Adolescence Education

Why Choose Adolescence Education?

Have a passion for History? An appetite for Mathematics? An enthusiasm for English? As an Adolescence Education major, you will specialize in your favorite subject while learning educational strategies that will prepare you to teach middle and high school students. Coursework in this major lays a foundation in pedagogical methods, focusing on curriculum, learner needs, technology, and literacy. Equipped with these skills and theories, you will be well-prepared to make a difference in students’ lives by teaching in a content area.

In the Adolescence Education program, you will gain subject-area expertise in one of the following areas:

• Biology
• Chemistry
• English
• Mathematics
• Physics
• Social Studies
• Spanish

Upon successful completion of the program, you will be recommended for initial certification in teaching grades 7-12 in a regular education middle or high school classroom.

If you are interested in teaching grades 5 or 6, you can complete the Middle Childhood Extension to earn an additional certification for these younger grade levels.

The program is approved by the New York State Education Department. In June 2022, the Association for Advancing Quality in Educator Preparation (AAQEP) awarded full 7-year accreditation to the adolescence education teacher preparation program.

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What Will You Learn?

The adolescence education teacher preparation program will equip you with the skills, knowledge, and experiences to successfully lead your own classroom. You will graduate from this program with expertise in your chosen content area and an ability to understand and apply the core principles of adolescence education, including:

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• Historical and philosophical foundations of education
• Legal and ethical responsibilities of educators
• Effective planning, instruction, and assessment strategies for students diverse, contemporary middle and high school classrooms
• Educational and psychological research and the implications on classroom practice

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The Experience

Our adolescence 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. The curriculum of the adolescence education teacher preparation program has four components:

• Core coursework in the liberal arts and sciences
• Studies in chosen academic concentration
• Foundational methods of education
• Field experience and student teaching

As an adolescence education major, you will benefit from the expertise of distinguished faculty in the liberal arts and sciences, both in your core courses and your chosen concentration area. As part of your education coursework, you will gain experience planning and teaching lessons in a supportive environment. You will have the opportunity to workshop lessons with your peers prior to implementing them in real middle and high school classrooms. In addition to the faculty in the education department, some of your instructors will be current principals, building administrators, and lead teachers in our partner schools. Not only will you acquire knowledge of current issues in education and their experience in the classroom, you will also build your network to aid in job placement after graduation.

Our campus is located in the Bronx, with fieldwork access to students in the New York City public school system, the largest school system in the United States. Thus, our student-teachers are typically placed in the most socially and economically diverse school districts. Beginning in your very first education course, you will have the opportunity to observe in a New York City public school classroom. Over the course of your four years, you will observe and participate in a variety of classrooms across different schools and grade levels. In your final year, you will complete one full semester of student teaching fieldwork, during which you will plan and lead daily lessons, and assist your cooperating teachers in classroom management, organization, and grading. You will leave fully prepared to run your own classroom.