Graduate Studies Creative Initiatives in Teacher Education (CITE)

+ Overview and Mission
+ Program Structure
+ Key Program Components
+ Math Requirements
+ Admission Criteria and Application Procedures:
+ Contacts:
+ Minimum Credit Hour Requirement :

+ Overview and Mission
This program is a collaborative effort between Montgomery County Public Schools and the University of Maryland at College Park. It is a graduate program with successful completion resulting in a Master's in Education (M.Ed.) degree and a Maryland teaching certificate for grades 1-6 and middle school. CITE is two consecutive years consisting of two summers and four semesters. During the academic years, interns serve as instructional assistants in a Montgomery County elementary school and will also be attending classes in the late afternoon and early evening. The mission of the program:

* To attract and prepare talented support staff for classroom teaching positions in Montgomery County Public Schools
* To recruit a culturally diverse population of CITE interns and provide them with the knowledge and understanding to support an education that is multicultural for all students at the elementary level.

NOTE: Applicants to the CITE program MUST submit passing Praxis I scores as an admission requirement.

+ Program Structure
As with all teacher preparation programs at UMCP, CITE prepares reflective practitioners for a pluralistic society, through research-based inquiry. Students preparing to be teachers in the CITE program learn to be reflective, develop a broad repertoire of teaching skills, establish sound relationships with culturally diverse students and colleagues, and base their teaching practice on sound theory and research.

The structure of the program is built upon six knowledge areas: curriculum, learners, subject matter, pedagogy, social context, and educational goals and assessment. Within these areas, CITE weaves the following principles:

• Multicultural Philosophy and Education
• Higher Level Thinking Skills
• Research: Knowledge, Inquiry and Interpretation
• Reflection
• Challenging and Engaging Teaching Practices
• Team Building and Rapport with Others

+ Key Program Components

• Recruitment of instructional assistants, support staff and other professionals who want to become classroom teachers
• Opportunities for continued professional growth in a multicultural community
• Instruction delivered by staffs from the Montgomery County Public Schools and the University of Maryland at College Park
• Participation in teams with a coaching teacher, principal and UMCP faculty
• Participation in a cohort group with other CITE participants
• Opportunities to work with master teachers
• Opportunities for teaching in Montgomery County Public Schools

Course Requirements

EDCI 462 Reading in the Elementary School
EDCI 461 Materials for Creating Skilled and Motivated Readers
EDCI 691 Models of Teaching
EDCI 688 Special Topics in Curriculum and Instruction
EDCI 652 Mathematics in the Elementary School
EDCI 765 Process and Acquisition of Reading   
EDPS 601 Contemporary Social Issues in Education
EDCI 695 Teaching Science & Social Studies through Environmental Studies
EDCI 643 Teaching Language Arts in Elementary Schools
EDCI 698 Conducting Research on Teaching                       
EDCI 662 Diagnostic Reading Assessment and Instruction                
EDCI 689 Teaching Internship

Note: Initial screening of all applications is done by a team composed of staff from both Montgomery County Public Schools and the University of Maryland at College Park.

Math Requirements
Students applying for the CITE program in elementary education will need to have met certain math requirements. These requirements are to be fulfilled prior to enrollment in the mathematics methods course offered in these programs (EDCI 453 soon to become EDCI 652)

Math 212 - Elements of Numbers and Operations
Math 213 - Elements of Geometry and Measurements
Math 214 - Elements of Probability and Statistics

• If a student has credit for a college level calculus course (with a C - or better grade), then he/she will be waived from Math 212.
• If a student has credit for a college level geometry course* (with a C - or better grade), then he/she will be waived from Math 213.
• If a student has a college level statistics course (with a C - or better grade), then he/she will be waived from Math 214.

MATH 212, 213, and 214 are also available credit by exam (CBE) for Graduate students.

• Graduate students will pay the $30 credit by exam fee for each exam.

• Credits for the CBE will be posted onto the student's transcript.

• Students must arrange for CBE with the UM Mathematics Department, well in advance of announced testing dates. Visit http://www.math.umd.edu/undergraduate/credit/creditbyexam.shtml to learn more about CBE.

• Students must receive a grade of C - or better on the exam.

Students are encouraged to take courses equivalent to MATH 212, 213 and 214 at other institutions prior to the beginning of their program. These courses are generally those whose description indicates that they are for elementary education majors. Official transcripts will need to be forwarded to UMCP. A C - or better must be earned in the coursework.

________

* Analytic Geometry or Calculus with Analytic Geometry courses do not meet this requirement.

+ Admission Criteria and Application Procedures:

Candidates must be accepted by MCPS prior to applying for graduate admission at the University of Maryland.

Applicants must have:

• Acompleted bachelor's degree from an accredited college/university or an equivalent degree
• Three recommendations from supervisors and/or principals
• A detailed statement of purpose
• An undergraduate G.P.A. of 3.0 is desirable

Based on the initial screening, the selected applicants must then:

• Be interviewed by a team from Montgomery County Public Schools and the University of Maryland at College Park
• Complete an official graduate school application from the University of Maryland at College Park
• Present official transcripts from all undergraduate studies to the University of Maryland
• Forward test results from the Praxis I to the University of Maryland.

Final selection is based on all of the above.
This program is subject to continuation of funding by the University of Maryland at College Park, College of Education, and Montgomery County Public Schools.

For further information, please contact:
Dr. Russ Fazio
CITE Coordinator
Department of Staff Development
Montgomery County Public Schools
Upcounty Regional Services Center
12900 Middlebrook Road
Germantown, Maryland 20874

Russ_Fazio@mcps.md.org
(301) 353-1321

OR

Dr. Dianne Bradley
Department of Curriculum and Instruction
2311 Benjamin Building
College of Education
University of Maryland
College Park, Maryland 20742

Dianne_Bradley@mcpsmd.org

(301) 460-2510