Master of Arts in Teaching English Language Arts

English Department, Boise State University

This degree is primarily intended for teachers in grades K-13 who are interested in learning more about effective teaching of literacy (writing, reading/literature, and language/linguistics) and applying their learning to their own teaching.

Contents

General Information

Application and Admission Requirements

Degree Requirements

Advising

Current and Up-coming Courses, Institutes, and Workshops

Application for Admission to Candidacy

The Culminating Portfolio

Questions and Answers

Program Check Sheet

Director M.A. in Teaching English Language Arts:

Bruce Robbins
Liberal Arts Building Room 211 F
Telephone: 208-426-3036
e-mail: brobbins@boisestate.edu
http://english.boisestate.edu/englteaching

English Education Faculty, Boise State University:

Jim Fredricksen
LA 101 A; 208-426-4881
jimfredricksen@boisestate.edu

Bruce Robbins
LA 211 F; 208-426-3036
brobbins@boisestate.edu

Jeffrey Wilhelm
LA 211 C; 208-426-1199
jwilhelm@boisestate.edu

All three English Education faculty members are experienced secondary school teachers of English with doctorates in the teaching of English language arts.

General Information

 The Master of Arts in Teaching English Language Arts is designed to enhance the professional knowledge and teaching skills of practicing teachers from elementary through high school who are interested in supporting their students’ achievement in literacy.  The broad-based program may combine work from several university resources, including courses in English, Literacy Education, and the Boise State Writing Project.  The program works within the teacher’s current instructional context to connect research and theory in literacy learning with effective classroom teaching practices. 

 The three major strands (writing/composing, reading/literature, language) in the program requirements reflect the three areas of concentration required by the national standards for English language arts teachers including the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) and National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), and required by the National Professional Board of Teaching Standards (NPBTS). 

Application and Admission Requirements

For admission to all graduate degree programs, Boise State University requires the following:

• Application form and fee, submitted online at http://www.boisestate.edu/gradcoll
• Official transcripts of previous college work

Admission to this program also requires the following:

• Two letters of recommendation from people who can describe your academic ability and your experience with and commitment to effective teaching.
• A statement of 500-1000 words describing your professional goals and the ways in which the program can help you achieve them.

Statement and letters of recommendation may be sent directly to the program director: Bruce Robbins, English Department, Boise State University, 1910 University Drive, Boise, ID 83725-1525.  Statements may be emailed to: brobbins@boisestate.edu.

It is possible to bring into the program up to 10 credits of relevant previous graduate-level course work, subject to approval of the program director at the time of admission.  Prior credits must have a grade of B or better (3 credits may be Pass).

TRANSFERRING

If you have already been admitted to a different Masters degree program at Boise State and you wish to change from your current degree program to the Masters in Teaching English Language Arts, you do not need to repeat admission requirements and fees.  Instead, you need to initiate a "program change" by completing and submitting the Program Change Form, which can be found at: http://www.boisestate.edu/gradcoll/forms/form_grad_programchange26.pdf

Submit the form to the Graduate Admissions Office (MG 141).

Program Procedure Chronology

1. Apply for Admission to Program
2. Upon acceptance, familiarize yourself with program requirements and deadlines, and meet with Advisor.
3. Start taking course work and building portfolio.
4. When you have earned 12-15 credits, form and meet with your Supervisory Committee.
5. Continue taking course work and building portfolio.
6. 2 semesters before you plan to finish complete and submit Admission to Candidacy form .
7. The semester before you plan to finish, apply to graduate.
8. Finish all course work.
9. Present your portfolio to your Supervisory Committee.
10. Make a public presentation of a selection of your work.
11. Supervisory Committee approves your completion.
12. Graduation.

(Find more information about these procedures below.)

Degree Requirements

Advising

When you are first admitted to this degree program you will receive a copy of the program check sheet by which you can plan ahead and keep a record of your progress.  Temporarily, the Program Director will serve as your first advisor.  Anytime after that you may select a faculty advisor based on your own preference.  Any Boise State University faculty member who is also a member of the BSU Graduate Faculty may serve as your advisor, although the English Education Faculty listed above probably know this degree program best. 

