Schools and Teaching Programs

If you are a certified art teacher or even if you are not seeking teacher certification, Rhode Island College’s M.A. in art education program offers a rich professional development opportunity to further your growth. Your course of study will include art studio, art history and art education courses with leading art faculty, who place emphasis on the complementary relationships between artistic expression, academic inquiry and the teaching of art.

Rhode Island College is the only public education institution in the state to offer a graduate degree in art education. With its newly designed School of Education facility, featuring state-of-the-art classrooms, RIC continues to set the standard for excellence in preparing tomorrow’s practitioners to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

If you have completed at least 45 credit hours of art studio and art history courses, Rhode Island College’s M.A.T. program will prepare you for a teaching career in art education. Through this program, you will work closely with esteemed RIC faculty, who place emphasis on the complementary relationships between artistic expression, academic inquiry and the teaching of art. Upon successful completion of this program, you will be eligible for full certification to teach art in all grades (pre-K-12) in Rhode Island.

Rhode Island College is the only public education institution in the state to offer a graduate degree in art education that leads to teacher certification. As the state’s leading institution in teacher education, RIC is noted for its dedication to the best in personalized education and for preparing tomorrow’s teachers to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

Elevate your professional skills through Rhode Island College’s C.G.S. in autism education program. If you currently work with individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) or plan to do so in the future, this program will extend your knowledge, skills and capacity. You will gain a deeper understanding of the characteristics of ASD across the lifespan and the best practices to support people with autism. All program courses are aligned with the advanced Council for Exceptional Children’s standards and are taught by faculty with significant expertise in the field.

Rhode Island College is the state’s leading institution in teacher education, noted for its dedication to the best in personalized education, its commitment to equity and diversity and to building deep-rooted partnerships with community-based agencies. With its newly designed School of Education facility, featuring state-of-the-art classrooms, RIC continues to educate tomorrow’s teachers to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

Research shows that children are more successful in school and beyond if they are given a strong foundation in the earliest years of their lives. Through Rhode Island College’s M.Ed. in early childhood education program you will learn how children grow and develop from birth to age eight and use that knowledge to create learning environments and experiences that benefit children for life.

Rhode Island College is the state’s leading institution in teacher education, noted for its dedication to the best in personalized education, its commitment to equity and diversity and to building deep-rooted partnerships with community-based agencies. With its newly designed School of Education facility, featuring state-of-the-art classrooms, RIC continues to educate tomorrow’s teachers to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

The Early Childhood Special Education Certificate of Graduate Studies provides adult learners a fully online, flexible, affordable, and supportive path to Early Childhood and Early Childhood Special Education certification. Program candidates will receive individualized advising, academic planning and supports, as well as access to additional wrap-around supports candidates require to achieve ECE and ECSE certification.

Rhode Island College is currently the only institution in the state for working professionals to gain access to dual certification in early childhood and early childhood special education through a fully on-line competency-based educator program. 

Educators who are licensed to teach special education not only increase their employment opportunities, they increase their fulfillment by meeting the needs of all students in an inclusive classroom. From simple improvements to huge leaps, the impact a special education teacher has on a child can truly be life-changing. At Rhode Island College, we offer an intensive one-year M.Ed. program that leads to licensure in early childhood special education. If you are a practicing early childhood teacher or teacher candidate, you are eligible to apply.

Rhode Island College is the state’s leading institution in teacher education, noted for its dedication to the best in personalized education, its commitment to equity and diversity and to building deep-rooted partnerships with community-based agencies. With its newly designed School of Education facility, featuring state-of-the-art classrooms, RIC continues to educate tomorrow’s teachers to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

If you have a liberal arts background and are interested in teaching elementary school, Rhode Island College’s M.A.T. program is a great pathway to a teaching career. Rhode Island College is noted for providing the highest level of teacher preparation and a wide variety of field experiences with diverse populations of students. Moreover, our faculty are dynamic educators and scholars with significant expertise in the field. Upon successful completion of this program, you will be eligible for full certification to teach elementary education (grades 1-6) in Rhode Island.

Rhode Island College is the state’s leading institution in teacher education, noted for its dedication to the best in personalized education, its commitment to equity and diversity and to building deep-rooted partnerships with community-based agencies. With its newly designed School of Education facility, featuring state-of-the-art classrooms, RIC continues to educate tomorrow’s teachers to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

In school systems across the country, there has been an increased demand for teachers in the challenging and richly rewarding field of special education. The C.G.S. in elementary or secondary special education offers you an accelerated path to licensure as an elementary (grades 1-6) or secondary (grades 7-12) special education teacher. Program courses are led by faculty with significant expertise in the field and coursework is offered both synchronously and asynchronously to accommodate those who work full time. You will leave prepared for field work and clinical practice, inclusive settings and settings with multilingual learners.

