response to current research. This program will prepare you to become a master teacher, to earn National Board Certification, to become a department or grade level chair, to be an Instructional Coach, and to assume the role of Curriculum and Instruction Director within your building or district. 

Program Advantages

At William Woods, you’ll be participating in a graduate program known for its excellence and for providing a significant number of leaders in school systems across Missouri and nationwide. As one of these students, you will have the opportunity to learn from active practitioners in the field and make the connections you need for leadership and career growth. Classes are offered in a flexible 5-week format.

Requirements/Curriculum

You will earn the degree by completing ten three-credit courses, plus a three-credit Action Research course that includes research, a study that can be carried out in the classroom, and an action research paper suitable for journal publication. Students enrolled in the capstone course will also create a portfolio demonstrating their proficiency on each of the National Board Professional Teaching Standards.

Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction Courses

This is a 30 credit-hour degree.

EDU 500 - Current Issues In Education - 3.00

This course is designed to provide educators and non-educators with a broad understanding and better perspective of current issues that are faced by educators, trainers, and their learning institutions. The course will focus on a lively discourse and reflection related to contemporary topics and issues relevant to the specific student track. The course will serve as a platform for bridging the gap between goals, principles, theories, philosophies, and methodologies in the educational/training process and the realities of a variety of learning institutions (classrooms, schools, professional training, etc.). The goal of this process is to expand and enlighten the practitioner's outlook, thought processes, understanding, and repertoire of knowledge, attitudes, skills, and strategies when faced with those issues.

EDU 520 - Research Design - 3.00

This course is designed for all emphasis majors in the M.Ed. It emphasizes knowledge of various issues and simple statistical procedures used in educational research and program evaluation. Equal emphasis is given to qualitative and quantitative techniques. Experimental, quasi-experimental and non-experimental designs will be used that include historical, naturalistic study and/or ethnography. Processes to determine and use basic statistical data through computations will also be introduced. May be repeated with different areas of focus (administration, curriculum and instruction, teaching and technology, athletic administration, STEM).

EDU 530 - Improvement Of Instruction - 3.00

Students will utilize recent research on effective instruction and explore advanced classroom strategies and techniques designed to enhance their effectiveness in meeting the needs of diverse populations of learners. Students develop expert instructional skills and learn to diagnose and deliver the most appropriate instructional strategies for a variety of learning environments. Through a focus on the concepts of rigor and relevance, students will develop the ability to significantly enhance instructional opportunities for their learners. The students will design/enhance an instructional plan for implementation in her or his classroom, environment or program.

EDU 540 - Literacy Instruction - 3.00

This course focuses on enabling teachers to implement a thoughtful, balanced approach to teaching reading and writing across the disciplines. Focus on current resources in the field of literacy will be an integral part of the teaching/learning experience. Public school classroom practice of these techniques is expected.

EDU 550 - Curriculum Construction - 3.00

This course presents a dual focus on the philosophical and practical aspects of curriculum construction. Understanding of course content is developed through a variety of readings, presentations, projects, and class discussion. Key topics include developing curriculum aligned to Missouri's Show-Me Standards, the historical bases for traditional subject-area curricula, alternative curriculum structures, philosophical bases of curriculum development, social and cultural issues, and future trends.

EDU 585 - School Law - 3.00

This course is designed to provide prospective as well as practicing educational leaders, policymakers, and teachers with the legal knowledge that will enable them to conduct and operate school organizations effectively within the boundaries of constitutional, statutory, and case law. The course will focus on the law related to public education to create an equitable education for all students. Relevant constitutional, statutory and case law pertaining to various aspects of education and major legal issues and principles of law surrounding those aspects will be presented and discussed.

EDU 590 - Appraisal Of Student Learning - 3.00

This course is designed to acquaint learners with the complex issues related to assessment and to provide first-hand experience in the development of high-quality assessments, including the incorporation of a variety of technology tools in the assessment process. The course will investigate the purposes and application of assessment; the relationship between instructional outcomes and assessment; the development and implementation process for various types of assessments; the collection, analysis, and use of assessment data; as well as various scoring and grading methodologies. Participants will investigate the uses and limitations formative assessment, summative assessment, and diagnostic assessment.

Curriculum

Requirements

  • Completed application
  • Official transcripts (2.5 GPA or higher) mailed from the college/university of which you graduated

Your digital classroom. Available anywhere.

William Woods online graduate education programs are available to students across the country. In Missouri, our students come from Fulton, Columbia, Jefferson City, St. Louis, Kansas City, Moberly, Springfield, Ozark, Cape Girardeau, Rolla and many more locations. Beyond Missouri, our online graduates hail from California, Illinois, Kansas, Washington, Arkansas and other states.

Our graduate education programs are available online and are ranked among the best online programs in Missouri by US News and World Report.

William Woods in the real world

Many of our graduates hold leadership positions in Missouri’s schools. All of them are great teachers.


Admissions Information

Learn more about online admissions requirements, deadlines, tuition and financial aid available to you.

Core Electives

  • EDU 543 Teaching and Learning in the New Digital Landscape or
  • EDU 563 Applied Institutional Theories and Strategies using Technology
  • EDU 580 Educational Technology or
  • EDU 590 Appraisal of Student Learning

Concentrations

Students will have the opportunity to choose between the 9 credit-hour concentrations below.

  • Teaching and Learning
  • STEM Education
  • Educational Technology
  • Teacher Leader
  • Self-designed concentration