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Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership, Master of Arts (M.A.) - Urban Education Specialization

Minority and Urban Education is a group of faculty, students, and staff who are committed to improving opportunities and equity for children whose lives are marginalized at the intersections of race, linguistic diversity, gender, ethnicity, and social class through our research, teaching, and practice. Applying a social justice framework, we examine how broad social and political contexts impact urban teachers, students, families, and communities in various settings and seek strategies for community empowerment and transformation.

This program is specifically designed to provide graduate students with a broad base of knowledge about the education of minorities and of students in urban areas. This includes such issues as the social and political context of urban schools, the practices and policies that govern urban teaching, and the education of ethnic, racial, cultural and language minorities in all settings. To that end, the unit is designed to provide an explicit focus on the scope of issues confronting minority students in urban and other contexts. Opportunities for graduate students and faculty to form long-lasting relationships with school leaders and community educators and activists involved with the Maryland Institute for Minority Achievement and Urban Education (MIMAUE) also exist. Both faculty and students actively participate in conferences, colloquia, research projects, fellowships and other grants available through the Institute. The field of Minority & Urban Education necessarily incorporates perspectives from a variety of fields such as Sociology, Urban Planning, Political Science, Educational Policy and Leadership as well as Science, Math and Literacy. As such, students are encouraged to develop a cognate in a related area of study.

The Minority & Urban Education specialization prepares M.A.-non-thesis students to work as educators, curriculum specialists, researchers and teacher educators in schools and universities in urban school districts and districts with large minority populations.

For information on the graduate admissions process please visit https://gradschool.umd.edu/education/edtl.

Please refer to the Guide to Applying  for instructions on how to apply for graduate admission. If you have questions or concerns, we ask you to first review our list of  Frequently Asked Questions

For questions about the application process, or to check on the completion of your application please contact the TLPL Coordinator of Graduate Studies, by email: tlpl-admissions@umd.edu or phone: (301) 405-3118.

INFORMATION SESSION about our Ph.D. and M.A. programs will be held on October 13, 2023, by zoom. Please email Kay Moon (kmoon@umd.edu) to receive updates.

For questions related to the admissions process, prospective students may contact tlpl-admissions@umd.edu

For academic advising on the MA program in Minority and Urban Education, please contact Dr. Tara Brown at tmbrown@umd.edu

For TLPL advising information, the Coordinator of Graduate Studies, Kay Moon, at kmoon@umd.edu.  

Financial assistance for graduate study is generally divided into two categories: 

  • Merit-Based Assistance Need-Based Assistance  
    • Fellowships and Scholarships Loans  
    • Graduate Assistantships 

For more details about the various types of financial assistance offered by the campus please visit the Office of Student Financial Aid 

There are also a number of fellowships and scholarships offered through the College of Education, the University, and through external sources which may provide tuition support and/or living allowance. Students must apply for these awards on their own, but the links that follow provide valuable information on searching for fellowships and scholarships. 

For more information concerning fellowships and scholarships, please visit: 

The College of Education Financial Aid & Scholarship webpage

The University's Scholarships webpage

The Graduate School Student Fellowships & Awards webpage

M.A Requirements applicable to all specializations are here. Note the flexibility; even if certain courses are suggested for your specialization, you can make substitutions with your advisor's approval.

Program Benchmarks/Requirements

 

Minority and Urban Education, MA non-thesis only

Minimum of 30 Credit Hours of Master’s Study (non-thesis only)

Credit Hours

Core

TLPL 788 W:  Special Topics in Education: M.A. Core: Research Methodologies and Educational Practice (Required of all M.A. students.)  

3

Specialization Credits

TLPL 774: Urban Education

TLPL 675: Embracing Diversity in Classroom Communities

TLPL 770: Black and Latino Education: History and Policy

TLPL 788 F: Special Topics in Education: School Exclusion: Policy, Practice, and Prevention

TLPL 788 O: Selected Topics in Teacher Education: Critical Race Theory

TLPL 788 X: Selected Topics in Teacher Education: Race, Whiteness, and Identify

12

Research

 

Suggested Courses: 

TLPL 698: Conducting Research on Teaching (for practicing classroom teachers only)

TLPL 788 I: Selected Topics in Teacher Education: Literacy for Quantitative Methods

TLPL 788 G: Statistical Literacy

3

Electives

Electives may be taken with advisor approval from the following departments:  Teaching & Learning, Policy & Leadership, African American Studies, Education Policy Studies, Urban Studies and Planning, Women’s Studies, or other departments relevant to the student’s concentration. 

Suggested Courses:

  • TLPL 677: Reframing Teacher Professionalism: Achieving Teacher Leadership (strongly recommended)
  • TLPL 671: Education Policy Analysis
  • TLPL 683: Educational Sociology
  • TLPL 767: Law, Equity, and Diversity in Education
  • EDHI 662: Research on Ethnic Minorities and Demographic Trends in Higher Education
  • TLPL 657: Teaching for Cross-Cultural Communication
  • AASP 499: Advanced Topics in Public Policy and the Black Community: Reducing  Black-White Achievement Gaps
  • AASP 443: Blacks and the Law
  • AASP 499N: Advanced Topics in Public Policy and the Black Community; Gentrification: The Evolution of Urban Neighborhoods
  • AASP 499T: Advanced Topics in Public Policy and the Black Community; Race, Poverty, Violence, and the Juvenile Justice System: A Theoretical and Contextual Analysis of Social Capital
  • WMST 611: Power, Gender & the Spectrum of Difference
  • SOCY 424: Sociology of Race Relations
  • SOCY 498T: Selected Topics in Sociology: Black Middle Class
  • URSP 688X: Recent Developments in Urban Studies: Planning, Policy, and Public Education
  • WMST 498L: Advanced Special Topics in Women's Studies: Latina Women and Families
  • WMST 618: Feminist Pedagogy

9

 

 

 

 

 

Capstone (Seminar Paper)

TLPL 798: Special Problems in Education with advisor approval

3

Minimum Credits

 

30

Graduate Education Program Requirements

For questions related to the admissions process, prospective students may contact Kay Moon, the TLPL Graduate Coordinator, at kmoon@umd.edu.

For program-specific questions about the Minority and Urban Education program students may contact Dr. Tara Brown at tmbrown@umd.edu.

Deadlines vary by degree and program.  Please refer to the Graduate School's application information.

CATALOG AND POLICIES

Graduate students in the College of Education are responsible for meeting University and the Graduate School policy, and for meeting Program requirements.  See the Graduate Catalog and Graduate Policies governing graduate education at the University of Maryland. The schedule adjustment policy is available from the Office of the Registrar and provides information on adding and dropping courses, penalties, and refund schedule.

FORMS

Graduate students are required to submit various forms at specific points in the program and as part of the degree clearance process. Please refer to Steps Toward Graduation to determine the steps and forms that are required. To access forms used by graduate students visit the Graduate Studies Forms page in Student Services.