FELLOWS PROGRAM

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  • Master's Degree for the Practicing Teacher
Many states require that all teachers obtain a master’s degree or accumulate twenty to thirty hours of graduate credit to maintain their teaching license. As an institution that can help teachers meet that need, we believe it is our professional responsibility to offer a high quality master’s degree program that reflects what we know about how children learn and the best pedagogical practices that enhance that learning. We believe:
​- Our master’s degree program should be rooted in a strong and consistent philosophical and conceptual framework;
  • - The master’s program should be intellectually stimulating and rigorous, grounded in theories related to teaching and learning, yet practical and applicable to teachers’ daily work;
  • - Teachers should be empowered, both as instructors and as designers of curriculum;
  • - Our curriculum should reflect what we know about how children and adolescents learn and how adults learn - and it should be steeped in the best practices of teaching them;
  • - The master’s program should enhance the professional practice of its participants, where the cumulative, collective experience of the program transcends the series of courses taught;
  • - The ultimate impact of the program on improving students' learning and experiences in school should be discernible and measurable.
The Structure of the Fellows Program

The Fellows Program is designed as a two year cohort model. Each cohort is composed of teachers from a particular school or district, or from a few schools with similar missions in close physical proximity.  The summer session for each year is scheduled as a three week semester, running Monday through Friday, where two graduate courses are taken. Each of the fall and spring semesters involves classes scheduled one or two evenings per week, usually from 5:00-7:30 for one class or from 4:30-9:00 for two classes. Each cohort determines the exact times of the courses as well as the evenings for the classes to be held.

The 32 semester hour program is sequenced and mindful of the fact that these are practicing teachers.  Teachers' current foundational content area and pedagogical knowledge are the platform from which this program begins.  That said, new thinking, developments, practices and standards are central to each course.   Each course either introduces the theoretical background and thinking about the topic (e.g. differentiated instruction, co-teaching, the responsive classroom, gender-based teaching and management, brain-based research and learning, project-based learning, trauma-informed teaching, etc.) or builds upon previous courses. The assignments for the program are also coordinated and scaffolded with each other to ensure deep and meaningful learning. Application of what is learned is central to the philosophy and success of the program, so that during the school year, Fellows carry out graduate assignments in their own classrooms, applying new theories and strategies with their own students.

Graduate students are accepted in cohorts. Cohorts are composed of teachers from similar backgrounds. For example, different cohorts would be formed for independent school teachers, Catholic school teachers, urban public school teachers, suburban public school teachers or charter school teachers.

The Fellows Program is site-based. Not only are assignments carried out in the teachers’ own classrooms, but the program can be customized to a particular school’s or district’s goals. Further, the graduate courses are taught on site at one of the schools, at a mutually convenient location.

The master’s program culminates with a comprehensive master’s exam. There are three components to the exam: a written response to the core propositions of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS), a capstone project of the teacher's choice, and an oral defense.

​Application Information: 
Please contact Christine Totte at [email protected] for more information about the program.
 Criteria and materials needed for acceptance:
  • An undergraduate degree from an accredited institution
  • A recommended undergraduate GPA of 3.0
  • Official college transcript(s)
  • Three letters of recommendation from persons who would be able to assess applicant’s ability to succeed in an intensive graduate studies program; one from a professional source and one from a recommender who can speak to the applicant’s aptitude for teaching
  • A written essay indicating applicant’s goals, contributions and interests
  • Resume
Fellows Program Courses

ED 500 Educational Foundations (3)

ED 505 Educational Research (3)

ED 510 Review of Human Development & Learning (2)

ED 511 Advanced Studies in Development & Learning: 
Elementary Teachers (3)

ED 512 Advanced Studies in Development & Learning: 
Middle School Teachers (3)

ED 513 Advanced Studies in Development & Learning: 
High School Teachers (3)

ED 527 Addressing the Diverse Learner (3)

ED 550 Professional Development Seminar I (3)

ED 551 Professional Development Seminar II (3)

ED 630 Applied Principles of Curriculum, Instruction and 
Assessment for Independent or Religious School Teachers (3)

ED 631 Applied Principles of Curriculum, Instruction and 
Assessment for Public and Charter School Teachers (3)

ED 640 Teachers as Leaders and Facilitators of Change (3)

ED 645 Master’s Capstone Project (3)

ED 650 Master’s Seminar (3)

Total hours 32
    If interested in more information, please contact Christine              Totte at ​​[email protected] or click
or apply by clicking the link below.
​There is no application fee.
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  Apply Now: ​