Accelerated B.A./M.A.T. Program for Clark Undergraduates
The M.A.T. degree culminates a five year "accelerated degree" program for Clark students. The accelerated degree is available to highly qualified students, and includes a tuition-free fifth year.
The five year program includes courses in Clark's program of liberal studies, a liberal arts major, and a slow immersion in education courses and field work beginning in the senior year. Prior to their senior year, students take a foundational course in the program, Complexities of Urban Schooling. As seniors they take 2-3 courses that apply to the M.A.T., creating room for a concentrated full year internship in a partner school during the fifth year. The fifth year includes a set of summer courses, and an integration of several more courses with the full academic year internship—a scaffolded immersion approach. Students assume increasing teaching responsibility and complete a portfolio illustrating their development as teachers and the progress of their students as learners.
The program functions to provide a pool of strong beginning teachers for the district, although each year a good number of students are lured elsewhere by districts with shorter hiring timelines. Many recent graduates of the program have been hired in partner schools, with several now in a position to act as mentors for graduate students.