Secondary Education, M.A.T., Mathematics Concentration (Traditional Program)
This program is for those with a baccalaureate degree and undergraduate coursework in Mathematics who seek Illinois secondary education licensure. Graduates will be eligible for a Professional Educator License endorsed for secondary education/ Mathematics (grades 9 to 12). Visit Licensure and Endorsement at NLU for more details.
Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs):
PLO1. Content Knowledge: Effective teachers of secondary mathematics demonstrate and apply knowledge of major mathematics concepts, algorithms, procedures, connections, and applications within and among mathematical content domains.
PLO2. Mathematical Practices: Effective teachers of secondary mathematics solve problems, represent mathematical ideas, reason, prove, use mathematical models, attend to precision, identify elements of structure, generalize, engage in mathematical communication, and make connections as essential mathematical practices. They understand that these practices intersect with mathematical content and that understanding relies on the ability to demonstrate these practices within and among mathematical domains and in their teaching.
PLO3. Content Pedagogy: Effective teachers of secondary mathematics apply knowledge of curriculum standards for mathematics and their relationship to student learning within and across mathematical domains. They incorporate research-based mathematical experiences and include multiple instructional strategies and mathematics-specific technological tools in their teaching to develop all students’ mathematical understanding and proficiency. They provide students with opportunities to do mathematics – talking about it and connecting it to both theoretical and real-world contexts. They plan, select, implement, interpret, and use formative and summative assessments for monitoring student learning, measuring student mathematical understanding, and informing practice.
PLO4. Mathematical Learning Environment: Effective teachers of secondary mathematics exhibit knowledge of adolescent learning, development, and behavior. They use this knowledge to plan and create sequential learning opportunities grounded in mathematics education research where students are actively engaged in the mathematics they are learning and building from prior knowledge and skills. They demonstrate a positive disposition toward mathematical practices and learning, include culturally relevant perspectives in teaching, and demonstrate equitable and ethical treatment of and high expectations for all students. They use instructional tools such as manipulatives, digital tools, and virtual resources to enhance learning while recognizing the possible limitations of such tools.
PLO5. Impact on Student Learning: Effective teachers of secondary mathematics provide evidence demonstrating that as a result of their instruction, secondary students’ conceptual understanding, procedural fluency, strategic competence, adaptive reasoning, and application of major mathematics concepts in varied contexts have increased. These teachers support the continual development of a productive disposition toward mathematics. They show that new student mathematical knowledge has been created as a consequence of their ability to engage students in mathematical experiences that are developmentally appropriate, require active engagement, and include mathematics-specific technology in building new knowledge.
PLO6. Professional Knowledge and Skills: Effective teachers of secondary mathematics are lifelong learners and recognize that learning is often collaborative. They participate in professional development experiences specific to mathematics and mathematics education, draw upon mathematics education research to inform practice, continuously reflect on their practice, and utilize resources from professional mathematics organizations.
PLO7. Secondary Mathematics Field Experiences and Clinical Practice: Effective teachers of secondary mathematics engage in a planned sequence of field experiences and clinical practice under the supervision of experienced and highly qualified mathematics teachers. They develop a broad experiential base of knowledge, skills, effective approaches to mathematics teaching and learning, and professional behaviors across both middle and high school settings that involve a diverse range and varied groupings of students. Candidates experience a full-time student teaching/internship in secondary mathematics directed by university or college faculty with secondary mathematics teaching experience or equivalent knowledge base.
In addition to National College of Education Graduate Admissions Requirements, applicants must:
- Have a grade point average of 3.0 or better in Mathematics coursework
- Have 32 SH of coursework in Mathematics (12 SH of upper division courses must be completed with a grade of "B" or better)
- Pass the Content Test in Mathematics
In addition, candidates must fulfill all of the areas listed below:
- CALCULUS (6 SH)—These courses should cover the topics of limits, continuity, differentiation and applications of integration and possibly some topics from analytic geometry. The use of calculus in solving real life problems with technology should be emphasized. The courses meeting this requirement should be sequential in nature.
- FOUNDATIONS OF GEOMETRY (or COLLEGE GEOMETRY) (3 SH)—This focuses on major concepts of Euclidean geometry, with introduction of non-Euclidean geometry, including the study of axiom and postulate-based deductive systems and the development of mathematical conjectures and proofs. The construction and representation of two and three-dimensional shapes is included as perspective drawings, or physical models, and as virtual representations, using dynamic geometry applications.
- GEOMETRY (3 SH)—Courses such as projective, affine and topology fit here. Three semester hours of an analytic geometry that was integrated in a calculus sequence may be placed here. These three semester hours of geometry must be upper (300/400/graduate) level.
- NUMBER THEORY (3 SH)—Courses should contain number theory, comparisons of numbers and number systems, and representation/application of complex numbers. Courses with titles such as group theory, ring theory and field theory will also fit in this area.
