Course Requirements for Your Ed.S.


The Education Specialist (Ed.S.) program in Secondary and Middle Grades Education is designed for educators looking to deepen their expertise and enhance their instructional leadership. This fully online (with some exceptions) 30-hour program offers specialized tracks in key subject areas, combining advanced coursework in education research, pedagogy, and content knowledge.

Whether you're focused on English, Mathematics, Social Studies, Science, or History, this program equips you with the skills to impact student learning and advance your career.

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A diverse group of middle school students collaborating on a robotics project, engaging in hands-on STEM learning in a classroom setting.

 

Program of Study

Program Total: 30 Credit Hours

The program includes 30 total hours, including 9 hours of education and research core courses, 12 hours of secondary or middle grades major courses, and 9 hours of teaching field courses.

We offer the following degree options:

  • Secondary English
  • Secondary Mathematics
  • Secondary History
  • Secondary Chemistry
  • Secondary Biology
  • Middle Grades Language Arts
  • Middle Grades Mathematics
  • Middle Grades Social Studies
  • Middle Grades Science

*All courses are fully online, except content courses in Chemistry Education, Middle Grades Science, and American Studies.

PROGRAM OF STUDY

Education & Research Core Courses

All courses required for a total of 9 hours
  • The course deepens experienced educators’ knowledge of research-based best practices in diverse classrooms. This is an advanced course with in-depth study of classic and current research on learning theories and related topics in educational psychology as they relate to teaching and learning in schools. Focus is on those theories and research which have transformed and are reforming educational practice.
  • This course will serve as an introduction to qualitative research and methodologies. Methodological origins, theoretical frameworks, literature reviews, and basic methods of data collection and data analysis will be explored in conjunction with an analysis of relevant literature, educational research reports, and ethics in research. Students will apply basic skills of data collection and analysis. Students will differentiate between the types of qualitative research.
  • Candidates will demonstrate a functional understanding of the nature and design of quantitative research as applied to the educational arena including but not limited to the following topics; the nature and application of descriptive and basic inferential statistics including the concepts of variance, normal distribution, population, sample, power, effect size, hypothesis testing, parametric and nonparametric tests, interaction effects, validity, reliability; the strengths, weaknesses of quantitative research designs; the principles of data collection and analysis using computer software such as SPSS. Candidates will acquire and become proficient in analytical and interpretive skills; and will be prepared to conduct applied quantitative research that will bear positively on schools.

Secondary and Middle Grades Major Courses

Major Required Courses

6 credit hours
  • The course is taken in the first semester of the program and is designed to assist advanced graduate students in developing an understanding of seminal research, contemporary trends, and emerging issues related to teaching and learning in secondary and middle grades settings. The course is designed to assist advanced graduate students in conceptualizing their final capstone project and developing a plan for its completion.
  • The course is taken in the last semester of the Ed.S. program and serves as either the culminating academic endeavor of Ed.S. candidates, or as a bridge for those candidates continuing on toward the Ed.D. The course provides candidates with the opportunity to examine writing, research, or other products related to their own professional interests. Students will complete a capstone project in this course such as evaluating a program, writing a grant for a school or district-based initiative, completing a practitioner research project, writing an article for publication about a teaching strategy they have used in their classroom, designing a research proposal for a potential dissertation topic, or preparing and presenting a paper at a state or national conference.

Major Elective Courses

6 credit hours selected from the list below
  • This internship is for advanced specialist and doctoral students interested in teacher education and scholarly work (e.g., research, editing). Teaching internships focus on teaching and learning, curriculum, and assessment. Teaching internships focus on teaching and learning, curriculum, and assessment. Teaching interns will work closely with their professor to determine the scope of the work during the semester (the seminar may extend beyond one semester) and plan, deliver, and evaluate their instruction. Research internships focus on the identification, planning, and implementation of advanced research projects. Research interns will work closely with their professor to design, implement, and analyze research (the seminar may extend beyond one semester). The scope of other internships in scholarly work will be developed collaboratively between the intern and professor. The scope of other internships in scholarly work (e.g., editing journals, coordinating conferences, or revising and developing state standards) will be developed collaboratively between the intern and professor.
  • This course considers contemporary research addressing the cognitive, psycho-social, physical, and moral development of adolescents in the context of schools, relationships, and culture with applications to diverse P-12 settings. A major focus of the course includes how school, family, and community influences interact with and impact adolescents’ development and how educators, through a learner-centered approach, can support and facilitate positive outcomes for middle and high school students.
  • This course is designed to broaden students’ understandings of contemporary equity issues in education. With a focus on perspective taking and knowledge creation, students will examine equity issues at the federal, state, and individual levels. Students will assess themselves, their students, their classrooms and schools for contemporary barriers to equity and develop a proposal to address an equity issue in their school setting.
  • A doctoral seminar focused on analysis and problem-solving of a current topic of vital concern relevant to teaching, leading and student learning in schools with a particular emphasis on the contexts of middle and secondary students, classrooms and schools.
  • This course offers a theoretical, historical, and practical foundation in critical multicultural and global education. Candidates will gain an understanding of how structures, policies, and practices of schools in U.S. and global contexts tend to perpetuate discriminatory inequities by their effects on students and teachers. Candidates will examine their own identities, cultural assumptions, and instructional practices to enact a philosophy of teaching that disrupts deficit discourses and ensures equitable outcomes for all learners.

Teaching Field Content Courses

9 credit hours

All majors must take a Technology Course. Choose from the following courses based on your major:

  • MAED 7719: Technology and Mathematics for Secondary Mathematics & Middle Grades Mathematics majors
  • ENED 8741 Digital Media and Pedagogies in English/Language Arts Education for Secondary English & Middle Grades Language Arts majors
  • ITEC 7400, ITEC 7430, ITEC 7480, or ITEC 7600 for Secondary History, Middle Grades Social Studies, Secondary Biology, Secondary Chemistry, and Middle Grades Science majors.

PLEASE NOTE: There is a possibility to substitute additional courses. Please consult your advisor.

For students who have not had a graduate course in assessment, an assessment course in the content area or EDUC 8705 is required as one of your teaching field content courses. See your advisor for more information.

  • Any 7000, 8000, or 9000 level MATH, MAED course as approved or recommended by advisor. Students may also consider 6000 or higher STAT courses with mathematics advisor and statistics faculty approval.
  • Any 7000, 8000, or 9000 level ENGL, ENED course as approved or recommended by advisor. Students may also consider 6000 or higher EDRD and PRWR courses with English advisor or program coordinator approval.
  • Any 7000, 8000, or 9000 level HIST, GEOG, ECON, ANTH, POLS, SSED, EDSS course as approved or recommended by advisor. Students may also consider 6000 or higher AMST courses with history advisor or program coordinator approval.

  • For Chemistry majors, any CHEM course at 5000 or higher. Chemistry majors may consider any 5000 level or higher EDSC, SCED or SCI courses as approved or recommended by advisor.

    Middle Grades Science majors may consider any 5000 or higher CHEM, SCED, ESCD, SCI, BIOL, PHYS, PHED, GEOL.

    Secondary Biology majors may consider and 5000 or higher CHEM, SCED, EECE, SCI, BIOL, PHYS, PHED, GEOL.

Additional Information

Students must petition to graduate during the semester PRIOR to their graduation semester. See the website for more information.

Contact your Ed.S. Program Advisor at edssmge@kennesaw.edu and your Ed.S. teaching field advisor for advising.