B.S.Ed. Middle Level Education
12:1
Student-to-faculty ratio
90%
Faculty with terminal degree
The transitional years between childhood and older adolescence are critical to a child’s development. As a middle level school teacher, you can be an important part of facilitating the transition from childhood to young adulthood. You can help your students delve more deeply into different subjects and, in the process, learn more about themselves and the world. In the middle level education program at Concordia University, Nebraska, you’ll gain a deep understanding of young adolescents and how they learn so you can deliver exciting, high-quality instructional experiences that resonate with your students.
The middle level education program at Concordia Nebraska connects theory with practice to prepare graduates to teach grades 5 through 9 in both self-contained and departmentalized classrooms. As a middle level education major, you will choose from among math, science, social sciences and language arts and have the opportunity to add a second subject from those or Spanish, physical education and ELL/ESL, allowing your passion for teaching to connect with your subject-area passions, which you can share with your students.
Concordia Nebraska offers both a stand-alone middle level program and a middle level endorsement within either elementary education or secondary education. In our program, you will gain exceptional knowledge about young adolescents and their developmental abilities in and out of the classroom. In addition to teaching in Christian, Lutheran or public schools, you will also have the opportunity to choose a career working with youth and families in varied non-school settings while still educating and shaping the minds of our future.
Make a difference in the lives of youth for years to come and help change the world with a degree in middle level education from Concordia!
Program Differentiators
Core Concepts
The middle level education program at Concordia University, Nebraska equips students with exceptional knowledge about young adolescents and their developmental abilities in and out of the classroom. The middle level program also helps students develop great teaching skills for both self-contained and departmentalized middle school environments so they can lead and share the Gospel in their future schools.
Testimonials
Everything we learn in our middle level education classes is relevant to what we'll be doing in the future. The classes are super engaging and hands-on.
Resource Articles
Concordia NebraskaMiddle Level Education: Learning Objectives
Students in the middle level education program at Concordia University, Nebraska will be able to analyze and apply middle level education learning principles, knowledge and teaching strategies.
Students will demonstrate an understanding of cognitive development of children and adolescents in middle level grades as it relates to students’ intellectual, social and personal growth.
Students will communicate middle level education principles effectively in oral communication, written materials and instructional technology.
Students will plan instruction based on knowledge of middle level education, students in the community and state performance standards.
Concordia NebraskaMiddle Level Education: Program Goals
Students will demonstrate essential knowledge of middle level school curriculum standards, specifically related to reading, writing, science, math and social studies.
Students will be able to successfully plan, implement and evaluate classroom differentiated instruction to effectively maximize middle level students’ learning potentials, including the use of differentiation, instructional technology and literacy.
Students will demonstrate comprehensive knowledge and skills for effectively assessing middle level school children’s learning in the classroom.
Students will continually improve their professional growth through the practice of inquiry and reflection as a middle level classroom teacher and leader.
Middle Level Education Faculty
As experts in middle level education, our faculty and instructors bring years of experience to the classroom.
Meet the facultyConcordia NebraskaMiddle Level Education: FAQs
Most people who earn a middle level education degree choose to become middle school teachers. That’s not the only option for your bachelor’s degree in education from Concordia Nebraska, however. As with most liberal arts degrees, your middle level education major can be incredibly flexible. With a master’s degree in middle level education, you might choose to work behind the scenes in school administration, curriculum design, school counselor or psychologist or education policy. There are also opportunities for careers as a youth organization director or museum educator.
Concordia Nebraska’s middle level education program includes a student teaching requirement in order to finish your degree. That ensures that you are fully prepared to deal with the types of situations and students you will encounter in a real-world middle level school classroom, while also offering you the support of professors who are the best in their field, as well as veteran teachers in the school where you student teach.
If you’re interested in international student teaching, Concordia Nebraska students have the opportunity to student teach at Lutheran or Christian international schools in places like Viet Nam, China, Ecuador, Slovakia and Australia. Concordia can also help you with summer internships and practicum experiences that fit your middle level childhood education interests.
Concordia also offers you the opportunity to gain valuable middle level education field experience outside of your student teaching in local schools, camps and as part of outreach programs. That exposure can give you additional chances to practice your educational skills and equips you to be a minister for the Gospel.
All students completing the middle level education program at Concordia University will apply for a Nebraska State Teaching License to begin their career in middle level education.