Sometime during your first year you should select and meet with your Supervisory Committee, which consists of three or four BSU faculty members who know you and your work or who may have an expertise in an area of study of interest to you.  Committee members need not be members of the BSU English department, but it is strongly recommended that at least one of your committee members be an English Education faculty member (listed above).  Your committee will give you guidance and feedback on your degree progress and your portfolio plans and materials.  They also make the final determination about your final completion of the portfolio and degree requirements.

Most students begin to form their Supervisory Committee by selecting a faculty member to be the committee Chair.  (This person may also be your advisor.)  Then you can discuss with the Chair some ideas about other faculty members who might serve on your committee.  Normally you are the person who asks faculty members if they would be willing to serve on your committee, and at that time they may ask you about your work and your interests.  (They do this partly to determine whether they think they have something to offer you.)  You are free to pick whomever you want on your committee; university faculty members are used to this process and do not take it personally if you do not pick them. 

When you have selected your faculty committee members and they have agreed to serve, then fill out and submit the "Appointment of Supervisory Committee" form on the Graduate College web site.  Graduate Academic Regulations require you to turn in this form within one year of the onset of your coursework in the degree program.

Current and Up-coming Courses, Institutes, and Workshops

Spring 2010

ENGL 406G Advanced Poetry Writing.W 6:00 pm-9:00 pm Chilson, Jodi

ENGL 407G Advanced Fiction Writing.  Th 6:00 pm-9:00 pm Heathcock, Alan, or Th 3:15 pm-5:55 pm ILC304 Wieland, Mitchell

ENGL 509 Book Arts. W 6:00 pm-9:00 pm Trusky, Tom

ENGL 510 Sem in Maj American Writer: Herman Melville. Tu 6:00 pm-9:00 pm Olsen-Smith, Steven

ENGL 524 Creative Nonfiction Writ Wrksp.  Tu 3:15 pm-5:55 pm Morgan, Clay

ENGL 530 Studies in a Literary Period: British Modernism.  Th 6:00 pm-9:00 pm Hindrichs, Cheryl. See BroncoWeb for detailed Notes on this class

ENGL 530 Studies in a Literary Period: Haunted America: 19th Cent Rise of American Gothic. Tu 6:00 pm-9:00 pm MP308 Hillard, Tom

ENGL 550 Literature and Culture. TuTh 3:15 pm-4:30 pm Test, Mac. See BroncoWeb for detailed Notes on this class

ENGL 554 Intro to Research Methods. Tu 3:15 pm-5:55 pm LA204 Estrem, Heidi. See BroncoWeb for detailed Notes on this class

ENGL 568 The Essay Tradition. M 6:00 pm-9:00 pm LA105 Uehling, Karen. Hybrid. See BroncoWeb for detailed Notes on this class

ENGL 583 Sel Topics: Rhetoric & Comp: Cultural Studies in Composition. Tu 6:00 pm-9:00 pm LA202 Peele, Thomas. See BroncoWeb for detailed Notes on this class

ED-LTCY 541 Assessment & Instruction: Reading Difficulties K=12    Jan 29-30, Feb 19-20, Mar 12-13

ED-LTCY 545 Writing Process & Assessment K-8  Jan 22-23, Feb 12-13, Mar 5-6

ED-LTCY 551 Literacy Leadership  W 6-9pm

ED-LTCY 554 Literacy Process & Practices Mar 19-20, Apr 9-10, 30-May 1

ED-LTCY 560 Interpreting Research in Literacy Apr 16-17, May 7-8

Summer 2010

ENGL 567 Grammar and the Teaching of Writing.  9:40-11:40 M-Th June 14-July 8. Robbins. Effective ways to fold grammar instruction into the language arts curriculum.

ENGL 594 Inquiry: Focus on Teaching for Understanding (BSWP Advanced Institute). Pre-Institute. 5/1/10 plus Mon-Fri June 28–July 2, 8:30 – 4:30.  Peggy Jo Wilhelm and Jerry Hendershot.  Location: College of Southern Idaho, Twin Falls

ENGL 594 Writing for Social Change (BSWP Advanced Institute) Pre-Institute May 22 plus Mon-Fri June 21-June 25, 8:00 – 3:00.  Sharon Hanson and Paula Uriarte.

