Master of Education

Master of Education Programs are fully online and prepare licensed teachers in the areas of Educational Leadership & Supervision (PreK-Adult) or Reading Specialist (PreK-Adult). M.Ed. Programs are 36-hours, and are specifically designed for licensed or license eligible teachers. Coursework includes 12-hours of Professional Education coursework and 24 hours of content specialization coursework. Candidates must be employed in a K-12 school system prior to enrollment in the Master of Education Program capstone coursework.

Candidates who hold a masters degree from an accredited institution and teacher certification/licensure may be eligible to complete a certificate program in Educational Leadership and Supervision (18 hours) or Reading Specialist (24 hours). Certificate programs do not qualify for financial aid.

Candidates who hold a Multi-Categorical endorsement/certification may be eligible to enroll in Autism Endorsement coursework (6 hours). Autism Endorsement course offering is subject to enrollment/candidate interest, and available qualified faculty.

Licensed individuals may also choose to enroll as non-degree seeking students and take graduate courses for re-certification, to provide greater specialization within one’s field, or to assist in professional advancement.

The U.S. News and World Report Best Colleges ranked Concord University at #117 in Best Online Master’s in Education Programs for 2024. Additionally, Concord University ranked #1 in the state of West Virginia in this category.

All Master of Education candidates complete a program application. Admission to the M.Ed. program shall be based upon a careful consideration of the applicant’s total record including a baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited college or university, overall grade point average, letters of recommendation and disposition assessment.

A candidate may apply to the Master of Education Program, and be conditionally accepted. Conditionally accepted candidates can take nine (9) credit-hours of coursework before full admission requirements to the program must be met. Permission from the Director of Graduate Studies must be obtained to be conditionally enrolled in nine hours of graduate courses. Failure to complete all admission requirements after nine (9) hours of coursework will result in program dismissal, and administrative withdrawal from any additional graduate level coursework.

For acceptance into the Master of Education Program, candidates must meet the following requirements:

Master of Education Conditional Acceptance Requirements – must be met prior to enrollment any M.Ed. coursework (regular programs and/or certificate only programs):

  • Complete the Application for Admission, and submit the application fee
  • Submission of official undergraduate and graduate transcripts showing your degree and the date on which it was conferred. Transcripts from all attended institutions must be submitted. Transcripts must be mailed directly from your undergraduate or graduate insitution(s) to the Concord University Office of Graduate Studies. Concord alumni do not need to submit a transcript. However, if alumni have attended more than one institution, an official transcript must be sent from that institution to the Office of Graduate Studies.
  • Hold a baccalaureate degree with a minimum 2.50 Overall GPA from a regionally accredited institution.
  • Be licensed or license eligible to teach. A copy of professional licensure must be attached to the application.

Master of Education Full Acceptance Requirements – must be met prior to completion of 9th credit hour (regular programs and/or certificate only programs):

  • Provide 2 letters recommending admission into the program. One letter must be submitted by an individual who has supervised, evaluated, or observed the candidate in the classroom setting.
  • Completion of an Educational Leadership Disposition Assessment (EDLDA) by an M.Ed. Program faculty member during the first semester of coursework. Faculty member will be assigned by the Department of Education Graduate Studies Office. All M.Ed. Program candidates must have an EDLDA completed, this includes the Educational Leadership & Supervision, Reading Specialist and certificate only programs.

Graduate candidates must maintain an overall GPA of 3.0 or better throughout the program. Candidates whose GPA falls below a 3.0 will be placed on academic probation. In order to graduate from the M. Ed. Program an overall 3.0 GPA is required. Candidates who are placed on academic probation for two consecutive semesters will be removed from the graduate program due to academic deficiency. In addition, candidates must earn the minimum grade of “C” to successfully complete a course.

Clinical Experiences & Practicums

To afford graduates with authentic classroom and administrative experiences, all candidates will be required to complete clinical experiences/practicums associated with M.Ed. coursework. Candidates must submit a Clinical Experience Form at the beginning of each semester in order to be assigned a clinical experience. Candidates must complete all required hours and assessments by the end of each semester. Each candidate will be assigned a mentor which will serve as a classroom guide throughout their clinical experience/practicum. All Master of Education candidates will be required to purchase LiveText in order to successfully complete all field placement and internship/practicum evaluations, assessments, and time-logs.

