The Department of Middle Grades, Secondary Education, and MAT Programs provides initial certification programs for undergraduate students who want to teach in public middle and high schools, as well as professionals in other disciplines who have degrees and would like to attain teacher certification and a graduate degree (Master of the Art of Teaching) at the same time.

At the undergraduate level students typically pursue intensive studies in two separate content disciplines and are immersed in research on effective classroom teaching for middle and secondary education. Extensive field experiences accompany all of their instructional methods classes. Prospective middle grade teachers have an academic advisor in this department, and prospective secondary teachers typically have two academic advisors, one in this department and one in the content discipline in which they plan to be certified.

Graduate students in MAT programs typically already have the necessary studies in the content areas, so they do most of their studies in the art and science of teaching, and do much of this work while actually serving as full-time classroom teachers in area schools (under the mentorship of professional teachers).

For more information about middle grades certification you can contact Dr. Karen Lafferty (k.lafferty@moreheadstate.edu); for secondary certification Dr. Lesia Lennex (l.lennex@moreheadstate.edu), and for MAT programs, Duane Lambert (d.lambert@moreheadstate.edu).