ENGL 579 BSWP Invitational Institute.  Wilhelm. 6 credits.  By invitation only.

ED-LTCY 547 Adv. Advanced Young Adult Literature. May 21-22, June 4-5, 18-19

ED-LTCY 548 Psycholinquistics & Literacy. June 11-12, 25-26, July 9-10

ED-LTCY 552 Technology & Literacy. July 16-17, 30-31, August 13-14

ED-LTCY 597 Read, Write & Present Poetry for Educators. July 12-15

ED-LTCY 497/597 Study & Explore Korea 2010. June 26-July10

EDBLESL 504 Comparative Language Studies: Applied Linguistics. M-Th July 19-29.  Viviana López, Connected to summer institute on Indigenous Pedagogy with guest speakers, one of whom may be Paulo Freire's widow Nita.

[Remember that you may not use more than 10 total credits for courses numbered 590, 594-598 to meet M. A. degree requirements.]

Application for Admission to Candidacy

This is a form that reports to the Graduate College Office the courses that you have taken and the courses you intend to take in order to complete your degree.  It mirrors your list of coursework on your Program Check Sheet, from which you should be able to simply copy.  (Do not include courses if the grade is lower than a C or P.)  This form allows the Grad Office staff to make sure that your plans will meet university and program degree requirements and you won't have any rude surprises at the end.  It also lets the Graduate College know how close you are getting to completion of your degree.  You may not schedule a final portfolio review or apply for graduation until this form has been turned in.  With this form and review you become a "Candidate" for graduation.

Complete and turn in the Admission to Candidacy application after you are into the second half of your course work, at the point when you are pretty sure which courses you will take to finish up.  After you have filled out the form, submit it to the Program Director (currently Bruce Robbins) for an approval signature.  Then the form must be submitted to the Graduate Admissions Office no later than the semester prior to the semester you expect to graduate.  You may find the form on the Graduate College website in the Forms section.   http://www.boisestate.edu/gradcoll/forms/form_grad_candidacy26.pdf

(For students who are planning to graduate in May 2010 the deadline is October 5, 2009.  For students who are planning to graduate in August 2010 the deadline is March 2010.  For students who are planning to graduate in December 2010 the deadline is July 2010.) 

You must submit the Admission to Candidacy form BEFORE you may apply for graduation.

The Culminating Portfolio

PORTFOLIO REQUIREMENTS for the M.A. for Teaching English Language Arts

The Culminating Portfolio should reflect the Purpose of the Program:  To improve teaching within the specific context of the teacher’s classroom and school.

Specifically:

• To think in more wide-awake and theoretically informed ways about teaching in the areas of teaching reading/literature, writing/composing, language, and an area of interest.

• To think more reflectively about classroom practice, learning from classroom events and from students how to teach more effectively

• To develop and use a wider repertoire (expanded toolbox) of teaching techniques in the areas of teaching reading/literature, writing/composing, language and an area of interest.

 PORTFOLIO PROCESS

You will create and collect portfolio contents over your whole course of study.  Some of the portfolio pieces may be created as course assignments.   The portfolio demonstrates your ongoing process of collecting your work, reflecting on it and analyzing it, and culminates in a capstone reflection, sharing, and celebration of your learning.

To assist in this ongoing process of reflection and demonstration of learning, you will:

1. Near the beginning of your program, meet with your advisor.  Identify your main interests and goals.

2. About halfway through your program, select a portfolio faculty committee.  The committee should consist of at least one English Education faculty member (Wilhelm, Robbins, or Fredricksen) and two other BSU faculty members of your choice.   You select one of these faculty members to be the committee chair, and that person also becomes your Advisor.  Turn in a form that lists your Supervisory Committee members to the Graduate College office http://www.boisestate.edu/gradcoll/0004.html .  You select and invite the faculty committee members, and together you set a committee meeting time.  During your meeting you share your progress and the portfolio materials your have collected so far.  (You might want to give your committee members some of your materials before the meeting.)  After your meeting, you inform the program director (currently it is Robbins) that you have met.  (Email is fine for this.)

3. During the semester when you expect to finish your course requirements, schedule another meeting with your committee.  This meeting should be shortly before your public presentation, which you will schedule through your committee chair advisor.  During your committee meeting you will discuss your entire portfolio and any additions or revisions the committee feels may be necessary for completion. 

