Academic Programs

In response to the growing number of Georgia schools with Dual Language Immersion programs, the College of Education & Human Development’s Department of Early Childhood and Elementary Education offers two programs in Dual Language Immersion Education.

These programs engage students in comprehensive exploration, research and practice in elementary Dual Language Immersion education.

These programs develop highly prepared teachers who understand Dual Language Immersion education and are teacher-leaders in establishing learner-centered classrooms consistent with the standards of the Georgia Professional Standards Commission and the Interstate Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium.

The two programs are:

Master of Education in Elementary Education with a concentration in Dual Language Education
Dual Immersion Early Childhood Education Endorsement

Graduate courses in bilingual/English as a second language give teachers additional training to work with non-English speaking or limited English speaking students at the early childhood, middle childhood and secondary school levels.

ESOL endorsement

Successful completion of the coursework and portfolio demonstrating competencies established for English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) teachers by Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) results in candidates being endorsed to teach ESOL in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. Students must be admitted as graduate students to the College of Education & Human Development. Students who do not hold an initial certification in a teaching field may apply to the M.A.T. degree in reading, language and literacy education to receive initial certification in ESOL and a reading endorsement.

Online ESOL endorsement

Successful completion of the non-degree online ESOL endorsement coursework and a portfolio qualifies a person a person to teach ESOL in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. Students seeking only the non-degree online ESOL endorsement must be admitted to the College of Education & Human Development as a non-degree student. All courses in the non-degree online ESOL endorsement must be completed online. No other courses may apply.

The 15-hour online kindergarten through 5th-grade mathematics endorsement program prepares you to hold the Georgia Professional Standards Commission endorsement and may qualify you for salary incentives in your district when available.  The courses will develop your pedagogical content knowledge, mindset and instructional capabilities as an effective and equitable elementary mathematics teacher.

You will take four courses that focus on elementary mathematics content and pedagogy and one course that serves as a field placement where you will apply in your classroom the concepts covered with supportive feedback. All required courses are completed online. The K-5 mathematics endorsement can be completed as a stand-alone program or embedded in a graduate degree such as an M.Ed., Ed.D. or Ph.D.

You must hold a clear, renewable teaching certificate, level 4 or higher in one of the following areas: early childhood education, middle grades – mathematics or special education general curriculum/early childhood education. One year of teaching experience is required.

Online learning design is a high-demand field. Whether you want to learn how to develop multimedia assets or create e-Learning curriculum for your company, this 12-hour online graduate certificate in online learning design and development will make you career-ready.

Alumni are working in a wide variety of education, training and development areas, including the non-profit and military sectors.

The curriculum is centered on the competencies required to design, develop, facilitate and manage e-Learning programs. If you already work in the field, you will put the concepts to work right away in your job. Through a combination of classroom and practical activities, this program provides participants with the opportunity to design, produce and evaluate eLearning activities that make effective use of best practices and industry standards of development.

If you’re enrolled in a doctoral program at Georgia State, you’re eligible to study for a graduate certificate in Qualitative Research in Education. The program is for those interested in conducting research or gaining expertise in qualitative research.

To earn the certificate, you must complete a minimum of seven 3-credit-hour doctoral-level qualitative research methods courses with a collective GPA of 3.5 or higher in those courses, with no grade lower than a B in any course to be counted toward the certificate.

The Reading Endorsement qualifies an individual to be considered “in field” in reading at the level of the base certificate. Teachers pursuing the reading endorsement may be enrolled as non-degree students or may be enrolled in specific programs.

We offer graduate courses in literacy, which apply to Georgia’s Reading Endorsement for classroom teachers. These courses focus on three areas (a) understanding readers and the reading process, (b) linking assessment and instruction and (c) using instructional strategies in specific content areas.

Successful completion of the three courses and the portfolio qualifies a person for the bachelor’s, master’s or specialist endorsement, depending on the level of certification.

*We also offer a Reading Endorsement Online course of nine semester hours.

In our Department of Early Childhood and Elementary Education, courses in Reading Recovery and literacy are also offered.

To learn details about this program, visit the Urban Literacy Clinic.