Five-Year Program in Social Studies Education (Certification: Teacher of Social Studies [K-12])

Benjamin Justice (848-932-0679; email: ben.justice@gse.rutgers.edu)

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Program Description: The five-year teacher education program in social studies education (K-12) leads to a bachelor's degree, a master's degree, and initial teacher certification. Rutgers undergraduates do preliminary coursework and field placements as assigned during the sophomore and junior years, are admitted to the program during the spring semester of the junior year, and enter the professional education sequence in the summer between junior and senior years. Students then qualify to have their bachelor's degree awarded by the undergraduate liberal arts college.

Students continue with the professional sequence the summer after graduation. They return in the fall to complete a student-teaching internship with related coursework and continue with full-time graduate study, including a field-based research project, in the spring. The Ed.M. degree is conferred upon the completion of all five-year program requirements.

After the master's degree is awarded, the GSE will make a recommendation to the New Jersey State Department of Education on behalf of the student to receive a CEAS as a teacher.

Education Requirements:

Pre-Admission Core Courses (6.5 credits)

05:300:200  Introduction to Education (3)

05:300:201  Introduction to Education Field-Based Lab - Clinical Experience (.5)

05:300:306  Introduction to Educational Psychology: Principles of Classroom Learning (3)

Social Studies Education (15 credits)

05:300:472  Materials, Methods, and Assessment in Social Studies (3)

15:257:560  Introduction to Social Studies Education (3)

15:257:561  Analysis of Social Studies Curricula (3)

15:257:562  Workshop in Social Studies Education (3)

Graduate-level elective in social studies education (3)

Common Professional Education Core (15 credits) 

05:300:450  Urban Education I (1.5)

05:300:451  Urban Education II (1.5)

05:300:452  Teaching Emerging Bilinguals in the K-12 Classroom I (1.5)

05:300:453  Teaching Emerging Bilinguals in the K-12 Classroom II (1.5)

15:255:534  Classroom Organization for the Inclusive and Special Classroom (3)

15:293:523  Inclusive Teaching in Education (3)

Choose one from the following:

15:255:539  Communities, Schools, and Social Justice (3)

15:253:540  Teaching English Language Learners (3)

05:300:406  Community-Based Language Learning (3)

Clinical Experience (19.5 credits)

05:300:498  Clinical Experience Phase 1 (.5)

05:300:499  Clinical Practice Phase 2 (4)

15:255:535  Clinical Practice Phase 3 (9)

15:255:536  Clinical Practice Seminar (6)

Major and Social Studies Distribution

Every candidate for certification in social studies education must complete a full major in one of the following: history, political science, economics, sociology, geography, anthropology, American studies, or area/gender/ethnic studies such as Africana studies, women's studies, Latino and Caribbean studies, etc. Students must include in their studies at least 30 credits of coursework in the five core content areas: American history/New Jersey history, world history, civics/government, economics, and geography; students must complete at least 15 credits in history, and at least one course in each of American history/New Jersey history, world history, civics/government, and geography. (Courses in the major may be used to fulfill these social studies distribution requirements. Courses can be used to fulfill both the 15-credit history requirement and the core content area distribution requirement.) Although it is not required, we strongly encourage all students to take an introductory-level economics course as well.