The Department of Teaching and Learning offers a graduate program of study in curriculum and instruction, including choices of concentration in three Focus Areas: Subject Area, Instructional Level Area and Cross-Curricular Area.

The Department also cooperates with the Department of Administrative Leadership in the Specialist Certificate Program with an emphasis in reading. Under the auspices of the PhD program in Urban Education, the Department offers doctoral specializations in Curriculum and Instruction and in Mathematics Education.

 

Admission Requirements 

Application Deadlines

Application deadlines vary by program, please review the application deadline chart for specific programs. Other important dates and deadlines can be found by using the One Stop calendars.

Admission

An applicant must meet Graduate School requirements to be considered for admission to the program. Applicants must also complete the reason statement in the application.

Applicants may be admitted with specific program-defined course deficiencies provided that the deficiencies amount to no more than 6 credits.

The student is expected to satisfy deficiency requirements within three enrolled semesters. The deficiencies are monitored by the Graduate School and the individual graduate program unit. No course credits earned in making up deficiencies may be counted as program credits required for the degree.

Credits and Courses

The minimum degree requirement is 30 credits, including:

Select 12 credits in Curriculum and Instruction core areas
CURRINS 701Curriculum Planning and Ideologies3
CURRINS 705Research in Schools and Communities3
CURRINS 716Teaching in Urban & Diverse Communities1-4
CURRINS 714Analysis of Instruction to Improve Teaching and Learning3
or CURRINS 774 College Teaching
Select 12 to 15 credits in a focus area approved by the student’s major professor12-15
Select one of the following:3-6
Master's Seminar in Curriculum and Instruction (3 credits)
Master's Research or Thesis (3-6 credits)
Total Credits30

Cultures and Communities Education Concentration

Required Course
EDUC 882Multicultural Studies Practicum3
Focus Area Courses (minimum of 12 credits)
ANTHRO 540Applications of Anthropology3
SOCIOL 448Sociology of Children and Adolescents3
HIST 449Popular Culture in America, 1800 to the Present3
HIST 451History of Wisconsin3
ENGLISH 404Language, Power, and Identity3
ENGLISH 627Seminar in Literature and Culture:3
ENGLISH 631Seminar in African-American Literature:3
ED POL 560Education and Hispanics3
ED POL 610Reproduction of Minoritized Communities3
ED POL 620History of the Education of African Americans3
ED POL 621History of Native Education and Policy Development3
ED POL 625Race Relations in Education3
ED POL 705Sociology of Education and Community Engagement3
ED POL 823Multicultural Education3
CURRINS 505Collaborative Relationships with Families, Schools and Communities3
CURRINS 508Language and Urban Schooling3
CURRINS 542History and Politics of Second Language Education3
CURRINS 655Applied Educational Linguistics3
EDUC 881Action Research3
INFOST 670Instructional Technologies3

Additional Requirements

Major Professor as Advisor

The student must have a major professor to advise and supervise the student’s studies as specified in Graduate School regulations. A student who is not assigned to an advisor at time of admission should immediately contact the department chair. Students who have not completed a Proposed Program of Study form with their advisor and filed it with the Department by the end of the semester in which they are admitted may not be allowed to register for the next term.

Certifications

Graduate students seeking initial teacher certification or added certification(s) can arrange their master’s degree program so that a portion of the credits earned towards the master’s degree can also serve as partial fulfillment of teacher certification requirements.

Curriculum and Instruction MS Learning Outcomes

Students graduating from the Curriculum and Instruction MS program will be able to: 

  • Identify, apply, and critique various theoretical frameworks related to 1) curriculum, 2) historical and socio-cultural factors impacting schools and communities, and 3) research paradigms used in teaching and learning settings. 
  • Recognize and engage with pedagogical content knowledge in their subject area, which involves culturally, racially, and linguistically responsive/sustaining design decisions related to assessment, instruction, and curriculum. 
  • Bridge theory to practice in education settings. 
  • Demonstrate culturally, racially, and linguistically responsive/sustaining practices in research, pedagogy and educational policy at the national, state, and local levels.