This course addresses cognitive development and the acquisition of knowledge. and explores the implications for instruction. Emphasizes creating more meaningful learning experiences for pupils who are at varying developmental levels and who have different learning styles.

This course is designed to further the educator’s knowledge and understanding of the developmental concepts that are essential to sound educational practice. The course explores the areas of social, emotional, and moral development in the context of family and community systems as well as the socializing agents in culture and society that influence these three areas, and the significance of these areas to the classroom teacher. It examines how teachers can use their knowledge of these areas of development and the influence of popular culture on development to make the learning environment more responsive to their students’ needs.

This course provides an overview of the physical, cognitive, psychosocial, emotional, and moral development for humans across the lifespan. Participants will explore theories of learning and development as they pertain to the individual in the home, in schools, the community, at work, individually, with families and with peers. Attention will be paid to both normative and nonnormative developmental trends.

This course prepares educators to differentiate instruction including the gifted, at risk, ESL, and students with Individual Education Plans. The course will explore proven effective models emphasizing the varied inclusion approaches. Under discussion will be the social, emotional, cognitive and academic benefits and challenges from the educators, students and parents perspectives. The total profile of a student in an inclusionary setting requires examination of variations in beliefs, cultural background and individual strengths and needs. Students will be able to apply PDE Special Education Standards to better acquaint themselves with the development and ongoing implementation of evidence-based methods.

This course provides an overview of adult learning, understanding, and communication as a vehicle to teacher growth and instructional leadership skills as well as an introduction to models of assessment, technology standards, technology in assessment, data-driven decision making using Excel and other data-based programs, data analysis, supervision, and professional development. Opportunities to shadow and observe practicum supervisory staff will be provided. Students will also get valuable experiences practicing authentic data collection and analysis through the development of an assessment and professional development plan in the graduate practicum.
Controversies are dissected and the organizational complexities of school structures are analyzed. Numerous levels of assessment and accountability are researched. Theories and practices of curriculum development are studied and applied to the construction of a values-based curriculum.
The course provides resources for the development of educational policy-making perspective skills. It stresses the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that make teachers effective curriculum leaders and school problem solvers.

This course introduces human exceptionalities and surveys the psychological, medical, legal, and social forces influencing the provision of services for exceptional people. Clarifies perceptions of exceptionalities, defines and describes key terms and concepts, and identifies major trends that affect the scope and nature of service to exceptional people.

This course is designed to provide students with an overview of the historical, social, and cultural influences in the development of the middle school concept. It investigates organizational structure, alternative patterns of school and class organization, team planning, and collaboration techniques. This course focuses exclusively on middle-level philosophy, transition, learning, and management so that teacher candidates seeking certification in grades 4-8 will have a deeper understanding of adolescent issues requiring specific educational approaches.

In this course, students will read and analyze books and articles written about the pedagogy of writing instruction to give the foundation necessary to create an authentic writing environment in their classrooms-where all of the students will view themselves as writers. The students will create teaching goals and will present what they learn through a variety of assignments culminating with the creation and implementation of a unit to reflect their growth.

This course provides an overview of historical and current early childhood education models as well as curriculum, classroom management, and assessment considerations based on developmental theories of young children in Prek-4th grades. A special emphasis is placed on holistic curricula integrating literacy, mathematics, science, social studies, art, music, and movement into early childhood classrooms and including the family and community into the overall design. Understanding how to develop a classroom environment that embraces is emphasized.

This course promotes analysis of the meaning and effects of educational institutions. Provides resources for developing critical understanding of educational thought and practice. Encourages the development of value positions based on critical study. Provides resources for the development of educational policy-making perspectives and skills.

This course helps teachers incorporate modern technologies of instruction into their classroom practices. Includes visual literacy and design principles, videography, the Internet, videodisc technology, cable in classroom, trends in educational computing, and multimedia. Emphasizes the impact of those technologies on human growth and development.

This course assists students in examining and refining their own concept of the curriculum and provides them with the knowledge and practical skills required to translate that concept into an effective, developmentally based program for learners. Stresses acquiring the knowledge, developing the attitudes, and cultivating the skills that make teachers effective curriculum workers in the schools.

This course examines schooling and its problems in historic, social, economic, legal, organizational, philosophical and global contexts. The intents and effects of educational institutions including, but not limited to schooling, both past and present are discussed. Schooling-related controversies are dissected and the organizational complexities of schools structures are analyzed. Numerous levels of assessment and accountability are researched. Theories and practices of curriculum development are studied and applied to the construction of a values based curriculum. The course provides resources for the development of educational policy- making perspective skills. It stresses the knowledge, skills and attitudes that make teachers effective curriculum leaders and school problem solvers.