Partner Schools

Concord University is involved in a collaborative with local public schools. The Partner Schools are designed to prepare future educators, to provide current educators with ongoing professional development, to encourage joint school-university faculty investigation of education-related issues, and to promote the learning of P-12 students. The Partner Schools, structured as a network that includes University and public school faculty, parents, and community partners, seek to improve teacher education and meet professional development needs and goals as identified by public school faculty. The partnership collaborative provides the bridges that connect Concord’s teacher education program to the daily instructional practices that occur in P-12 schools. The Partner Schools serve as clinical sites for teacher candidates to teach under the guidance of an expert mentor teacher. The clinical experiences allow faculty from Concord and the partnerships to collaborate extensively in providing quality experiences for all teacher candidates involved in the initiative. The public schools benefit from the expertise of the University faculty and the significant contributions the teacher candidates make to the school. The children in these schools benefit from the additional adult attention as well as from the enthusiasm and new learning strategies that teacher candidates often bring to the classroom as they prepare to become teachers.

​Candidates working toward the M.Ed. degree are advised that all phases of teacher education require cooperative efforts between Concord University, the public school system and other agencies. Candidates are subject to all policies, rules, and regulations of the county school system and placement school itself. A  placement may be rejected and/or terminated by the county, principal, mentor, Concord University or legal representatives of these agencies or schools if a candidate fails to meet the professional standards of the cooperating school, agency, or the University.

Graduate candidates must apply for graduation by downloading and submitting a Graduation Application. A graduation fee of $50 must be paid to the business office, and the graduation gown is to be ordered at the Concord University bookstore. Once the business office and bookstore have signed the application for graduation, it is to be submitted to the Registrar’s Office. A graduation audit will then be completed to ensure that all requirements for graduation have been met. Graduation requirements include completion of the 36 hour program with a 3.0 GPA within five years.

Objective A1: Content and Pedagogical Knowledge

The provider ensures that candidates for professional specialties develop an understanding of the critical concepts and principles of their discipline and facilitates candidates’ reflection of their personal biases to increase their understanding and practice of equity, diversity, and inclusion. The provider is intentional in the development of their curriculum for candidates to demonstrate their ability to effectively work with diverse P-12 students and their families

  • A1.1 Candidate Knowledge, Skills, and Professional Dispositions​ –Candidates for advanced preparation demonstrate their proficiencies to understand and apply knowledge and skills appropriate to their professional field of specialization so that learning and development opportunities for all P-12 are enhanced, through:
    • Applications of data literacy;
    • Use of research and understanding of qualitative, quantitative and/or mixed methods research methodologies;
    • Employment of data analysis and evidence to develop supportive, diverse, equitable, and inclusive school environments;
    • Leading and/or participating in collaborative activities with others such as peers, colleagues, teachers, administrators, community organizations, and parents;
    • Supporting appropriate applications of technology for their field of specialization;
    • Application of professional dispositions, laws and policies, codes of ethics and professional standards appropriate to their field of specialization.
  • A1.2 Provider Responsibilities Providers ensure that program completers have opportunities to learn and apply specialized content and discipline knowledge contained in approved state and/or national discipline-specific standards. These specialized standards include, but are not limited to, Specialized Professional Association (SPA) standards, individual state standards, standards of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, and standards of other accrediting bodies [e.g., Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP)]. Evidence of candidate content knowledge appropriate for the professional specialty should be documented.

Objective A2: Clinical Partnerships and Practice

The provider ensures that effective partnerships and high-quality clinical practice are central to preparation so that candidates develop the knowledge, skills, and professional dispositions appropriate for their professional specialty field.

  • A2.1 Partnerships for Clinical Preparation – Partners co-construct mutually beneficial P-12 school and community arrangements for clinical preparation and share responsibility for continuous improvement of candidate preparation..
  • A2.2 Clinical Experiences – The provider works with partners to design varied and developmental clinical experiences that allow opportunities for candidates to practice applications of content knowledge and skills that the courses and other experiences of the advanced preparation emphasize. The opportunities lead to appropriate culminating experiences in which candidates demonstrate their proficiencies, through problem-based tasks or research (e.g., qualitative, quantitative, mixed methods, action) that are characteristic of their professional specialization as detailed in component A1.1.

Objective A3: Candidate Quality and Selectivity

The provider demonstrates that the quality of advanced program candidates is an ongoing and intentional focus so that completers are prepared to perform effectively and can be recommended for certification where applicable.