Rhode Island College is the state’s leading institution in teacher education, noted for its dedication to the best in personalized education, its commitment to equity and diversity and to building deep-rooted partnerships with community-based agencies. With its newly designed School of Education facility, featuring state-of-the-art classrooms, RIC continues to educate tomorrow’s teachers to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

In school systems across the country, there has been an increased demand for teachers in the challenging and richly rewarding field of special education. The M.Ed. in elementary or secondary special education results in licensure as an elementary (grades 1-6) or secondary (grades 7-12) special education teacher. Program courses are led by faculty with significant expertise in the field and coursework is offered both synchronously and asynchronously to accommodate those who work full time. You will leave prepared for field work and clinical practice, inclusive settings and settings with multilingual learners.

Rhode Island College is the state’s leading institution in teacher education, noted for its dedication to the best in personalized education, its commitment to equity and diversity and to building deep-rooted partnerships with community-based agencies. With its newly designed School of Education facility, featuring state-of-the-art classrooms, RIC continues to educate tomorrow’s teachers to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

Become a leader in public and community health education and school health promotion with an M.Ed. in health education. At RIC, you learn will from expert faculty – leading researchers in their fields – to design, implement and evaluate health education and promotion initiatives; address local, state, national and global health needs; and support healthy outcomes, with emphasis on health equity and social justice. What’s more, you can earn your M.Ed. while working full time. Upon successful completion of this program, you will be prepared to sit for the Certified Health Education Specialist exam.

Rhode Island College is the state’s leading institution in teacher education, noted for its dedication to the best in personalized education, its commitment to equity and diversity and to building deep-rooted partnerships with community-based agencies. With its newly designed School of Education facility, featuring state-of-the-art classrooms, RIC continues to educate tomorrow’s teachers to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

Rhode Island College presents their re-created M.Ed. in Reading program based-on the Science of Reading and Structured Literacy. The redesigned curriculum teaches practitioners to use Tier 2 and 3 reading interventions and to track students’ growth using newly available MTSS protocols and data analysis. Through Rhode Island College’s M.Ed. in Reading program, candidates learn how to recognize dyslexia and how to instruct students with this diagnosis and other reading difficulties.  The majority of reading difficulties can be prevented or remediated. “The evidence suggests that if we employ best practice, very few children will experience reading failure” (Moats, 2003). In a world where a student’s low reading skill has a life-long negative impact, the work of a reading specialist is critical. 

Rhode Island College is the state’s leading institution in teacher education, noted for its dedication to the best in personalized education, its commitment to equity and diversity and to building deep-rooted partnerships with community-based agencies. With its newly designed School of Education facility featuring state-of-the-art classrooms, RIC continues to educate tomorrow’s teachers to meet the challenges of the 21st century. 

If you are a middle level educator, you can expand your existing professional skills and develop new ones through Rhode Island College’s C.G.S. in middle level education. Through this advanced course of study, you will focus on how to cultivate and sustain a more just and equitable world through your curriculum and critically reflective practice. Using your own classroom as the site of inquiry or a placement in a middle school setting, you will ultimately improve your teaching practice and the educational experiences of middle school students.

Rhode Island College is the state’s leading institution in teacher education, noted for its dedication to the best in personalized education, its commitment to equity and diversity and to building deep-rooted partnerships with community-based agencies. With its newly designed School of Education facility, featuring state-of-the-art classrooms, RIC continues to educate tomorrow’s teachers to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

If you hold a bachelor's degree in music (or the credit-hour equivalent), Rhode Island College’s M.A.T. in music education program will prepare you for a teaching career. Your course of study will include instruction in K-12 teaching methods; assessment; classroom research; and the history, philosophy and psychology of music education. In addition to clinical experiences in public school music classrooms, this program will culminate in a semester of full-time student teaching. Upon successful completion of this program, you will be eligible for full certification to teach music in all grades (Pre-K-12) in Rhode Island.

RIC’s music education program features prominent performers, scholars, educators and conductors, including clinical experiences mentored by the area’s most accomplished public school music teachers. Since its founding in 1854, RIC remains the state’s leading institution in teacher education, noted for its dedication to the best in personalized education, its commitment to equity and diversity and to building deep-rooted partnerships with community-based agencies.

