The Department of Teacher Education and Administration at the University of North Texas offers a Master’s in Curriculum and Instruction that can help educators grow as campus and district leaders working toward more educational and equitable schools.
Graduate opportunities
Our Master’s of Education degree in Curriculum and Instruction will enhance your knowledge and expertise by combining theoretical perspectives and research-based practices. This degree can help educators grow as leaders who can advance more equitable and educational classrooms and school systems.
Our curriculum allows you to select a specialization from a wide range of areas related to curriculum and instruction, including:
- Bilingual Education — For those who would like to become leaders and gain more knowledge in the education of bi/multilingual learners and gain an understanding of the current sociopolitical context of Bilingual Education. Some courses are taught in Spanish.
- Diversity — For those who would like to gain a deeper understanding of the structural inequalities in education and how this impacts diverse learners and the need for curriculum and instruction that is responsive to learners.
- Early Childhood Education — For those who would like to explore progressive ideas within the field of early childhood education. Classes examine curriculum and early childhood programming from a critical perspective, considering children’s sociocultural identities and knowledges as starting points for curricular change.
- English as a Second Language (ESL) Education — For those who would like to become leaders and gain knowledge of equitable practices in the education of bi/multilingual learners in ESL K-12 contexts. Literacy Education — For those seeking a deeper understanding of reading, language and literacy education in diverse contexts. Some courses may lead to a supplemental certification as a Master Reading Teacher. Please contact your specialization advisor for more information.
- Literacy Education — For those seeking a deeper understanding of reading, language and literacy education, especially in diverse instructional settings
- Mathematics Education — For those who'd like to gain knowledge in mathematics education.
Other specializations include Instructional Technology and Social Studies. Additionally, it's possible to customize an area of specialization to your professional needs.
Outstanding student services
UNT provides a wide variety of services exclusively for graduate students. The Graduate Student Writing Support office can help you with writing, and the Center for Interdisciplinary Research offers assistance with statistical analyses.
The Toulouse Graduate School® offers several professional development workshops, including a Thesis Boot Camp. Many of the workshops are available online for your convenience.
Attending UNT
Application process
You should follow the application procedures detailed on the graduate school website and the departmental master's in Curriculum and Instruction program site.
Admission requirements
Admission requires applicants to apply first to the Toulouse Graduate School (TGS) and then to the master's program in Curriculum and Instruction. Applications which meet initial university admission standards are forwarded to the Curriculum and Instruction program for consideration by faculty. Decisions regarding admission are based on a holistic review of the information from all sources. Accepted students will receive letters of notification of acceptance into the program. They may then confer with their advisor to submit a degree plan, enroll in classes, order course books, and log in to UNT’s learning management system Canvas for class details.
- Toulouse Graduate School — Students should follow the application procedures detailed on both the website of the UNT Toulouse Graduate School (https://tgs.unt.edu/).
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Department of Teacher Education & Administration — Once applicants have met TGS admission requirements they must submit the following documents to Senior Administration Specialist Sharla Baker at sharla.baker@unt.edu:
- Grade Point Average (GPA): GPA of 2.88 overall or 3.0 in the final 60 hours at the baccalaureate level.
- Teaching Certificate or Equivalent: A valid Texas teaching certificate or equivalent, which may include teaching certificates from other states or requisite experience as verified by an administrator.
- Essay: a thoughtful, well-organized 2-3 page double-spaced essay on the applicant's personal philosophy of teaching, with concrete examples of that philosophy applied to the applicant's own teaching practices
- Letter of Intent: a letter of intent to pursue Master's studies in Curriculum and Instruction (details about the candidate, the degree being sought, and the reasons for seeking it
- Resume: a professional Curriculum Vita (CV) or resume
We welcome applicants whose conversational, reading, and writing skills in English are still emerging, but you should use the following information to ensure you can succeed:
- English Language Proficiency: UNT degree program applicants must demonstrate English Language Proficiency. The minimum TOEFL score requirement is 79 and the minimum IELTS score is 6.5. UNT-International provides a complete list of ways to demonstrate English language proficiency. If applicants do not meet these requirements, we encourage them to consider enrolling in UNT’s Intensive English Language Institute. Applicants must apply for IELI directly with UNT-International.
