Adolescent Education

Why Choose Adolescent Education?

Great middle and high school teachers know their job is about more than just lesson planning. It’s about giving students the care and attention necessary to shape them into the people they will become in the future.

Manhattan’s state approved adolescent education program gives you the academic and interpersonal skills to do just that. The program leads to certification teaching grades 7-12 in a regular education middle or high school classroom. All adolescent education majors are required to take a concentration of at least 30 credits in one of the following areas:

• English
• Modern foreign language (Spanish)
• Social Studies
• Mathematics
• Biology
• Chemistry
• Physics

Once you successfully complete all requirements in the adolescent education program, you will be recommended for New York state initial certification to become a middle or high school teacher.

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The Curriculum

The adolescent education teacher preparation program has three components:

• core course requirements in the liberal arts and sciences
• studies in your chosen academic concentration
• student teaching

Each term, often beginning in sophomore year, students will be in a classroom as an observer under the direction of the cooperating teacher. During senior year, adolescent education students are required to fulfill one full semester of student teaching fieldwork in addition to their academic coursework. During the student teaching experience, students are encouraged to assume more responsibility, planning and leading daily lessons, and assisting their cooperating teachers in classroom management, organization, and grading.

Our campus is located in the Bronx, with fieldwork access to students in the New York City public school system. Thus, students are placed in the most socially and economically diverse school districts. In addition, students may be placed in local parochial and private schools.

Co-Curricular Experiences

In addition to our local school district, the Manhattan College campus and our local community provide numerous opportunities to get involved outside of the classroom, including:

Center for Academic Success: Become a one-on-one peer tutor for your fellow Manhattan College students in the Center for Academic Success where you will:

• help lead instructional sessions
• organize study groups
• participate in workshops designed to teach strategies and techniques that assist with academic challenges

Summer Literacy Institute: Serve as a mentor for local Bronx high school students during the Summer Literacy Institute when Manhattan College invites local high schoolers to live in the campus residence halls and get a feel for college life. Along with faculty members, you’ll work on a team of fellow student mentors to lead a writing workshop and walk the high school students through the college application process.

Center for Optimal College Readiness (COCR): Get involved with the COCR program and you’ll be placed in a local high school where you’ll work with students to provide them:

• outreach tutoring
• mentoring
• help with academic counseling
• assistance with college applications

What Will You Learn?

You will graduate from this program with an ability to understand the core principles of adolescent education, including:

• current issues in education
• the process of becoming an educator
• historical and philosophical foundations of education
• legal and ethical responsibilities of educators, parents, and community
• the organization and financing of schools
• implications of the multicultural nature of schools
• the role of technology in the teaching and learning process
• the state of education in the United States and the world

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What Will You Do?

Our adolescent education program has a well-earned reputation for producing excellent educators who teach across a broad spectrum of schools in both urban and suburban districts.