- MODERN/ABSTRACT ALGEBRA (3 SH)—Courses within this area should contain the development of the real number system and its subsystems and the analysis and explanation of procedures used for operations involving integers, rational, real and complex numbers. The use of technology to demonstrate and apply the properties of real numbers and their use in solving real life problems should also be included in this course.
- LINEAR ALGEBRA (3 SH)— The content of the course should include matrices and their operations, solutions of systems and equations, vector spaces, linear transformation, eigen values and eigenvectors with a focus on the use of linear algebra in solving real life problems. A course in matrix algebra or matrix theory will fit in this area.
- DISCRETE MATHEMATICS (3 SH)— Coursework within this area will involve the elements of graph theory, recurrence relations, finite difference approaches, linear programming and combinatorics. Coursework can also contain discrete structures and the application of algorithms. Courses with titles such as finite math, logic, data structures and discrete structures would also fit in this area.
- PROBABILITY & STATISTICS (3 SH)—Coursework in this area should contain the treatment of topics as mutually exclusive events, independent ad dependent events, conditional probability, combinatorics, random variables, sampling methods, confidence intervals, inferential statistics, distributions and correlation. Estimating probabilities and data representation using graphing calculators or statistical software should also be covered in this course. A statistics course in other areas (business, economics, etc.) may be placed here.
- HISTORY OF MATHEMATICS (3 SH)—This course provides a study of the historical development of the central concepts of mathematics from early times to the present. Students analyze the accomplishments of significant mathematicians within historical, cultural, and scientific contexts, including contributions from diverse cultures.
- MATH ELECTIVES (2 SH)—Any college-level math courses, if needed to reach 32 SH
Program Details:
- Requires 33 SH for completion
- Requires student teaching. Student teachers spend a minimum of 11 weeks in the classroom at an assigned school.
MAT Core - 2 SH
| EPS 511 | Human Learning and Development in Instructional Contexts | 2 |
Secondary Education – Mathematics Requirements - 25 SH
| CIL 505 | Methods and Materials for Teaching English as a Second Language | 3 |
| RLR 540 | Teaching Content Area Literacy at the Middle and Secondary Level | 3 |
| SEC 502 | Introduction to Teaching at the Secondary Level | 3 |
| SEC 514 | Methods of Teaching Mathematics at the Secondary and Middle Levels | 3 |
| SEC 590C | Student Teaching Seminar | 6 |
| SPE 500 | Introduction to and Methods of Teaching Students with Disabilities | 3 |
Note: SEC 514 must be taken for 5 semester hours.
Secondary Education Elective Options - 6 SH
Choose one pair of the courses below:
| CIL 500 | Foundations of ESL and Bilingual Education | 3 |
| and | |
| CIL 510 | Assessment of ESL and Bilingual Education Students | 3 |
| or | |
| MGE 501 | Introduction to Middle Grades Education: Young Adolescents in Context I | 2 TO 3 |
| and | |
| MGE 509 | Integrated Curriculum in the Middle Grades | 1 TO 3 |
| or | |
| MHE 509 | Topics in Calculus and Discrete Mathematics | 3 |
| and | |
| MHE 512 | Topics and Applications of Statistics and Probability | 3 |
| or | |
| RLW 541 | Teaching Writing | 2 TO 3 |
| and | |
| RLL 520 | Survey of Youth Literature, PreK-12 | 3 |
| or | |
| RLR 502 | Teaching Comprehension and Content Area Reading | 3 |
| or | |
| SPE 501 | Educational and Diagnostic Assessment of Exceptional Children and Adolescents | 3 |
| and | |
| SPE 506 | Frameworks, Perspectives, and Collaboration in Special Education | 3 |
The following courses are required for licensure:
| EPS 511 | Human Learning and Development in Instructional Contexts | 2 |
| SEC 502 | Introduction to Teaching at the Secondary Level | 3 |
| SEC 514 | Methods of Teaching Mathematics at the Secondary and Middle Levels | 3 |
| SEC 590C | Student Teaching Seminar | 6 |
| SPE 500 | Introduction to and Methods of Teaching Students with Disabilities | 3 |
Note: Candidates may become licensed prior to completion of the M.A.T. degree, and have six years from the beginning of coursework to complete the degree. Candidates are strongly advised to complete the degree.
Secondary Education Student Teaching Enrollment Requirements
Admission to and continuance in student teaching are contingent on the following actions.
Candidates must:
- Be accepted into the graduate program of National College of Education
- File, by the designated deadline, the application form for student teaching
- Submit to their advisor a report of a TB test taken within 90 days of the student teaching placement, results of criminal background check and acknowledgement of Mandated Reporter status form
- Turn in a signed log of all the pre-clinical hours specified in their pre-clinical hours required for the program
- Complete all of their licensure courses except for SEC 590C (Student Teaching)
- Pass all methods courses at National Louis University with a grade no lower than a B
- Participate in faculty assessment and receive approval of his or her portfolio (Livetext)
- Provide evidence of emotional stability, adequate personality adjustment and competency as indicated by licensure coursework and departmental assessments