The Ph.D. in education is offered jointly by Rhode Island College and the University of Rhode Island. This cooperative program, which draws on the resources of two strong institutions, has been designed for the crucial mission of preparing leaders of effective, research-based educational reform.

If you hold a bachelor’s degree and have majored in or completed a substantial amount of coursework in one of the following areas: mathematics, biology, chemistry, English, general science, history, physics, Portuguese, social studies or Spanish, you may pursue secondary education teaching certification in that area through the RITE (Rhode Island Teacher Education) program – a nondegree, postbaccalaureate program. For the first year of the two-year program, you can take day or evening classes. Extensive field experiences provide early immersion in the classroom. Upon successful completion of this program, you will be eligible for full certification to teach grades 9-12 in Rhode Island.

Rhode Island College is the state’s leading institution in teacher education, noted for its dedication to the best in personalized education, its commitment to equity and diversity and to building deep-rooted partnerships with community-based agencies. With its newly designed School of Education facility, featuring state-of-the-art classrooms, RIC continues to educate tomorrow’s teachers to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

Earn an M.A. degree in counseling and a C.A.G.S. in school psychology in just three years through Rhode Island College’s M.A./C.A.G.S. program. This combined plan of study prepares you to provide a range of psychological and educational services to support the academic, behavioral and social-emotional health of children and families in the school community. RIC’s unique partnerships with outstanding field-based supervisors provide you with high-quality training experiences. With only 10-14 students admitted to the program a year, you will develop strong connections with faculty and your peers.

Rhode Island College has the only school psychology program in the state approved with distinction by the Rhode Island Department of Education and boasts an exceptionally high employment rate for its graduates. Since its founding in 1854, RIC has been noted for its dedication to the best in personalized education, its commitment to equity and diversity and to building deep-rooted partnerships with community-based agencies.

If you have already completed your bachelor’s degree in English or a related field, Rhode Island College will prepare you for a teaching career in English at the secondary education level. Our faculty are dynamic educators and scholars, and we cultivate teachers as writers and inquirers. Upon successful completion of this program, you will be eligible for full certification to teach English in grades 9-12 in Rhode Island. You will also be eligible to pursue endorsement in English as a second language or special education.

Rhode Island College is the state’s leading institution in teacher education, noted for its dedication to the best in personalized education, its commitment to equity and diversity and to building deep-rooted partnerships with community-based agencies. With its newly designed School of Education facility, featuring state-of-the-art classrooms, RIC continues to educate tomorrow’s teachers to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

If you have already completed your bachelor’s degree in mathematics or a related field, Rhode Island College will prepare you for a teaching career in mathematics at the secondary education level. Our faculty are dynamic educators and scholars with expertise in integrating STEM, Common Core standards and other best practices into the classroom. Your coursework will be supplemented by field experiences. Upon successful completion of this program, you will be eligible for full certification to teach mathematics in grades 9-12 in Rhode Island. You will also be eligible to pursue endorsement in English as a second language or special education.

Rhode Island College is the state’s premier higher education institution for training mathematics teachers. Our graduates are in demand in Rhode Island and throughout the region and many have been awarded for excellence in teaching mathematics at the local, regional and national levels. Since its founding in 1854, Rhode Island College remains the state’s leading institution in teacher education.

If you are already a Rhode Island certified teacher in mild/moderate disabilities, Rhode island College provides an accelerated path to certification in severe intellectual disabilities, thereby increasing your job opportunities. Through the C.G.S. program, you will be taught the unique learning needs of the severe intellectual disabilities population by faculty with significant expertise in the field. Our faculty are noted for offering the most advanced, evidence-based practices and for maintaining strong relationships with practicing teachers in both public and private schools who support students with severe intellectual disabilities.

Rhode Island College is the state’s leading institution in teacher education, noted for its dedication to the best in personalized education, its commitment to equity and diversity and to building deep-rooted partnerships with community-based agencies. With its newly designed School of Education facility, featuring state-of-the-art classrooms, RIC continues to educate tomorrow’s teachers to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

If you are already a certified special education teacher, Rhode Island College’s M.Ed. in exceptional learning needs will allow you to add value to your organization and advance your teaching career. This program is led by faculty with significant expertise in the field and courses are aligned with the advanced Council for Exceptional Children’s standards. To apply, you must hold Rhode Island certification in special education or be eligible for Rhode Island certification if you hold a valid special education license from another state.

