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Specialization in Health Education, 6-12 and Middle School
The Master of Science in Teaching (M.S.T.) with specialization in Health Education prepares teachers with secondary certification (Type 09) in another content area to teach health in Illinois secondary and middle schools. Successful completion of this specialization leads to health education and middle school endorsements. The endorsement is granted on the basis of 24 semester hours in health education, two recommended courses regarding middle school students and schools, and passing the ICTS Subject Area Test of Content Knowledge in Health Education. By completing these requirements, students will demonstrate knowledge, skills, and dispositions related to assessment, diversity and special needs, human development and learning, and pedagogy in the content area.
Admission
All applicants to the M.S.T. program must meet requirements for admission to the Graduate School and be accepted for admission by the faculty admissions committee of the specialization in health education. The completed application must include GRE scores, official transcripts verifying the applicant’s baccalaureate degree, evidence of a current Type 09 Illinois Teaching Certificate in a secondary content area other than health education, two letters of recommendation from professors or supervisors that can provide supportive evidence of the applicant’s professional qualifications and potential for success in graduate study, and a writing sample that describes the applicant’s career goals and philosophy of health education.
Students may apply a maximum combined total of 18 semester hours of graduate credit earned as a student-at-large at NIU or as transfer credit, with their adviser’s approval, from another institution toward the M.S.T. degree.
Deficiency Study
Students are expected to enter the degree program with background in anatomy, physiology, nutrition, current health concepts including first aid and CPR, an introductory psychology course, and a basic educational technology course. Students may demonstrate their basic psychology knowledge by taking EPS 300 or its equivalent. Students may demonstrate their basic knowledge of the use of computers in education by completing ETT 229 or by passing a competency test. Students with inadequate background in health content knowledge may be required to make up these deficiencies with faculty adviser approval.
Requirements
The student must complete at least 36 semester hours of graduate course work; at least 24 of the 36 semester hours must be in health education. All courses outside health education must be approved by the school in advance.
The student must follow a program of study. This program will be designed by the student and his or her adviser and will be built upon the program requirements below.
In lieu of a comprehensive examination, the student must submit a completed capstone research-based project in the form of an electronic portfolio of a Teacher Work Sample to be reviewed by the faculty adviser. The portfolio is completed in the last semester of coursework and contains required artifacts and reflections that demonstrate mastery of the professional teaching standards and degree requirements. If a student’s portfolio fails to pass as the capstone project, it may be repeated once with permission of the faculty member and approval of the school.
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