  • A3.1 Recruitment – The provider presents goals and progress evidence for recruitment of high-quality candidates from a broad range of backgrounds and diverse populations that align with their mission. The provider demonstrates efforts to know and address community, state, national, regional, or local needs for hard-to-staff schools and shortage fields. The goals and evidence should address progress towards a candidate pool which reflects the diversity of America’s P-12 students.
  • A3.2 Candidates Demonstrate Academic Achievement and Ability to Complete Preparation Successfully​ – The provider sets admissions requirements for academic achievement, including CAEP minimum criteria (group average college GPA of 3.0 or group average performance in top 50th percent of those assessed on nationally normed assessment), the state’s minimum criteria, or graduate school minimum criteria, whichever is highest, and gathers data to monitor candidates from admission to completion.
  • A3.3 Monitoring and Supporting Candidate Progression The provider creates criteria for program progression and uses disaggregated data to monitor candidates’ advancement from admissions through completion. The provider ensures that knowledge of and progression through transition points are transparent to candidates. The provider plans and documents the need for candidate support, as identified in disaggregated data by race and ethnicity and such other categories as may be relevant for the EPP’s mission, so candidates meet milestones. The provider has a system for effectively maintaining records of candidate complaints, including complaints made to CAEP, and documents the resolution.
  • A3.4 Competency at Completion The provider ensures candidates possess academic competency to help facilitate learning with positive impacts on diverse P-12 student learning and development through application of content knowledge, data literacy and research-driven decision making, effective use of collaborative skills, and application of technology in the field(s) where certification is sought. Multiple measures are provided and data are disaggregated and analyzed based on race, ethnicity, and such other categories as may be relevant for the EPP’s mission.

Objective A4: Satisfaction with Preparation

The provider documents the satisfaction of its completers and their employers with the relevance and effectiveness of their preparation.​

  • A4.1 Satisfaction of Employers – The provider demonstrates that employers are satisfied with the completers’ preparation for their assigned responsibilities.
  • A4.2 Satisfaction of Completers The provider demonstrates that program completers perceive their preparation as relevant to the responsibilities they confront on the job, and their preparation was effective.

Objective A5: Quality Assurance System & Continuous Improvement

The provider maintains a quality assurance system that consists of valid data from multiple measures and supports continuous improvement that is sustained and evidence-based. The system is developed and maintained with input from internal and external stakeholders. The provider uses the results of inquiry and data collection to establish priorities, enhance program elements, and highlight innovations.

  • A5.1 Quality Assurance System​ – The provider has developed, implemented, and modified, as needed, a functioning quality assurance system that ensures a sustainable process to document operational effectiveness. This system documents how data enter the system, how data are reported and used in decision making, and how the outcomes of those decisions inform programmatic improvement.
  • A5.2 Data Quality​ – This provider’s quality assurance system from RA5.1 relies on relevant, verifiable, representative, cumulative, and actionable measures to ensure interpretations of data are valid and consistent.
  • A5.3 Stakeholder Involvement​ – The provider includes relevant internal (e.g., EPP administrators, faculty, staff, candidates) and external (e.g., alumni, practitioners, school and community partners, employers) stakeholders in the program design, evaluation, and continuous improvement processes.
  • A5.4 Continuous Improvement​ – The provider regularly, systematically, and continuously assesses performance against its goals and relevant standards, tracks results over time, documents modifications and/or innovations and their effects on EPP outcomes.

Objective A6: Fiscal and Administrative Capacity

The EPP has the fiscal and administrative capacity, faculty, infrastructure (facilities, equipment, and supplies) and other resources as appropriate to the scale of its operations and as necessary for the preparation of candidates to meet professional, state, and institutional standards. For EPPs whose institution is accredited by an accreditor recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education (e.g., SACSCOC, HLC), such accreditation will be considered sufficient evidence of compliance with Standard.6. If an EPP’s institution is not accredited by an accreditor recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education, the EPP must address each component of ST 6 in narrative supported by evidence.

  • A6.1 Fiscal Resources The EPP has the fiscal capacity as appropriate to the scale of its operations. The budget for curriculum, instruction, faculty, clinical work, scholarship, etc., supports high-quality work within the EPP and its school partners for the preparation of professional educators.
  • A6.2 Administrative Capacity The EPP has administrative capacity as appropriate to the scale of its operations, including leadership and authority to plan, deliver, and operate coherent programs of study so that their candidates are prepared to meet all standards. Academic calendars, catalogs, publications, grading policies, and advertising are current, accurate, and transparent.
  • A6.3 Faculty Resources The EPP has professional education faculty that have earned doctorates or equivalent P-12 teaching experience that qualifies them for their assignments. The EPP provides adequate resources and opportunities for professional development of faculty, including training in the use of technology.
  • A6.4 Infrastructure The EPP has adequate campus and school facilities, equipment, and supplies to support candidates in meeting standards. The infrastructure supports faculty and candidate use of information technology in instruction.