About

Do you have a passion for a subject area that you'd like to share with adolescents?

The Bachelor of Science in middle grades education program at East Carolina University is a great way to develop this aspect of your personality. Becoming a middle grades teacher allows you to gain expertise in two of your preferred areas of the curriculum (math, science, history, or English/language arts) and receive teacher licensure in grades 6–9.

As a student in the middle grades program, you will receive individualized attention from the expert faculty in the program as you work toward your degree. Throughout the program, your education will be offered through a blend of online and face-to-face settings. Your program culminates in a yearlong internship placement in a middle grades classroom. In the first semester, you will spend one day a week in your placement getting to know the students, teaching lessons and collaborating with the teacher. In the second semester, you will attend your internship every day and gradually pick up teaching responsibilities until you are teaching all day long. As a student intern, you will have the support of ECU faculty, the classroom teacher, and a university supervisor as you finish program requirements and prepare to enter the workforce.

ECU Advantage

East Carolina's middle grades education program is a nationally award-winning program in which pre-service teachers are prepared to teach adolescents who will become productive citizens in today's society. ECU faculty members have been called upon by organizations from around the country to present on the innovative methods used with teacher candidates in East Carolina's undergraduate middle grades education program.

ECU is the largest producer of new teachers in North Carolina. Our graduates are highly sought after and can be found working throughout the region and around the United States. Many graduates go on to earn master's degrees and become nationally board certified in their area of expertise.

What You Will Study

Program Coordinator: Jamin Carson (136 Speight Building; 252-328-5711; carsonj@ecu.edu)

A minimum GPA of 2.7 is required for admission to the program. Students must maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.7. A minimum grade of C (2.0) is required in each of the professional studies and specialty area courses for middle grades licensure.

The degree requires a minimum of 120 s.h. as follows:

1. General education requirements - 40 s.h.

(For information about courses that carry general education credit view the General Education Program section.)

Note: Some academic concentration courses may be double-counted towards the general education requirements. 

    2. Professional studies - 27-28 s.h.
    • EDTC 4001 - Technology in Education
    • EDUC 3200 - Foundations of American Education

    • EDUC 3002 - Introduction to Diversity OR
    • PSYC 2777 - Ethnocultural Psychology OR
    • SOCI 1010 - Race, Gender, Class

    • EDUC 4400 - Foundations of School Learning, Motivation, and Assessment OR
    • PSYC 4305 - Educational Psychology

    • MIDG 2123 - Early Experiences for the Prospective Teacher
    • MIDG 4324 - Internship in the Middle Grades
    • MIDG 4325 - Internship Seminar: Issues in Middle Grades Education

    • READ 3990 - Teaching Reading in the Content Areas in the Secondary School OR
    • READ 5317 - Adolescent Literacy in the Content Areas

    • SPED 4010 - Effective Instruction in Inclusive Classrooms
    3. Specialty area - 17 s.h.
    • MIDG 3005 - Curriculum I
    • MIDG 3010 - Curriculum II
    • MIDG 3011 - Instruction I
    • MIDG 3022 - Middle Grades Instruction II
    • MIDG 4001 - Organization, Management, and Motivation in the Middle Grades Classroom
    • MIDG 4010 - Instructional Evaluation in Middle Grades
    4. Academic concentration - 32*-48 s.h.

    Middle grades majors are required to complete two academic concentrations appropriate for licensure. A methods course is required for certification in each of the two academic concentrations leading to middle grades licensure. No substitutions for methods classes may be made without special middle grades program approval.

    Middle Grades education majors must have a minimum grade of C (2.0) in each of the concentration courses.

    *Some academic concentration courses may be double-counted towards the general education requirement.

      English (24 s.h.)
      • ENGL 2000 - Interpreting Literature

      • ENGL 2200 - Major American Writers OR
      • ENGL 3020 - History of American Literature to 1900

      • ENGL 3810 - Advanced Composition OR
      • ENED 3815 - Composition Instruction in Grades 9-12

      • ENGL 3950 - Literature for Children OR
      • LIBS 4950 - Literature for Children

      • ENED 4319 - Teaching English and Language Arts in the Middle Grades
      • ENED 4970 - Literature for the Younger Adolescent
      • LING 2710 - English Grammar
      • ENGL or LING elective over 2999
      General Science (24 s.h.)
      • BIOL 1050 - General Biology or higher approved BIOL course
      • CHEM 1120 - Introduction to Chemistry for the Allied Health Sciences or higher approved CHEM course
      • GEOL 1500 - Dynamic Earth or higher approved GEOL course
      • PHYS 1050 - Physics and the Environment or higher approved PHYS course
      • SCIE 3602 - Investigations in Physical Science
      • SCIE 3604 - Investigations in Life and Environmental Science
      • SCIE 3606 - Investigations in Earth and Space Science
      • SCIE 4319 - Teaching Science in the Middle Grades
      Mathematics (24 s.h.)
      • MATE 1267 - Functional Relationships
      • MATE 2700 - Applications in Statistics and Probability
      • MATE 2800 - Discrete Mathematics: Explorations and Applications
      • MATE 3067 - Algebra and Number Foundations
      • MATE 3300 - Foundations of Geometry
      • MATE 3367 - Mathematical Modeling
      • MATE 4319 - Teaching Mathematics in the Middle Grades
      • MATH 2119 - Elements of Calculus
      Social Studies (24 s.h.)
      • ECON 2113 - Principles of Microeconomics

      • GEOG 2100 - World Geography: Developed Regions OR
      • GEOG 2110 - World Geography: Less Developed Regions

      • HIED 4319 - Teaching Social Studies in the Middle Grades

      • HIST 1030 - World Civilizations to 1500 OR
      • HIST 1031 - World Civilizations Since 1500

      • HIST 1050 - American History to 1877
      • HIST 1051 - American History Since 1877

      • HIST 3100 - North Carolina History OR
      • MIDG 3200 - North Carolina History Standards Curriculum and Planning in the Middle Grades Classroom

      • POLS 1010 - National Government
    5. Electives to complete requirements for graduation.
      For more information about this degree visit the university's academic catalogs.
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