Additional information or questions can be directed to program facilitator, Dr. Daniel G. Krutka, Ph.D. at dan.krutka@unt.edu.
Degree requirements
- 12 credit hours of curriculum and instruction core courses
- 12 credit hours of specialization courses
- 6 credit hours of electives
- Oral comprehensive exam
The program aims to prepare its graduates to:
- Be able to justify instructional decisions in terms of relevant research and theory, curriculum and student needs.
- Become agents of change in school communities.
- Gain expertise and assume roles that strengthen the profession through mentoring, curriculum development, professional development, study groups and other means.
- Understand major theories of curriculum and instruction both within and beyond the state curriculum.
- Understand the relevance of research and theory in practice.
Specialization Advisors
Colleen Eddy, Associate Professor; Ed.D., Baylor University. Mathematics Education specialization.
Lauren Eutsler, Assistant Professor, Ph.D., University of Florida. Instructional Technology specialization.
Daniel G. Krutka, Associate Professor, Ph.D., University of Oklahoma. Social Studies Education specialization.
Karthigeyan Subramaniam, Associate Professor; Ph.D., University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. Science Education specialization.
Tran Templeton, Assistant Professor, Ed.D., Teachers College, Columbia University. Early Childhood Education specialization.
Amanda Vickery, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., University of Texas. Diversity Education.
Carol Wickstrom, Professor; Ph.D., Texas Woman’s University. Literacy Education.
Faculty
Rossana Ramirez Boyd, Senior Lecturer and Director of the Bilingual/ESL Teacher Certification Programs; Ph.D., Louisiana State University. Curriculum and instruction; foreign language education; bilingual education; English as a Second Language education; educational administration.
Dina C. Castro, Professor and Velma E. Schmidt Endowed Chair in Early Childhood Education; Ph.D., University of North Carolina. Quality and equity in early childhood care and education; bilingual development and early education policy and practice; global perspectives on early education in multilingual/multicultural societies.
Colleen Eddy, Associate Professor; Ed.D., Baylor University. Pre-and in-service mathematics education.
Lauren Eutsler, Assistant Professor, Ph.D., University of Florida. Using portable technology to support children's literacy development and training pre-service teachers to effectively use portable technology to motivate, enhance and improve children's literacy learning.
Ricardo Gonzalez-Carriedo, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Arizona State University. Education of bilingual/ bicultural students, including second language learning and literacy development.
Pamela Esprivalo Harrell, Professor, Ed.D., University of Houston. Topics of science teacher quality and science teacher effectiveness.
Kelley M. King, Associate Professor; Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin. History of education and the contested curriculum; civic and citizenship education; teaching and learning in global and online communities.
Dan G. Krutka, Assistant Professor, Ph.D., University of Oklahoma. Citizenship education and the role participatory media might play in cultivating more democratic educational experiences.
James D. Laney, Professor and Department Chair; Ed.D., University of California, Los Angeles. Generative teaching-learning theory; general social studies education; economic education; aging education; arts integration.
Chris Long,Assistant Professor. Ph.D., Curtin University. Middle school science education.
Karthigeyan Subramaniam, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. Elementary/middle/secondary science teacher education; educational technology; action research; pre-service teacher education.
Tran Templeton, Assistant Professor, Ed.D., Teachers College, Columbia University. The intersection of early childhood education, critical childhood studies and visual sociology.
Jeanne Tunks, Associate Professor, Ph.D., University of North Texas. The study of culturally relevant teaching practices in the International Teacher to Teacher Exchange program.
Carol Wickstrom, Professor; Ph.D., Texas Womans University. Pre-service teacher education; reflection; portfolio assessment; classroom discourse especially as it relates to pre-service teachers, reading/writing and mentoring.