File a “plan of study” during the first semester after matriculation.

Complete prescribed course work and other requirements within five years after matriculation.

Remedy any deficiencies in the candidate’s undergraduate preparation in the subject area by early advisement with the Secondary Education advisor.

Maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better, with no more than two grades below B-.

Some programs also require successful performance on a comprehensive examination and/or another culminating project.

Applicants to the Master of Science in Education must meet the following criteria:

1. A 3.0 or better GPA in all undergraduate course work
2. A 3.0 or better GPA in an appropriate undergraduate major
3. Evidence of a valid 7-12 NYS teaching certificate. 
4. Applicants specializing in English must have completed 36 semester hours of English, exclusive of freshman composition. Additionally, students must submit a 10-15 page academic writing sample with their application.
5. Applicants specializing in Mathematics must have completed a minimum of 21 semester hours beyond Calculus II for a total of at least 36 semester hours in Mathematics.
6. Three academic or professional recommendations are required. At least two of your recommendations should be from professors with whom you have taken courses.
7. Applicants who graduated from college more than 5 years ago should make every effort to obtain such references and/or equivalent professional references (e.g. job supervisor). We will not accept references from friends or family members. 
8. Write an admissions essay responding to the following:
   1. Reflect on a time when your idea or belief was questioned or challenged.  Or, conversely, reflect on a time when your idea or belief was validated. What happened? In what way(s) could this time be considered a learning experience?
9. Submit one official transcript of all college course work.

Prospective students, who may have questions about the application process or the programs offered, may contact our Director of Graduate Admissions at (845) 257-3285 or gradadmissions@newpaltz.edu.

Late applications will be considered; however, enrollment is not guaranteed.

Adolescence Education Biology MSEd

Candidates who successfully complete all required components of the Adolescence Biology program at SUNY New Paltz will:

• Content Knowledge: Enhance content area through synthesizing scientific conceptual understandings with pedagogical practice and implementation.

• Planning:Be able to plan lessons in science that are NYSP-12SLS standards-based, are clear and organized, rely upon a variety of appropriate pedagogical practices, include appropriate technologies, and differentiate instruction that provides opportunities to promote appreciation of diversity, tolerance, and inclusion in safe, democratic, and equitable learning environments.

• Assessment and P-12 Learning: Be able to choose, design, and implement authentic and appropriate formative and summative assessments to evaluate student learning, consider assessment data when making instructional decisions, and identify effective or problematic teaching moments as they are occurring in order to facilitate student growth in specified content, cognitive skills, and/or social skills.

• Pedagogical Practice:Demonstrate the ability to maximize student learning by incorporating content with pedagogical knowledge, utilizing appropriate and effective technology, and implementing a variety of developmentally and contextually appropriate evidence-based instructional strategies to make learning meaningful and relevant for students while teaching.

• Dispositions: Exhibit the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary to practice an ethically informed and self-reflective philosophy, participate effectively in institutional change, and develop respectful relationships with students, families, communities and colleagues.

• Critical Thinking and Reasoning: Clearly articulate an issue or problem; identify, analyze, and evaluate ideas, data, and arguments as they engage in planning, assessing, and teaching; and acknowledge limitations such as perspective and bias as they develop well-reasoned arguments to form judgements and/or draw conclusions that support pedagogical decisions.

• Information Literacy: Locate appropriate resources effectively using appropriate tools; evaluate information with an awareness of authority, validity, and bias; and demonstrate an understanding of the ethical dimensions of information use, creation, and dissemination as they relate to the field of education.