Offered at: San Luis Obispo Campus
A Master of Arts in Curriculum and Instruction offers the opportunity for PreK-12 educators to advance their knowledge and practice in working with ambitious curricula and complex instructional approaches to foster students’ development of deep understanding and multiple literacies for the 21st century. Candidates in the program will be required to have at least two years of teaching experience or a teaching credential so that they have developed the skills necessary to lead instruction and can build more advanced knowledge and skills. This program will be offered in a hybrid format, with all core classes being offered fully online to enable the working educator to manage full-time employment and coursework. Similarly, all courses are designed with practical readings and activities to enhance relevance to working classroom teachers.
Requirements for Admission
Students apply via Cal State Apply and must submit a transcript, 2 letters of recommendation, a cover letter, a resume or curriculum vitae, and a philosophy of teaching.
International Students must meet all the standard eligibility criteria and demonstrate proficiency in English (English Proficiency Exam Requirements)
Prerequisites: At least two years of teaching experience or a teaching credential.
Minimum GPA: Cumulative higher education grade point average of 3.0 or above recommended. Applicants with a GPA lower than 3.0 may be considered for admission and should highlight in the application any extenuating circumstances that led to a lower GPA.
Application due date: The program begins fall semester. Please see Graduate Student Dates and Deadlines for application deadlines.
Advancement to Candidacy
Completion of at least 6 units of graduate coursework with cumulative higher ed GPA of 3.0 or higher and an approved culminating experience proposal.
Culminating Experience
Culminating project (CI 5598)
Program Learning Objectives
- Action Research: Design and implement an action research project on a key issue in curriculum and instruction in an effort to bring change to their teaching practice and promote meaningful outcomes for students.
- Advanced Practices & Content Knowledge: Understand and apply perspectives, principles, and practices for designing integrated curriculum and implementing advanced instructional strategies to foster conceptual development and disciplinary ways of knowing in diverse classrooms.
- Multiple Literacies: Understand and analyze different language and literacy theories that promote multimodal instruction and apply theories through design and critique of appropriate evidence-based instructional practices and activities for students that are most appropriate for integrated instructional situations in diverse classrooms.
- Social Justice Teaching: Understand and apply social justice theories, pedagogies, and strategies to provide an equitable education for a diverse student body by integrating principles of critical pedagogy and culturally responsive teaching in and out of the classroom.
- Change Agent: Reflect critically on educational research and practice to identify ways to shape change through advancing pedagogical practices and principles of social justice at the school, community, and societal level.
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| REQUIRED COURSES | ||
| CI 5501 | Inquiry in Educational Research | 4 |
| CI 5502 | Educational Research Methods and Classroom Research | 4 |
| CI 5510 | Foundations of Social Justice Education | 4 |
| CI 5511 | Designing Curriculum and Instruction that Disrupts Patterns of Inequality in Schooling | 4 |
| CI 5512 | Educators as Change Agents | 3 |
| CI 5598 | Project | 3 |
| Approved Electives | ||
| Select from the following: | 8 | |
| Learning to Teach PK-8 Health and Physical Education with Diverse Populations | ||
| Social, Historical and Cultural Influences on Latinx Students in Education | ||
| Fundamentals of Teaching | ||
| Access to Learning for a More Equitable Society | ||
| Teaching Emergent Bilingual Students and Students with Alternative Support Needs | ||
| Learning to Teach 4-8 Literacy in Schools with Diverse Populations | ||
| Learning to Teach K-8 Social Studies with Diverse Populations | ||
| Foundations of Bilingual Education and Biliteracy Instruction | ||
| Learning to Teach PK-8 STEM with Diverse Populations I | ||
| Learning to Teach PK-8 STEM to Diverse Populations II | ||
| Multiple Subject Clinical Practice Seminar I | ||
| Multiple Subject Clinical Practice Seminar II | ||
| Teaching English Language Arts in Secondary Schools | ||
| Organizing and Teaching History-Social Sciences in Secondary Schools | ||
| Teaching Mathematics in Secondary School | ||
| Teaching Science in Secondary Schools | ||
| Total Units | 30 | |