This course provides educators with the knowledge necessary to institute, update, and enrich the teaching of geography. Examines using geography as an integrative discipline to teach physical and social sciences. Surveys the major research traditions of geography including the earth-science tradition, the culture-environment tradition, the location tradition, and the area analysis tradition. Required of all Elementary and Special Education Certification candidates.

This course enables students to more expertly apply child and adolescent developmental concepts to the practice of teaching. Explores strategic instructional planning, teaching styles, presentation skills, cooperative learning, and classroom management systems. Emphasizes the role of the teacher as an educational leader and decision-maker. Uses video-assisted micro-teaches both in the laboratory and the classroom.

This course advances understanding of managing the teaching and learning environment through instructional and management considerations using research-based approaches for practicing teachers and instructional leaders. The use of technology and other methods to enhance in-depth learning are emphasized. Course content includes strategic instructional planning, curriculum mapping, integrated unit development, differentiated instruction, technology integration, authentic assessments, culturally proficient teaching, and the role that classroom management plays in developing a positive climate for learning. *This course may be taken as an elective in the master's program.

This course examines various perspectives on the notion of play in culture, with a particular emphasis on children's play. The course will emphasize the link between theory and practice at the sites in society where children interact with each other and adults.

This course provides students with the opportunity to understand reading as a strategic interactive process that affects the learner's efforts in all academic areas. Students will explore currently held views of the reading process, instruction techniques, and assessment concerns related to secondary education. Class sessions employ a variety of formats, including lecture, demonstration, discussion, and hands-on experiences. Course projects provide practical application of the theoretical, instructional, and diagnostic issues presented. Required of all certification candidates.

Promotes understanding of reading as a strategic interactive process that affects learners' efforts in all academic areas. Explores currently held views of the reading process, instruction techniques, and assessment concerns related to elementary and secondary education. Employs a variety of formats, including lecture, demonstration, discussion, and hands-on experiences. Course projects provide practical application of the theoretical, instructional, and diagnostic issues presented. Required of all certification candidates.

The major goal of this course is to help future and practicing teachers understand how reading and writing ability develop, why some students have difficulty learning to read/or write, how to diagnose and address reading and writing problems, why a variety of assessment and teaching techniques must be used to identify students' strengths and needs, and how to use the results to design appropriate instruction. The premise for this goal is that both understanding why and knowing how are necessary for a teacher to make informed decisions that impact reading and writing instruction.

This course prepares reading specialists to meet the needs of students who demonstrate significant problems in reading and writing. It prepares reading specialists to use diagnostic assessments as a basis for planning instruction. Emphasis is placed on understanding and analysis of reading problems and the design and implementation of instructional interventions in reading and language arts.

The seminar will examine how concepts of schooling and childhood evolved in American and European culture from the 18th century to the present. The course will focus on how literature, painting, and film reflect these changing concepts as they relate to the following: progressive vs. traditional schooling; school as factory, temple, and town meeting; public vs. private schooling; corporal punishment; moral education; childhood, heredity, and environment; and childhood, creativity, and imagination. The course will also include a field trip to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

This course presents the reading specialist with techniques and strategies for presenting literature to children and adolescents and getting them to respond to it. Students interact with a wide variety of children’s literature to recognize notable authors and illustrators and to develop an ability to critically analyze children and young adult literature from diverse perspectives. Students will examine, evaluate, discuss, and use literature and related non-print materials for children and young adolescents and explore strategies for using trade books across the curriculum and for introducing children to literature. Students develop an understanding for ways in which children’s literature develops literacy and encourages young people to know the pleasure that can derive from reading good books. Materials for children, adolescents, and adults with limited reading abilities are covered.

This course focuses on how to develop student understanding of scientific knowledge and nature of scientific inquiry through inquiry-centered approaches that are in harmony with the contemporary research on cognitive science, motivation, and learning and instruction. It also addresses science education standards, issues, research, and application. Throughout the semester, students are provided with many opportunities to engage in personal and collaborative inquiry about teaching and learning science.

Assists students in understanding how children develop quantitative reasoning and examines implications for teaching math concepts, skills, and problem-solving approaches across content areas. Provides a basis for understanding the changing mathematics curriculum and offers opportunities to plan and evaluate instructional techniques. Required of all Elementary and Special Education Certification candidates.

This course is designed to help elementary and special education teachers use a developmental perspective in order to design instruction that maximizes learning for a diverse groups of pupils. Further, this course will provide the knowledge necessary for teachers to adjust instruction to accommodate the wide variety of needs commonly found among children with and without disabilities and other needs in current elementary and special education classrooms. Education 643 provides the background necessary for understanding developmental levels, learning styles, and research-based instructional strategies that connect to unit development. Education 645 and 661 represents a summer practicum experience necessary to implement instruction in inclusive and non-inclusive educational settings.

