M.Ed. in Secondary Education

Not only does the Master of Education in Secondary Education program take a global view, the learning environment at HPU is also multi-cultural. Located in the center of the Pacific Rim, Honolulu is a cosmopolitan city with a busy, international community. This attracts a wide-range of learners and uniquely prepares you to teach in culturally diverse classrooms. In fact, HPU students come from all 50 states and more than 100 countries.

Graduate faculty at HPU are well-respected teachers and scholars in their respective fields. Because they come to HPU from all parts of the United States, they also bring a wealth of worldly experience to campus. You will find a deep commitment to utilizing educational technology tools at HPU, including access to online periodical databases, a digital portfolio-based web page assessment system, course web-page technology, and state-of-the-art wireless services and high tech classrooms.

The M.Ed. in Secondary Education is a portable degree, recognized in Hawai‘i and on the mainland. The curriculum is aligned with professional, state, and institutional standards. In addition, teacher candidates engage in 450 hours of clinical practice experiences in schools under the guidance of mentor teachers selected by school principals.

Students who complete the Master of Education in Secondary Education Program will:

1. Understand how learners grow and develop, recognizing that patterns of learning and development vary individually within and across the cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional, and physical areas, and designs and implements developmentally appropriate and challenging learning experiences.

2. Use understanding of individual differences and diverse cultures and communities to ensure inclusive learning environments that enable each learner to meet high standards.

3. Work with others to create environments that support individual and collaborative learning, and that encourage positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, and self-motivation.

4. Understand the central concepts, tools of inquiry, and structures of the discipline(s) he or she teaches and creates learning experiences that make the discipline accessible and meaningful for learners to assure mastery of the content.

5. Understand how to connect concepts and use differing perspectives to engage learners in critical thinking, creativity, and collaborative problem solving related to authentic local and global issues.

6. Understand and use multiple methods of assessment to engage learners in their own growth, to monitor learner progress, and to guide the teacher’s and learner’s decision making.

7. Plan instruction that support every student in meeting rigorous learning goals by drawing upon knowledge of content areas, curriculum, cross-disciplinary skills, and pedagogy, as well as knowledge of learners and the community context.

8. Understand and use a variety of instructional strategies to encourage learners to develop deep understanding of content areas and their connections, and to build skills to apply knowledge in meaningful ways.

9. Engages in ongoing professional learning and use evidence to continually evaluate their practice, particularly the effects of their choices and actions on others (learners, families, other professionals, and the community), and adapts practice to meet the needs of each learner.

10. Seeks appropriate leadership roles and opportunities to take responsibility for student learning, to collaborate with learners, families, colleagues, other school professionals, and community members to ensure learner growth, and to advance the profession.

• Application
• $55 Application Fee
• Interview
• Official Transcripts
• Prior to admission to the English, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, TESOL and World Languages concentrations, teacher candidates seeking licensure in secondary education must have attained:
  • A passing score on a licensure test adopted by the Hawai‘i Teacher Standards Bord in the content field; or
  • National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certification in the content field; or
  • A content major consisting of minimum of 30 credit hours in the content field for a bachelor's degree awarded by an accredited institution of higher education; or
  • A minimum of 30 credit hours in the content field from an accredited institution of higher education, at least 15 of which must be upper-division level; or
  • A master's, specialist, or doctoral degree in the license field awarded by an accredited institution of higher education.
• Resume
• Letters of recommendation (optional)
• Personal Statement (optional)

• Fall

Teacher candidates pursuing the Master of Education in Secondary Education must complete a minimum of 36 semester hours of graduate work.

To prepare for licensure in secondary education, teacher candidates must complete ten core seminar courses in secondary education and curriculum and two capstone clinical practice courses.  Prior to admission to the clinical practice courses, teacher candidates seeking licensure must have successfully passed the Praxis II Secondary Content Knowledge Test or equivalent profiency exam (World Languages only).

FALL TERM

SPRING TERM

SUMMER TERM 8A

SUMMER TERM 8B 

TOTAL:  36 credits

Effective Fall 2023:

Master of Education in Secondary Education