Although each state has different requirements for becoming a licensed teacher, middle level education teachers must pass a state certification exam after completing their bachelor’s degree in middle level education. Most certifications require a certain number of hours spent student teaching in classrooms, which you will be prepared for in your coursework at Concordia.
If you are a confirmed member of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and wish to use your middle level education degree as a rostered member of the teaching ministry, Concordia Nebraska can help you obtain a Lutheran Teacher Diploma, which will make you eligible for a Call to a Lutheran school.
If you would like to be able to teach middle level education in a Christian school that is not associated with the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, you may choose to receive a Christian Teacher Diploma, which will prepare you for your teaching ministry.
If you are interested in teaching in an International school, you also have the opportunity to earn an International Teaching Diploma to prepare you for teaching in an English-speaking school overseas.
Middle level teachers in a departmentalized setting often teach one subject, depending on the size of the school. For example, a seventh-grade science teacher may teach life science to six classes a day. Middle level teachers in a school with self-contained classrooms will teach a wide variety of subjects. Concordia Nebraska prepares you to teach in either setting and gives you opportunities for field experiences in both settings so you know which type of classroom you may prefer.
Depending on your school, you may also be expected to serve on committees, complete bus, lunch or hallway duties and act as mediators in student issues. You will also prepare lesson plans, record grades and administer standardized tests.
Because middle school is a pivotal time in children’s lives, you will also help to instill confidence, responsibility and other life skills in your students. This age group often spends more time at school than with parents, which means that school is a place in which useful life lessons can be shared within the context of teaching or simply in passing throughout the day. Most middle level teachers can tell which students are dating or arguing over something or struggling at home. Though it may not necessarily fall under your assigned duties, you will find that these aspects of being a middle school teacher are necessary. You will be a guide as well as an instructor.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average starting salary for a middle level teacher is $58,600. However, your starting salary as a middle school teacher will depend on your geographic location, the size of your school and whether you teach in a public or private school.
Concordia Nebraska Middle Level Education: Career Outcomes
Instructional Coordinator
Instructional coordinators develop curricula for school systems and help teachers develop new strategies and techniques. This career is good for someone who wants to continue to impact children's education but doesn’t want to teach in the classroom. As an instructional coordinator, you would develop educational materials and work to implement them with teachers and principals as well as assessing their effectiveness. To become an instructional coordinator, you would need to earn your masters degree.
School Counselor
School counselors assist students with any school-related issues they have including selecting classes, dealing with academic difficulties and social problems. As a school counselor, you would be responsible for helping students develop academic goals and deal with personal, social and behavioral issues. Concordia Nebraska’s master’s degree in school counseling can help you on your path to becoming a school counselor.
Middle School Teacher
Middle school teachers teach students in one or more subjects in public or private schools at the middle, intermediate, or junior high level. As a middle school teacher, you will create lesson plans, teach your subject and grade assignments. You may also be in charge of administering state tests.
Concordia NebraskaMiddle Level Education: Related Programs
Early Childhood Birth-3rd Grade Inclusive Education
The early childhood education program at Concordia University, Nebraska equips teacher candidates with a current and well-researched curriculum to help you teach children at a critical stage in their growth and development by creating an education program specific to their needs. In addition to adding the supplemental early childhood endorsement to an elementary teaching degree, Concordia Nebraska also offers a stand-alone, birth through third grade inclusive program.
Elementary Education
As an elementary educator, you are certified to teach children in kindergarten through sixth grade. You will typically spend the day with the same group of students, teaching them foundational skills in a wide variety of subjects. The liberal arts education you will receive at Concordia University, Nebraska, along with subject-specific methodology courses in the education department, will prepare you to be an outstanding elementary school teacher.
Christian Education Leadership
The Christian education leadership major from Concordia University, Nebraska can help you serve Christ’s church through education as a Director of Christian Education (DCE), youth or camp ministry leader, Christian teacher or as a national or international missionary by equipping you to bring Christian values and leadership to God’s people in a church or school.
Secondary Education
With a degree in secondary education from Concordia University, Nebraska, you will be equipped to teach grades 7-12, encouraging intellectual and emotional growth at a critical time in the lives of your students. You’ll engage in rich coursework, collaborate with faculty and gain invaluable experience first shadowing a professional teacher and then teaching in your own high school classroom.
1 Recent graduates attending graduate school or employed within six months of graduation.
2 Career salary and wages sourced from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.