4. At the end you will make a public presentation for which you select just one portion or project to share.  Pick something you believe should be interesting and useful to other teachers.  The presentation may be scheduled as part of a Night of Inquiry (Boise State Writing Project), conference presentation, or other approved venue.  A journal article is another option.

The 3 credits for the portfolio project include all four of the steps outlined above, but you enroll for Portfolio credit (ENGL 592) only during your final semester.  Credit will be awarded after a successful public presentation and your committee’s satisfaction that you have successfully completed all portfolio expectations.  Your committee members and you then sign and submit to the Graduate College the Culminating Activity Report, which can be found online http://www.boisestate.edu/gradcoll/0004.html . 

PORTFOLIO CONTENTS

Whenever it fits, the contents of the portfolio may be developed as assignments or artifacts you create for your course work and/or for your classroom.  The required categories of contents of the portfolio are listed below.  For your convenience, two versions of the Portfolio Contents are included here: first, the Portfolio Contents in brief list, followed by the Portfolio Contents with explanations, so scroll down for those.

Portfolio Contents—brief list:

1. Cover letter

2. Reflection from each class you have taken

3. Assignments that you developed as a result of coursework in the following areas:

1. teaching or reading strategies or literature/a literary work

2. teaching of language

3. teaching of writing/composing

4. teaching of correctness in writing/composing

5. teaching in a designated area of interest (e.g. reaching ELL students, technology, etc.)

6. a unit plan overview that incorporates various elements from the preceding items in this list

4. A case study of student growth in literacy

5. Three 15-minute video excerpts with written reflections:

• a whole class discussion

• small group work

• an area of interest

6.  Project

Portfolio Contents—with Explanations:

1.  Cover Letter

The cover letter describes the portfolio and announces what it documents about your accomplishments and demonstrates about your progress and growth as a teacher, general themes in your teaching trajectory, and where you intend to go next.  The items in the portfolio must be used as data points for your discussion about how you have grown through the program and how the program has served your larger goals as a teacher.   Identify the major themes of your work, and trace how your thinking and pedagogy have changed over time, where you plan to go next, and how you will pursue that.  The cover letter will probably be approximately 5 pages long and will serve as an introduction and guide for the reading of the portfolio.  (This will be the first item in your portfolio but the last item that you compose.) 

2.  Reflection from Each Class

A written reflection about each class you take in your degree program.  Explain how that course connects to and informs your personal teaching, and how you might use ideas from this course into your teaching.  (You should write these at the end of each class, while ideas are still fresh.)

3.  Assignments that you develop as a result of coursework in the following areas:

1. teaching or reading strategies or literature/a literary work

2. teaching of language

3. teaching of writing/composing

4. teaching of correctness in writing/composing

5. teaching in a designated area of interest (e.g. reaching ELL students, technology, etc.

6. a unit plan overview that incorporates various elements from the preceding items in this list.

Whenever possible, these should be lessons that you have created and taught.  Each assignment should demonstrate an explicit instructional intervention for a directly stated purpose, and should include student examples or other forms of data (e.g. teacher observations of the lesson) as well as your reflections upon that data. 

For each assignment, include: what you planned and did; an account of what happened, including students’ responses and what you think it shows; what you will or could do next to expand on this idea/technique in future teaching; how this assignment is connected to your teaching story/trajectory of your teaching growth; how the design of each assignment demonstrates an area of growth in the areas of subject matter, pedagogy, learners and learning.  Each reflection should be approximately 3-5 pages in length.

4.  Case Study of Student Growth in Literacy

A case study of student growth in literacy.  A focus on one or more of your students over a period of time (not less than a semester) in which you examine evidence of some kind of literacy growth and learning.  Case studies generally describe the student(s) and the learning context or circumstances (your classroom and instruction methods, for example); pose a question you have about the student’s/students’ literacy growth; and report the evidence or data you have collected and examined in order to answer your question.

5.  Three 15-minute Videos

Three 15-minute video excerpts relating to whole class discussion in the first, and small group work in the second.  The third can be in any area of interest pursued in through the program.  Include a reflection on each video: what did you do? How did it go? What do you notice? What does it show? What will or could you do next, or do differently, next time?