This course provides an overview of norm-referenced, criterion-referenced, curriculum-based, and authentic assessments used in the evaluation of students with and without disabilities. Classroom-based practices using differentiated assessments are also emphasized in this course. Students will be engaged in evaluating a focus child and writing a report containing Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) goals to meet the needs of the student.

This course will extend graduate students' understanding of Individualized Education Plan (IEP) planning, including the Individual Transition Plan, and how to collaborate with parents and outside agencies. Included will be IEP interpretation and accommodations for students classified as low incidence students, including autism. In addition, students will learn how to adjust standards-based units of instruction to meet the needs of students with moderate to severe disabilities. Addressed will be the following: functional and basic academics, communication, daily living skills, socialization, community experiences and related services.

This course applies a developmental perspective to the design and implementation of secondary-level instruction.

An intensive summer immersion program for secondary certification candidates. Provides an early full-time classroom teaching experience in a closely supervised and highly supportive clinical setting.

This course promotes the concept that a specialist, serving as a school’s literacy coach, can work effectively with secondary teachers to improve students’ literacy skills as they study their content area subjects. Future specialists will learn to collaborate with content teachers as they make learning more lasting and meaningful. Strategies, techniques, and approaches will be demonstrated to show how more effective learning can take place without any appreciable loss of “content time.”

This course provides an overview of federal, state, and local mandates regarding the assessment of ESL learners. Placement testing, standardized assessment, performance assessment, rubrics, and portfolios are addressed specifically. Issues in authentic assessment and assessment in
the content areas are also addressed. This course also helps students to understand the legislation that promotes individual rights for children and adults with disabilities, the special education classification and labeling process, and current trends in the education of children with disabilities. Students analyze the impact that a handicapping condition has on the individual in learning and social environments.

The literacy internship is the capstone experience for the program. Students will complete a minimum of 100 hours in an intensive summer reading program designed for children and adolescents. Students will be expected to apply concepts from their coursework to their work with students who are struggling readers. Students will be expected to conduct literacy evaluations of students with mild, moderate, and severe reading or writing difficulties, design specific literacy instruction to meet student needs, implement instruction, and evaluate the effectiveness of the instructional techniques on literacy growth. Students will also be expected to choose literacy materials that are in line with students’ instructional levels and to develop a literacy-rich and positive learning environment. An alternate option for completing the required internship hours exists for those currently teaching in reading/literacy-intensive positions. The director of the Graduate Programs in Education must approve this option.

This course focuses on developing education professionals' ability to critically reflect on problems arising in schools for the purpose of achieving positive school change. Using in-depth research related to instructional practices in a specific content area of interest or expertise (reading, mathematics, social studies, science, etc.) or behavior management, students will conduct needs assessments in their schools and design a professional development project that will result in positive classroom or school change. Approval of the project is required by the school leadership and course instructor prior to progressing to the next course (EDC 651), in which the action research project will be implemented.
In order to prepare graduate students for this project they will be exposed to the following 1) school staff development needs and resources based on analysis of data, interviews with teachers and the leadership team, and personal observations; 2) multiple assessments designed to measure program outcomes, and: 3) activities designed to address the needs of the educational program and needs assessment.

This course is a continuation of EDC 650: Leadership and Educational Change I. Thus, graduate students will be implementing professional development plans in a school environment and analyzing data collected to measure outcomes of the action research project. Students will be mentored and supervised by a La Salle University instructor as they engage in implementing their school-based projects and measuring outcomes.

This course explores the managerial responsibilities of school administrators and their impact on the educational effectiveness of schools. Strategic planning, staffing, budgeting, resource allocation, facilities management, negotiation and contracts, and decision making are studied in relation to modern leadership. Thirty field hours are required.

This course provides an overview of the historical and legislative antecedents of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) . Students will learn about the characteristics of students who fall with in the Autistic Spectrum (Asperger's syndrome, pervasive developmental disorder, Rett's syndrome, childhood disintegrative disorder, and hyperlexia) in preparation for teaching students with autism in inclusive and self-contained settings. Students will be introduced to a continuum of interventions for students with ASD.

This course is designed to provide the Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) Graduate Student, and the Education Graduate Student with an understanding of how family systems, the education system and the community mental health system operate independently and collectively, and the influence each has on the other with regard to the special needs child and family. The goal of the course is to enhance the understanding of the delivery of service, and its impact on the well being of the child and the family. A comprehensive overview of systems approach to family therapy, the educator's role within the education system, and access and understanding of the community mental health system will be examined and explored. Additionally examined will be cultural issues and realities, the ethical considerations in treating a special needs child and family, and how all systems within the child's life can collaborate within the treatment model developed for that child.

