National College of Education

Master of Education in Teaching, Learning, and Assessment

This degree is designed for educators who want to craft an optimal learning experience for each and every student, and to lead in their schools, districts, and other educational environments. Today's learners are ever more diverse in background, culture, and learning needs. At the same time, standardized assessment protocols provide only a single framework of evaluation on this diversity. National Louis University's Teaching, Learning and Assessment program prepares degree candidates to respond to these complex realities with a holistic approach to assessing learning needs, shaping effective curricula, and supporting student success.

Benefits

A graduate of this program will:

• Be a leader in differentiated learning - able to develop curriculum and instruction approaches that address social-emotional learning factors, learning styles, cultural and language backgrounds, and cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and developmental differences in multiple-needs general education classrooms. As teacher-leaders, graduates will also be prepared to help others in their schools to improve their own practices in differentiating learning.
• Be an expert in assessment - adroit in designing assessment approaches to drive effective teaching and learning in real-time ("formative" evaluation) as well as in making appropriate use of standardized testing. (expertise in the rapidly evolving uses of assessment is a growing area of demand in schools, districts, and other professional environments.)
• Be an accomplished action researcher - agile in applying techniques for observing, documenting, reflecting on, and refining the learning process to create continuous improvement in outcomes for students. Degree candidates complete a yearlong action research project based on real needs they perceive in their own classrooms; this capstone project can serve as the basis for thought leadership and training shared with the professional community.
• Be a "real-time" agent of improvement in the learning environment. Since the tla program is built around enabling candidates to actively address the pressing realities of their classrooms, candidates are able to apply new skills and techniques - and share them with others -to bring immediate value to their classrooms and schools.

Admission Requirements

The requirements for admission to the M.Ed. in Teaching, Learning, and Assessment program are the same as those specified in the catalog for candidates desiring admittance into all graduate programs in NLU's National College of Education-application, transcripts, previous masters degree or 385 or higher score on the Miller Analogies test, and a list of three references. Candidates seeking National Board Certification must meet additional requirements for NBC eligibility: they must have a minimum of three years teaching experience (and must be teaching while enrolled in the program).