Carolina Online Lateral Entry
Program of Studies
Overview
The COLE program is designed to provide all the courses a lateral entry teacher must take to receive a standard professional license, including core pedagogy courses subject specific teaching methods courses. Candidates also register for three consecutive sections of constructive coaching.
As part of the Individual Program Plan, many lateral entry teachers are also required to take one or more content courses that were not taken as part of the teacher's undergraduate major. The COLE program identifies these additional course requirements, if any, and supports the candidate in finding ways to take those courses.
Admission to the program required for all COLE courses. All courses are offered fully online. (Minimal technology requirements)
Individual Program Plan of Study (IPP)
Each candidate is given an Individual Program Plan of Study (IPP) detailing all core, methods and content coursework necessary for licensure as well as testing information and teaching evaluation. Lateral entry teachers are required to pass the Praxis II examination in their respective area of licensure.
Upon admission, transcripts will be reviewed by School of Education faculty members for compliance with competencies required for teaching each content area.
Core Courses
(3 courses - 9 credit hours)
These courses cover integrated content related to teaching in Middle and High School. The content is integrated to reflect the natural flow of teaching, therefore topics such as the following are all integrated in the three courses.
- working with English Language Learners
- teaching students with exceptionalities
- teaching content area reading skills and strategies
- knowing legal rights and responsibilities of teaching
- considering the diversity of learners in a classroom
- becoming an instructional leader in a classroom
| EDUC 532 | Effective Teaching: Understanding Students | 3 hrs |
| EDUC 533 | Effective Teaching: Diversity | 3 hrs |
| EDUC 535 | Teachers and Schools | 3 hrs |
Courses are typically offered once yearly on a rotating basis.
Methodology Courses
(3 courses - 6 credit hours)
The sequential methods courses focus on subject specific methods for teaching students. The courses begin in the second summer session and continue through the academic year. Participants beginning during the academic year may join the core courses, but will need to wait until the subsequent summer session to complete methodology courses.
The courses are interactive and engaging to situate learning about teaching in the regular day-to-day activities of a lateral entry teacher. These courses re-visit some of the topics of core courses from a content specific perspective. They also examine strategies for teaching particular concepts, developing skills to work with students, and attending to discipline specific issues (e.g. safety in science, manipulative use in mathematics).
Mathematics
| EDUC 540 | Mathematics Teaching | 2 hrs |
| EDUC 541 | Mathematics Problems for Instruction | 2 hrs |
| EDUC 542 | Planning for Mathematics Instruction | 2 hrs |
Science
| EDUC 550 | Science Teaching | 2 hrs |
| EDUC 551 | Designing Science Tasks | 2 hrs |
| EDUC 552 | Improving Science Instruction | 2 hrs |
Constructive Coaching Courses
(3 courses - 5 credit hours)
Constructive coaching is connected with the methodology course sequence. These courses are taken concurently with the methods courses beginning with the second methods course and culminates with a focused independent course. Thus the sequence is fall, spring and summer I.
The courses takes a closer more personal look at each individual’s pedagogy and systematically attempts to refine teaching around core areas. This process involves personal teaching analysis with the support of an experienced teacher (the methods instructor). Through a co-generative discussion, the lateral entry teacher works with the "coach" to improve specific targeted pedagogies.
| EDUC 555 | Constructive Coaching I: Starting Out Right | 1 hr |
| EDUC 556 | Constructive Coaching II: Effective Management of Student Behavior | 1 hr |
| EDUC 557 | Constructive Coaching III: Helping Students Learn | 3 hrs |
Sample Methodology & Constructive Coaching Sequence
| Sem. I Sum II |
Sem. II Fall |
Sem. III Spring |
Sem. IV Sum I |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Methodology (Mathematics) |
EDUC 540 | EDUC 541 | EDUC 542 | |
| Methodology (Science) |
EDUC 550 | EDUC 551 | EDUC 552 | |
| Constructive Coaching | EDUC 555 | EDUC 556 | EDUC 557 |
Content Area Coursework
N.C. Department of Public Instruction has granted the UNC School of Education the right to recommend students for licensure. As part of this agreement, the School of Education has agreed to assure the state that all candidates recommended for licensure will have the subject matter expertise in their field. With the help of experts in the field (faculty and staff at UNC) a list of content course requirements was generated to assure that candidates for licensure have met all state standards for subject matter expertise. This list of requirements is used to determine if and when candidates are required to take additional content courses.
Upon admission, the program coordinator or a faculty member reviews the candidate’s transcripts to identify courses that meet these requirements. Each applicant will receive as part of his or her IPP a listing of UNC content area courses that will be required prior to being recommended for licensure. Transfer courses from other institutions are acceptable; the program coordinator can review courses. It is the candidate’s responsibility to identify those courses and complete them. The program coordinator may assist in locating those courses, but ultimately these are the responsibility of the candidate.
Agreeing to the Plan
Once candidates receive their plan, they will be asked to review and sign the plan. This is an agreement that the candidate agrees to this plan and will follow it to complete licensure requirements. Once the plan signed, the candidate will be expected to complete that plan. Therefore, any questions about courses or transfer credit should be raised before signing the plan.
Grading Policy
COLE is a professional program with high expectations of all students. All courses are assigned grades according to The Graduate School Policy (The Graduate School Handbook, pg. 2.1) Graduate students enrolled in courses numbered 100 or above must receive one of the following grades:
H = High Pass
P = Pass
L = Low Pass
F = Fail
A graduate student becomes academically ineligible if he or she receives one grade of F or two grades of L.