The Master of Arts in Teaching in Middle Grades Education is a 30-32-credit-hour program (varies by state) designed to prepare and support middle school educators in the field. The program develops Relay students to become culturally responsive and inclusive educators through an intentional, yet flexible, pathway composed of Foundations courses, Middle Grades Education Content Pedagogy courses, Clinical Practice courses, and a selection of Flex courses.
 

In their Foundations courses, Relay students in the Middle Grades Education program will learn to establish culturally responsive and inclusive classrooms with specific inquiries into systems for instructional planning, teaching multilingual learners, teaching exceptional learners, and community engagement. 

Middle Grades Education Content Pedagogy courses integrate learning from Foundations courses with a focus on relationship building in the middle grades and content-specific instructional methods in literacy, math, science, and social studies. Relay students also develop systems for data-informed cycles of assessing, planning, teaching, and reflecting to meet the diverse needs of all students. 

The program culminates in a capstone project in which Relay students share findings from an action research project that explores a problem of practice in their classroom and advocacy for a practice that has a positive impact on their students’ academic growth, social-emotional development, and/or experience.
 

Academic Plans 

Relay’s programs are tailored to local contexts and are designed to meet educational requirements for educator certification/licensure in multiple states; therefore, academic plans for each program vary by state and clinical experience pathway (e.g., Resident/non-Resident). State- and program-specific academic plans for all program offerings described in this catalog may be accessed on the Academic Plans site.