Elementary Mathematics
See the standard
Comments on analysis
Students cannot excel in mathematics without skillful instruction in the earliest years of school. Teacher candidates generally require three semesters of coursework, complemented by adequate field practice, to progress from a procedural to a conceptual understanding of the essential mathematics topics taught in the elementary grades.
Courses reviewed: MTH 221, and MTH 222
Through a review of the coursework noted above, the program was not found to provide teacher candidates with adequate coverage of numbers & operations, algebra, geometry, and data analysis & probability.
Next Steps
To improve under this standard, additional attention should be paid to the coverage of content and selection of textbooks used to support instruction.
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Coming Fall 2020
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Building Content Knowledge
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Comments on analysis
Because they teach all subjects, elementary teacher candidates need to have a solid grasp of literature and composition, American and world history, geography and science. Teacher candidates should also develop some expertise outside of their professional studies, not only to enrich their own academic experience, but also to serve as a fallback major in the event that the student teaching experience is unsuccessful.
Requirements established by the program and/or the institution in which it is located ensure that all elementary certification candidates must take relevant classes in the checked topics below.
| Literature & Composition |
| | ✗ World literature
Because of the range of course options permitted, all elementary teacher candidates are not required to take the equivalent of a three semester credit hour general education course that covers, at a minimum but not exclusively, both the major literary genres and the significant works and movements of Western literature, beginning with ancient Greek and/or Roman sources.
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| | ✔ American literature |
| | ✗ Writing, grammar and composition |
| | ✗ Children's literature
Consider revising required coursework in Children's literature so that it provides an introduction to major authors, works and forms of children's literature and includes some examination of children's literature as an historical phenomenon.
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| History & Geography |
| | ✗ Early American history
Because of the range of course options permitted, all elementary teacher candidates are not required to take the equivalent of a three semester credit hour general education course that focuses on U.S. history from the age of discovery or colonial period or founding of the republic to the Civil War or Reconstruction.
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| | ✗ Modern American history or Government
Because of the range of course options permitted, all elementary teacher candidates are not required to take the equivalent of a three semester credit hour general education course that focuses on US history from the Civil War or Reconstruction to the modern period (beginning anywhere from 1865 to 1900 and concluding near the present) or on the constitutional underpinnings, the specific branches, and state and national features of our democracy.
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| | ✗ World history—ancient
Because of the range of course options permitted, all elementary teacher candidates are not required to take the equivalent of a three semester credit hour general education course that provides general narratives of all major civilizations in ancient times.
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| | ✗ World history—modern
Because of the range of course options permitted, all elementary teacher candidates are not required to take the equivalent of a three semester credit hour general education course that provides general narratives of all major civilizations in modern times.
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| | ✗ Geography
Because of the range of course options permitted, all elementary teacher candidates are not required to take the equivalent of a three semester credit hour general education course that addresses both physical and cultural geography -- analyzing the world from a geographic perspective and emphasizing the unique qualities of world regions; the spatial interactions of people, elements, and regions; and, major regional and global problems and prospects.
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| Science |
| | ✗ Biology
Consider requiring all elementary teacher candidates take the equivalent of a three semester credit hour general education course that covers biology and matter related to biological processes, including topics such as cellular structures and dynamics, genetics, taxonomy, evolution, plant and animal physiology, developmental biology, and ecology. Cellular and molecular biology should be more prominently featured than ecology and/or evolution.
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| | ✗ Chemistry |
| | ✗ Physics
Consider revising required coursework in Physics so that it covers physics or physical science, including topics such as motion, energy, conservation laws, gravity, phase changes, thermodynamics, electricity, magnetism, sound, light, and wave dynamics.
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| | ✗ Earth science
Consider requiring all elementary teacher candidates take the equivalent of a three semester credit hour general education course that covers earth science, including topics such as geology, climatology, astronomy, and oceanography.
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Coming Fall 2020
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