Middle Level Education
The elementary/middle level education certification program prepares you to teach in grades 4-8 (ages 9-13). We combine a strong foundation of teaching methodology with many diverse classroom experiences for innovative, research based, hands-on learning.
What You'll Study
*This major is not accepting new students for the spring or fall 2022 semesters.*
In the middle level education program you will select a content specialty area such as language arts/English, mathematics, science, or social studies, or a combination of two content areas. This program prepares you to teach all content areas for grades 4-6 and to teach in your chosen content areas for grades 7-8. Your courses will focus on adolescent development, middle level curriculum, assessment, technology, professional roles, and more.
The Elementary/Middle Level program contains 34 credits of core education courses and then content courses in each of four areas:
- Biology: (Download Checksheet)
- Science for the Elementary and Middle Level Learner
- Marine Biology
- Language Arts: (Download Checksheet)
- Language Arts Methods for Elementary and Middle Grades
- Literature for Adolescent and Young Adults
- Math: (Download Checksheet)
- Math for the Elementary and Middle Level Learner
- Number Theory
- Social Studies: (Download Checksheet)
- Social Studies Methods
- American History
This minor is designed for education majors who want to gain additional knowledge and skills in teaching children with disabilities, but do not desire certification in Special Education. It can also be valuable to other human service majors such as Social Work, Recreation, and Psychology.
Program Highlights
- Accreditation: The program is accredited by:
- Professional Semester: The Elementary/Middle Level Grades 4-8 program offers courses in the content area with pre-student teaching to create the professional semester. In this final semester prior to student teaching, teacher candidates will spend class time learning about methods for teaching math, science, social studies, and English/language arts, beyond the content area of certification. In addition, candidates will spend more than 3 full weeks in the grades 4-8 classroom teaching children under the supervision of a faculty member and cooperating teacher. This is experience is designed to build skills, knowledge, and dispositions that will be used during student teaching and ultimately land their first teaching job!
- Student Teaching: Beginning in your freshman year you will participate in 80 hours of supervised observation and teaching in a variety of 4-8 classroom settings. These hands-on learning experiences are followed by a professional methods semester and a student teaching semester. Your two, seven-week student teaching experiences will take place in a grade 4-6 self-contained classroom, and a grade 7-8 specialty content classroom. Your assignments will usually be within a 50-60 mile radius of LHU campus. You are also encouraged to student teach abroad at any of our partner universities.
- Scholarships: From honorariums to full-tuition waivers, scholarships exist to reward your hard work and dedication to the major. Find more information here.
- Careers: The current retirement rate of teachers of the “baby boomer” generation has created an
extremely high demand for teachers at all levels. Graduates with a degree/certification
in elementary/middle level education are prepared to teach all content areas in an
elementary classroom and specialized content areas in grades 7-8. The faculty’s strong
relationships with communities and schools, along with LHU’s historic reputation in
teacher education, allows for easy placement of LHU teacher candidates.
- Facilities: The PreK-Grade 8 Education and Professional Studies department is housed in the Robinson Learning Center on the 1st, 2nd, 6th, and 7th floors. The department offers state of the art learning facilities on the 2nd floor which include: small classrooms designed for student interaction and teaching activities; and, e-support via smart boards, computing, and other teaching & learning tools. Faculty deliver courses in technology-enhanced classrooms with vast multimedia capabilities. Students can access open computer labs and campus wireless network when using personally-owned devices. Students can request technology resources from Stevenson Library, Media Services.