This course provides an overview of major issues in school law focuses primarily on case law including U.S. Supreme Court decisions as well as relevant state and lower court federal opinions. Topics covered include church/state issues, teacher and student rights, laws associated with equal educational opportunities, students with disabilities, tort liability, collective bargaining, and tenure.

An extension of EDC 645 in which participants design and deliver instruction to moderately and severely handicapped learners. Emphasizes the classroom application of research-based knowledge of child development and individual differences.

Required of all Elementary and Special Education Certification candidates with no teaching experience.

This course will provide educators with new insights into the communications-related needs of students, enable participants to work more effectively with related services in the delivery of special programming and, teach class members to apply new technologies and strategies to best meet the needs of special needs students including those with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). In collaboration with speech- language pathologists, current practices in monitoring, data-gathering and assessment of students holding communications-related IEPs will be introduced, practiced and applied to the classroom setting in a practicum experience.

This hybrid course will enhance graduate students' understanding of how to interpret a Comprehensive Evaluation Report (CER) and Individualized Education Plan (IEP) in order to meet the academic, social, and/or behavioral goals of students with disabilities within the context of the general education curriculum. In addition, special consideration of the needs of English language learners and gifted and talented students will be addressed in the course. Application of universal design, differentiated instruction, and specific accommodations and strategies for students with disabilities will be stressed.

This course can, with permission of the Candidacy Committee, replace student teaching for candidates with two or more years teaching experience who are also currently employed as teachers. For one semester, the supervised teacher is observed and guided by University faculty while teaching in his or her own current private or public school position. The supervised teacher also conducts an action research project. (Must meet Commonwealth standards as appropriate for area of certification.) Required of all certification candidates who are not required to take student teaching.

This course can, with permission of the Candidacy Committee, replace student teaching for candidates with one or more years teaching experience who are also currently employed as teachers. For one semester, the supervised teacher is observed and guided by University faculty while teaching in his/her own current private or public school position. The supervised teacher also conducts an action research project. Required of all certification candidates who are not required to take student teaching.

Permits individual examination of topics of special interest. 

This course surveys the complex legal environment in which schooling takes place. Explores the variety of laws and regulations that govern the work of educators. Outlines guiding legal principles and summarizes the legal processes whereby conflicts are resolved.

Weekly seminars held either on campus or at the practicum site designed to help students translate theory into practice by exploring teaching methods in the chosen area of certification. Research project required. Required of all certification candidates.

Weekly seminars held either on campus or at the practicum site designed to help students translate theory into practice by exploring teaching methods in the chosen area of certification. Research project required. Required of all certification candidates.

Students will examine the socioeconomic factors that help and hinder educational success and failure. By engaging various texts on educational stratification and social inequality, students will examine how various social locations and structural conditions shape which groups are likely to be educationally mainstreamed and the social factors that result in educational marginalization. The role of social reproduction theory, as an intergenerational arbitrator of academic success and failure, will be examined. Central to this class will be the macro-sociological, political, and economic forces that shape our educational institutions. By the end of the course, our students will have a solid handle on how race, class, gender, sexual orientation, poverty, disability, and educational policy influence educational outcomes.

Students will explore issues of school and classroom behavior, examine foundational philosophical perspectives, and reflect on one’s own developing perspectives about those issues. The underlying philosophy of this class is that we must first manage our own behavior before we can influence our students. The course is intended to place students in the position of being reflective by making connections between personal experiences and theories of human behavior. Students will be provided with specific tools and techniques for managing the behavior of students, but more importantly, they will be encouraged to develop a systematic process for thinking about (a) their own behavior and (b) the behavior of their students.

Required of all certification candidates not eligible for Supervised Teaching.

Focuses on developing education professionals’ ability to critically reflect on problems arising in schools through developing, implementing, and analyzing action research projects. Students will be exposed to quantitative and qualitative methods of scientific research, define an area of focus relating to area of study, conduct a literature review, formulate an action research design, collect and interpret data, and synthesize research into a report format. Students will be introduced to publishing opportunities.

As a continuation of EDC 695: Action Research and Educational Change, students will design, conduct, implement, and analyze data collected from action research proposals begun during the EDC 695 course. Students will be mentored as they engage in the research process. A final report of the action research will constitute a master’s thesis.

This capstone course, for students in any of the Education programs leading to a Master's degree, will focus on critical pedagogy and transformative pedagogies, while providing the structure and guidance for the completion of a capstone project. Students will be able to choose one of three capstone options: (1) publishable quality paper, (2) development of a curriculum, or (3) action research project. The course will be structured so that students will be guided through project proposal, design and completion while engaging in coursework and readings that emphasize transformative pedagogies. A B or higher must be obtained in this course to complete the Master's Degree program.