• Applying to ETAP
  • Admissions Criteria
  • How to Apply
  • Application Deadlines
• Programs of Study
  • Early Childhood Education
  • Elementary Education
  • Middle Grades Education
  • Social Studies Education
  • Teacher Education
• About the Program
  • Overview
  • The Doctoral Chair and Committee
  • Residency
  • Academic Progress
  • Comprehensive Exams
  • Dissertation
• Doctoral Student Support
  • Departmental Assistantships
  • Financial Aid

Middle Grades Education

The PhD program in Middle Grades Education is now housed as an emphasis area within the Doctoral Program in Educational Theory and Practice (ETAP).  For students admitted before 2013 who have not changed to ETAP, see  “Ph.D. for Non-ETAP Students” for admissions, program of study and other program-related information.

This Ph.D. emphasis area focuses on the study of young adolescents and middle grades education within continually shifting institutional, socio-cultural, discursive, and political contexts; adult stakeholders who impact middle grades education (e.g., teachers, administrators, teacher educators, families, policymakers); teaching and learning of the content areas in the context of middle grades education (e.g., language & literacy, mathematics, science, & social studies); structure and organization of educational environments serving young adolescents (e.g., public and private schools, after-school programs, community-based organizations); middle grades school improvement efforts; and curriculum, pedagogy, policy, and social justice issues in middle grades education.

This emphasis area addresses the needs and challenges of middle grades education locally, nationally, and globally. Graduates of this emphasis area are prepared to offer different forms of intellectual leadership and advocacy in Middle Grades Education including research; teacher education and other teaching in higher education; and leadership positions in local, state, regional, national, or international institutions or agencies. These different forms of leadership are not mutually exclusive, but the relative emphasis given to each varies among students. Graduates with this emphasis have become educational researchers at both large and small universities and colleges, teacher educators, policy makers, instructional coaches, directors of professional development, and practicing teachers or administrators.

Required Courses. Three 3-credit courses from the following options:

• EDMS 9030: Young Adolescents and Schools
• EDMS 9080: Theory and Practice in Middle Grades Curriculum
• EDMS 9090: Socio-cultural Issues in Early Adolescence
• EDMS 9120: Comparative & International Perspectives in Middle Grades Education
• EDMS 9150: School Reform and Young Adolescents
• EDMS 91XX: Critical and Post-Structural Theories in Middle Grades Education
• EDMS 92XX: English Language Learners in Middle Grades Education

and

• EDMS 9140: Teaching Internship (1 credit)

4 elective courses (12 credits)

These courses may be selected from offerings either inside or outside the Department of Educational Theory and Practice. Examples of these elective courses include but are not limited to courses on anthropology, arts education, counseling, education law, educational policy, history, learning communities and professional development, philosophy, psychology, sociology, special education, subject area courses (e.g., language and literacy, mathematics education, science education, and social studies education), and supervision related to middle grades education.

Core faculty: Gayle Andrews, Cory Buxton, Denise Glynn, Ajay Sharma, Katherine Thompson