6.  Project

A special project that you create as part of your degree program work. This could be a teacher research project, a curriculum or unit development project, a special inquiry project you pursued in your classroom, etc. and should be negotiated with your advisor or committee.   The project may be represented by written paper of which you are exceptionally proud and that could be published in a professional journal for teachers.  Or it might be created in a mode suitable for a conference presentation or in-service professional development presentation (like Power Point), or another medium negotiated with the advisor.  This project should provide evidence of your academic/intellectual work in the areas of research and theory partly by references to the literature that pertains to the project.  The project should also evidence your ability to connect this theory to classroom teaching practice.  (Usually, this will be the part of the portfolio that students will share for the public presentation.)

NBPTS

Many of these Portfolio Requirements parallel the requirements for National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certification.   Those completing this program should therefore also be prepared to go up for national board certification.  Examples with direct connections to our portfolio are listed below.  For more details see the URL: http://www.nbpts.org/for_candidates/the_portfolio and click on “English Language Arts”

Entry 1

In the Adolescence and Young Adulthood/English Language Arts portfolio, the entry based on student work samples is “Entry 1: Analysis of Student Growth in Reading and Writing.” In this entry, you select four student work samples from two students. Two samples are responses to print and nonprint text, and two samples are responses to writing prompts. Your analysis of the submitted student responses will show how you support and analyze students’ growth and development as readers/interpreters of text and as writers. Besides the student work samples and Written Commentary, you provide the assignments/prompts as well as the rubrics or scoring criteria you used to evaluate the student work.

Entry 2

In the Adolescence and Young Adulthood/English Language Arts portfolio, there are two entries based on video evidence, one of which is “Entry 2: Instructional Analysis: Whole Class Discussion.” In this entry, you submit a 15-minute video recording to demonstrate teaching strategies that you use for whole class discussion in which the students engage with you and with each other in meaningful discourse about a topic, concept, or text related to English language arts. You also provide evidence of your ability to integrate English language arts strands and to describe, analyze, and reflect on your work. You also provide a Written Commentary analyzing the video recording, and instructional materials.

Entry 3

“Entry 3: Instructional Analysis: Small Groups” is the other Adolescence and Young Adulthood/English Language Arts entry based on video evidence. In this entry, you submit a 15-minute video recording to demonstrate the teaching strategies that you use for small group discussion in which the students engage with you and with each other in meaningful discourse about a topic, concept, or text related to English language arts. You also provide evidence of your ability to integrate English language arts strands and to describe, analyze, and reflect on your work. You also provide a Written Commentary analyzing the video recording, and instructional materials.  

Entry 4

In the Adolescence and Young Adulthood/English Language Arts portfolio, the entry based on documented accomplishments is “Entry 4: Documented Accomplishments: Contributions to Student Learning.” In this entry, you illustrate your partnerships with students’ families and community, and your development as a learner and collaborator with other professionals by submitting descriptions and documentation of your activities and accomplishments in those areas. Your description must make the connection between each accomplishment and its impact on student learning.  

Questions and Answers

Q: I have already taken some graduate courses.  May I use them in this degree program?

A: Possibly, if you have not used these credits to earn a different degree, if the credits come from an accredited college or university, if the course material has direct application to this program, and if the credits are relatively recent.  The maximum number of previous credits you may bring into this degree is 11.  When you apply for admission to the program, that is the time to request any credit for previous coursework that you think may apply.  The English Education faculty will meet to consider your request.

Q: Is it possible to simultaneously pursue two or more Masters degrees?

A: No.  As the Graduate Academic Regulations in the Graduate Catalog states, "A student at Boise State University may be enrolled in only one graduate program at a time," and courses used for one degree may not be used again for another degree.  However, "a student may be enrolled simultaneously in (1) a graduate degree program and a graduate certificate program or (2) two graduate certificate programs."

Q: What if I want to use a course in my degree program that is not listed on the Degree Requirements list?

A: Talk to your advisor and/or the Program Director about why you think the substitution makes sense.  If they agree, fill out a form called the "Request for Adjustment of Academic Requirements" available on the Graduate College web site, get the necessary signatures and submit the completed form to the Graduate Office.

Program Check Sheet

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