Middle School Advanced Certificate Program Helps Fill an Important Need

by Cecil Harris

While job growth remains stagnant in many occupations, middle school teachers are in demand across America, labor analysts say.

The percentage of middle school teachers is expected to grow by 17 percent by the end of the decade, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. During the same period, the percentage of high school teachers is expected to grow by seven percent.

Clearly, a need exists for more teachers to educate students in grades 5–9—to help them build on the fundamentals they learned in elementary school and prepare them for the more challenging courses that will await them in high school.

Adelphi University’s Ruth S. Ammon School of Education is offering a new program this summer that is designed to help fill this important void.

The Middle School Advanced Certificate Program begins May 28 and runs through July 1 at Adelphi’s Manhattan Center. The program provides specific certification for teachers in grades 5–9 in New York State.

“We’ve really structured the program to fit the schedule of the teachers,” said Christopher Church, director of education at Manhattan Center. “Classes are in the late afternoon and begin in late May, so teachers from schools that are still in session can use some of the ideas they learn here in their own classrooms.”

An admissions open house will be held Wednesday, April 10, 2013 from 4:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. at Manhattan Center on 75 Varick Street.

Given the high academic standards established by the New York State Education Department, educators who earn the advanced certificate would enhance their opportunity to teach middle school students in other states as well.

Completing Adelphi’s Middle School Advanced Certificate Program would allow a candidate to teach middle school students if the candidate currently holds or is pursuing a master’s degree in biology, chemistry, earth science, English, mathematics, physics, world languages or social studies.

Also, a candidate certified to teach in grades 1–6 who has earned 30 credits in core subjects including social studies, biology, chemistry, English, mathematics, foreign language or physics would be authorized to teach in grades 7–9 in their specific discipline with the Middle School Advanced Certificate.

Since 80 percent of the course work is offered online, the program is accessible and convenient.

Adelphi’s Middle School Advanced Certificate Program totals 6 credits and consists of two courses: Visions and Practices of Middle School Education and The Middle Adolescent: Development Along the Continuum.

Middle school students are at a critical stage in their emotional and intellectual development. Habits are formed, good or bad, that can last a lifetime.

According to the National Education Association, 60 percent of American teens witness bullying in school once a day; and nearly 33 percent of students in grades 6–10 are affected by bullying in school; and boys identified as bullies in grades 6–9 have at least one criminal conviction by the age of 24.

In light of those statistics, Adelphi’s program is structured to help educators gain a deeper understanding of the developmental needs of the middle school student.

Those looking to make a positive impact on students in grades 5–9 can be certified in five weeks through Adelphi’s Middle School Advanced Certificate Program.