Middle School Education

Meet Your Major

At Merrimack College, as an education major concentrating in middle school education (5-8), you’ll gain the expertise, skills, and confidence to teach middle school students.

Approved by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, our programs provide you with the training required to earn your state teaching license in middle school education. Bonus? Through hands-on learning opportunities, you’ll develop your education philosophy, create a portfolio and hone your classroom management skills.

Elementary age Hispanic, African American, and Caucasian little girls are building a small robot

In the middle-school education program, you will:

  • Deepen your understanding of how young students develop and learn.
  • Gain practical skills that will help you prepare students for a successful transition to high school.
  • Build your subject matter expertise by choosing from a wide variety of electives across departments.

Hands-On Learning 

100% of education majors participate in at least one practicum. You’ll gain invaluable classroom experience during your pre-practicum and practicum student-teaching. It’s your chance to take what you’ve learned at Merrimack and apply it at one of the many schools in the area.

Career Options

Upon successful completion of the education program, you’ll be well-equipped to pursue a career in education. Positions may include:

  • English, math, social studies or science teacher
  • General studies teacher in grades 5-8
  • Guidance counselor
  • Reading, math or science tutor
  • School administrator 

What You’ll Take

All education majors concentrating in middle school education (5-8) take teacher education courses to satisfy requirements. Of the 124 credits required for your degree, you must complete 44 credits of teacher education courses in addition to a semester of student teaching.

All students in the middle school/high school Teacher Education Program must also have a content area as a second major and choose the particular licensure area and the grade level in which they ultimately want to teach. This will become your concentration.

  • Math (5-8, 8-12)
  • Biology (8-12)
  • Chemistry (8-12)
  • English (5-12)
  • History (5-12)
  • Physics (8-12)

You must have a minimum of a 3.00 GPA in your required courses prior to entering your student-teaching semester. To graduate with a degree in middle school education and teach in Massachusetts, you must also pass the MTELs.

Required Courses

All middle school education majors must complete the following teaching and education courses:

EDU 2110Foundations and Principles of Education
HDE 2230Applied Adolescent Development
EDU 2410The Exceptional Learner
EDU 2500Pre-Practicum I
EDU 2510Pre-Practicum II
EDU 2520Pre-Practicum III
EDU 3210        Psychology of Learning and Assessment
EDU 3380Organization and Curriculum of the Middle School
EDU 3420Instructional Method and Technology for Middle and Secondary Education
EDU 4040Reading in the Content Areas:
EDU 4050Special Methods for the Middle Schools
EDU 4220Differentiation and Inclusion
EDU 4221Strategies for Group Management 
EDU 4582Sheltered English Instruction
EDU 4901Practicum — Middle School Education (and Seminar) 

Sample Curriculum Guide

Wondering when you’ll take certain courses? Use the Curriculum Guide—a sample four-year schedule—to get a sense of what your path to graduation looks like.