Graduate Program

Elementary Education

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Semester of Degree Completion

2005

Thesis Director

Andrew Wall

Thesis Committee Member

Joyce Bishop

Thesis Committee Member

Lucia Schroeder

Abstract

School districts across the Midwest are constantly seeking out highly qualified teachers for our young students. No Child Left Behind has put a strain on administrators to find the most knowledgeable teachers being produced from elementary teacher education programs. Teachers need to have sufficient content area knowledge of mathematics, science and reading in order to help young students excel in these areas. Not only is the content area knowledge important, so are the strategies teachers use to relay the information. A comparison study was conducted to discover whether there were variances among elementary teacher education program requirements in the professional sequence of four-year public institutions (N=107) in the Midwestern states (N=11). Content area requirements in the professional block of the elementary teacher education programs were evaluated. Methods classes were included in the study; however contact hours outside the classroom were not. Data were collected through institution websites and current catalogs. Statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS to make comparisons between requirements of institutions as they relate to mathematics, reading and science. Data related to content area requirements of both research and non-research based institutions were also analyzed. Results indicated that there was a minimal correlation between the minimum GPA required to enter into elementary teacher education programs and the total number of credit hours offered in the content areas at the upper level.

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