TAL 601 Education Assessment and Accountability (3 credits)
Principles and classroom applications of educational measurement and assessment during an age of teacher accountability.
TAL 612 Building Positive Relationships in Inclusive Classrooms (3 credits)
Designed to assist general education teachers in meeting the needs of diverse students. Focus on students with disabilities, language and culture in the classroom, and developing culturally competent classroom management methods.
TAL 627 Understanding Culture in the Classroom (3 credits)
This course explores the conflicts and strategies for resolution between the patterns of culture in the classroom and the patterns of culture that school children bring to the classroom – patterns learned in their families and communities.
TAL 629 Educating Exceptional Students (3 credits)
A survey course in special education emphasizing characteristics and challenges associated with various categories of exceptional learners, as well as policy, issues, and trends in special education.
TAL 668 Development, Learning, and Schooling (3 credits)
Upon completion of this course, students will be familiar with the major theories about child development and learning and will be knowledgeable about their application to teaching and learning in the K-12 context.
TAL 634 Language and Reading Instruction (3 credits-Secondary)
Theories and methods of teaching reading to children and adolescents, including exceptional children in the regular classroom. Emphasis on applying findings from research in reading and writing to classroom practices.
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TAL 647 Language and Early Reading Instruction (3 credits-Elementary)
Factors related to emergent literacy with an emphasis on diverse aspects of language that influence literacy and learning; development of emergent literacy and word perception; examination of emergent literacy and word perception curriculum as well as appropriate assessment and instructional techniques. Emphasis on understanding of reading as a process of student engagement in fluent decoding of words and construction of meaning.
TAL 666 Introduction to the Politics of Education (3 credits)
Survey overview of political debates involving education as a nested and loosely coupled system where pressures at one level can be supported or countermanded at another. Historical and critical take on present-day debates. Depending on student interests, may go in-depth on topics such as economic politics, cultural politics, state and local control.
TAL 669 Teacher and Student Wellbeing in Education (3 credits)
The main thrust of this course is to link theory and research on personal, organizational, and collective well-being with educational success and school reform.
Methods for Teaching (3 credits)
Research-based instructional approaches for teaching, emphasizing the application of academic literacy development and instruction in content areas [Secondary English-TAL 661, Secondary STEM-TAL 654, or Secondary Social Studies-TAL 664, Elementary-TAL 665].
