If you’re a busy professional and wondering if a Master of Education is worth pursuing, it may help you to learn about ways to specialize an online Master of Education degree. Going on for an advanced degree in education can provide you with numerous career options. You can expand your knowledge and move into a higher-level position within your current institution or choose an area of study that allows you to pursue something completely new, according to CBS News. There are quite a few choices when it comes to specializing a Master of Education degree (M.Ed.). Let’s take a look at a few.
Content Areas
The most common way to customize an advanced education degree is to choose what is known as a content area that provides you with additional information in your professional field. For example, if you are a high school teacher, you could pursue specialization in the subject you teach or another subject in order to expand your career options. A preschool teacher might specialize in early education. These content areas can help you in a few different ways.
Through a content specialization, you can gain advanced information about your subject matter and new insights into concepts such as teaching methods or classroom management geared specifically toward your particular career needs. This advanced learning will benefit your students, as well as increase your leadership and instructional opportunities. An M.Ed. geared toward a specific content area can make your more marketable for such positions as community college instructor, allowing you added job security.
Curriculum and Instruction
Curriculum and instruction is another way to specialize an online Master of Education. The concept of curriculum and instruction takes a broad look at the various ways to design curriculum to meet students’ needs in the classroom. Some of the topics you would learn in this concentration area include adoption of state standards, textbook evaluation and federal regulations surrounding teaching and testing procedures. Through this branch of education, you would be preparing to become a leader in the field knowledgeable in lesson plan oversight, staff development, educational technology innovations and methods for addressing common obstacles such as funding issues and declining student achievement.
Administration
If you want to take the idea of becoming an educational leader even further, a specialization in school administration might be just what you need. This concentration prepares students for roles such as assistant principal in most states. Through this path, you would gain the knowledge necessary to then pursue an administrative certificate program in order to become a principal. Going on to the doctorate level would enable you to work toward becoming a school superintendent. These positions carry a great deal of responsibility. Some of the tasks you would face include student discipline, school or district budgeting, parent concerns and curriculum decisions, among many others.
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These are just some of the options to consider. Deciding to specialize an Online Master of Education can provide you with a wealth of choices when it comes to advancing your career.
