Master of Arts in Teaching: Grade 5-6 Extension Option

Stony Brook University is pleased to announce a new certification extension to its Adolescence Education certifications.

Current Students

Currently matriculated students in Stony Brook’s graduate teacher preparation programs (MAT and combined Bachelor/MAT) may now include an option to extend their certification program requirements to cover grades 5 and 6 with institutional recommendation. These students are required to take CEE 601 and CEE 602 in addition to all other MAT program requirements.

Candidates in Stony Brook’s teacher preparation programs should contact their program directors for additional information (see chart below). Course descriptions are provided below; scheduling information may be found on SOLAR.

Certified Teachers

Those individuals currently holding or seeking an Adolescence Education Certification (Grades 7 - 12) in any content area now have the opportunity to complete two courses that will add a Grades 5 - 6 extension to their teaching licenses. Upon completion of CEE 601 - Early Adolescent Development and CEE 602 - Middle Child Education: Instruction (see descriptions below), individuals who are not currently in Stony Brook teacher preparation programs and are licensed in Adolescence Education, regardless of content area, will be able to file on the TEACH website for this extension through the individual evaluation pathway.

For further information on admission to Stony Brook and registration for Stony Brook courses, please contact the School of Professional Development (SPD) by phone: 631-632-7050 (Option 3) or via email at: spd@stonybrook.edu.

Courses

The required courses are as follows:

CEE 601 Early Adolescent Development: Social, Emotional, Physical, and Intellectual Challenges
This course will address the unique social, emotional, physical and intellectual challenges faced by 10-14 year old children, known as the period of early adolescence. Critical understanding of these characteristics and transformations will be an essential part of the course, along with a review of the important work of Piaget, Erickson and others who have made significant contributions toward our understanding and ability to effectively teach this age group. The vital elements of parental involvement and responsiveness to diversity will also be emphasized.  Teachers will be prepared to transition to the middle school classroom through deep appreciation for and understanding of the children they will teach in grades 5-8.

CEE 602 Middle Child Education: Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment
Based on a four corner framework for quality teaching, this course examines how to set the climate, teach the content, facilitate the interactions and foster reflection in the middle school classroom. The course focuses on using brain based instruction as the basis for learning and processes for making data-driven instructional decisions and for designing curriculum to address the standards. In addition, emphasis is given to three critical instructional strategies: cooperative group instruction, a multiple intelligences approach and a higher order thinking skills. Woven throughout the course content is the concept of differentiating instruction and assessment of individual learners.

Program Directors:

*With the exception of TESOL, which is a Pre K-12 program