The degree of master of arts in teaching is designed for prospective teachers in secondary schools. Prospective candidates should have a superior undergraduate record, including an appropriate concentration in the subject of the teaching field, and should present evidence of personal qualifications for effective teaching. Applicants are asked to submit scores for either the Miller Analogies Test or the Graduate Record Examination. The departments of art, biological sciences, chemistry, English, French, geology, history, mathematics, music, physics and Spanish actively cooperate with the education and child study department in administering the M.A.T. program. So far as possible, course elections are arranged to meet individualized needs, both in the amount of practice teaching and in the distribution of course work between education and the teaching field.
Candidates generally earn the degree in one academic year and one six- week summer session.
A thesis is not required. Experienced teachers take a minimum of 32 credits. The student without teaching experience takes 16 credits in the teaching field and 16 credits in education, and practice teaching. An experienced teacher takes a minimum of 12 to 16 credits in the teaching field and eight credits in education. Because this is an interdepartmental degree, students should plan their programs to include graduate-level courses in both the teaching field and education.