Rhode Island College is the state’s leading institution in teacher education, noted for its dedication to the best in personalized education, its commitment to equity and diversity and to building deep-rooted partnerships with community-based agencies. With its newly designed School of Education facility, featuring state-of-the-art classrooms, RIC continues to educate tomorrow’s teachers to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

If you are certified to teach early childhood, elementary or secondary education or can demonstrate concurrent enrollment in one of these teacher preparation programs, you are eligible to enroll in the M.Ed. program in severe intellectual disabilities. You will be taught the unique learning needs of this population by faculty with significant expertise in the field. Our faculty offer the most advanced, evidence-based practices and maintain strong relationships with practicing teachers in both public and private schools who support students with severe intellectual disabilities.

Rhode Island College is the state’s leading institution in teacher education, noted for its dedication to the best in personalized education, its commitment to equity and diversity and to building deep-rooted partnerships with community-based agencies. With its newly designed School of Education facility, featuring state-of-the-art classrooms, RIC continues to educate tomorrow’s teachers to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

Rhode Island College’s M.Ed. in urban multicultural special education is one of the few well-established programs in the nation that focuses on preparing special education teachers to work with multilingual learners. This program is designed for practicing K-12 special education teachers who work with multilingual learners and for teacher candidates in RIC’s B.S. in elementary special education program who wish to work with multilingual exceptional children. Program participants will explore the unique needs of culturally and linguistically diverse students with disabilities and apply theory in their field experiences.

Rhode Island College is the state’s leading institution in teacher education, noted for its dedication to the best in personalized education, its commitment to equity and diversity and to building deep-rooted partnerships with community-based agencies. With its newly designed School of Education facility, featuring state-of-the-art classrooms, RIC continues to educate tomorrow’s teachers to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

Emergent bilinguals are the fastest growing population in Rhode Island schools, creating an ever-increasing need for ESL teachers. RIC’s combined M.Ed./C.G.S. program in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages prepares certified teachers and teacher candidates to work with emergent bilinguals of all ages in both ESL classrooms and bilingual dual language classrooms. Moreover, if you are a bilingual teacher candidate, you can earn both ESL and bilingual dual language certification. Work in Rhode Island or anywhere in the world where students of all ages are learning English as an additional language.

Rhode Island College is the state’s leading institution in teacher education, noted for its dedication to the best in personalized education, its commitment to equity and diversity and to building deep-rooted partnerships with community-based agencies. With its newly designed School of Education facility, featuring state-of-the-art classrooms, RIC continues to educate tomorrow’s teachers to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

Emergent bilinguals are the fastest growing population in Rhode Island schools, creating an ever-increasing need for ESOL teachers. RIC’s C.G.S. program in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages with a concentration in bilingual education prepares certified teachers and teacher candidates to work with emergent bilinguals of all ages in both ESOL classrooms and bilingual dual language classrooms. Moreover, if you are a bilingual teacher candidate, you can earn both ESOL and bilingual dual language certification. Work in Rhode Island or anywhere in the world where students of all ages are learning English as an additional language.

Rhode Island College is the state’s leading institution in teacher education, noted for its dedication to the best in personalized education, its commitment to equity and diversity and to building deep-rooted partnerships with community-based agencies. With its newly designed School of Education facility, featuring state-of-the-art classrooms, RIC continues to educate tomorrow’s teachers to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

If you have a strong undergraduate background in French, Portuguese or Spanish, the M.A.T. in world languages education will prepare you for a teaching career at all levels of instruction. Along with coursework, you will engage with local language communities through multiple field placements in K-12 and community-based settings. You will also have many opportunities to learn and practice advocacy for language education at the local, state and national levels. Upon successful completion of this program, you will be eligible for full certification to teach world languages in all grades (Pre-K-12) in Rhode Island.

Rhode Island College is the state’s leading institution in teacher education, noted for its dedication to the best in personalized education, its commitment to equity and diversity and to building deep-rooted partnerships with community-based agencies. With its newly designed School of Education facility, featuring state-of-the-art classrooms, RIC continues to educate tomorrow’s teachers to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

Rhode Island College’s M.A. in youth development program is the first of its kind in New England. Designed for early and mid-career professional youth workers, this advanced degree program equips you with the knowledge and skills you need to lead, design, research and innovate in youth settings. Emphasis is on social justice, culturally relevant care and experiential learning. Coursework includes field experiences that provide opportunities to learn from and lead Rhode Island’s vibrant youth development community.

Rhode Island College is the only educational institution in the region with a graduate program that prepares professional youth workers. With its newly designed School of Education facility, featuring state-of-the-art classrooms, RIC continues to set the standard for excellence in preparing tomorrow’s practitioners to meet the challenges of the 21st century.