Master of Arts in Teaching with a concentration in Elementary Education (K-6) online
Accelerate your path to expert teaching with a program that empowers you to earn your master's degree, certification qualifications, and classroom experience in unison.
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Program Overview
Fill the demand for skilled educators with the online MAT Elementary Education program
$22,483.80
Total Tuition
As few as 18 months
Duration
36*
Credit Hours
Meet the requirements for obtaining your New Jersey teaching certification with the online Master of Arts in Teaching with a concentration in Elementary Education (K-6) from William Paterson University. This CAEP-accredited program features research-based literacy instruction aligned with NJSLS standards. Learn how to differentiate your lessons and assessments for students with diverse backgrounds and learning needs. Gain experience through an on-site clinical internship and refine your skills by implementing constructive critiques from our industry-leading faculty.
This traditional track is for candidates with a liberal arts bachelor's degree who wish to become teachers for students in grades K-6. WP’s robust network of faculty and alumni can boost your career opportunities.
As a graduate of this program, you will be able to:
- Demonstrate knowledge of learner development and diverse learning needs
- Plan differentiated instruction to address student learning needs
- Apply strategies to establish a positive learning environment
- Engage in culturally responsive educational practices with diverse learners
- Demonstrate knowledge of content, pedagogy, and resources for instruction in elementary classrooms
- Plan for research-based literacy instruction to support students’ development in phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, comprehension, and writing text for different purposes
- Plan for research-based mathematics instruction to support students’ development in problem-solving, mathematical reasoning, conceptual understanding, and procedural fluency
- Develop learning objectives and opportunities that align to learning standards
- Engage learners in inquiry-based learning and academic discourse
- Analyze and design learner assessments to support learning
- Develop success criteria based on learning objectives and engage learners in analyzing their development
- Use assessment data to inform instructional practices
- Reflect on and analyze teaching effectiveness
- Collaborate with families, colleagues, and the professional community
- Demonstrate professional ethics and dispositions
- Demonstrate knowledge of learner development and diverse learning needs
- Plan differentiated instruction to address student learning needs
- Apply strategies to establish a positive learning environment
- Engage in culturally responsive educational practices with diverse learners
- Demonstrate knowledge of content, pedagogy, and resources for instruction in elementary classrooms
- Plan for research-based literacy instruction to support students’ development in phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, comprehension, and writing text for different purposes
- Plan for research-based mathematics instruction to support students’ development in problem-solving, mathematical reasoning, conceptual understanding, and procedural fluency
- Develop learning objectives and opportunities that align to learning standards
- Engage learners in inquiry-based learning and academic discourse
- Analyze and design learner assessments to support learning
- Develop success criteria based on learning objectives and engage learners in analyzing their development
- Use assessment data to inform instructional practices
- Reflect on and analyze teaching effectiveness
- Collaborate with families, colleagues, and the professional community
- Demonstrate professional ethics and dispositions
Career opportunities:
- Elementary School Grade K-6 Teacher
- Elementary School Grade K-6 Teacher
Also available:
Already working as a teacher but still need your teaching credentials? Individuals who have a CE or Limited CE and are the teacher of record in a classroom should pursue our alternate route MAT in Elementary Education program.
$22,483.80
Total Tuition
As few as 18 months
Duration
36
Credit Hours
The College of Education at William Paterson University is accredited by the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP).
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Tuition
Create a budget for your online elementary education master’s program
Online education programs from William Paterson University offer affordable, pay-by-the-course tuition. All fees are included in the total tuition.
| Program | Per Credit Hour | Per Course | Per Program |
|---|---|---|---|
| MAT in Elementary Education | $624.55 | $1,873.65 | $22,483.80 |
Tuition breakdown:
$22,483.80
Total Tuition
$624.55
Per Credit Hour
Calendar
Use these program dates and deadlines to plan your educational journey
William Paterson University online programs are delivered in an accelerated format ideal for working professionals, conveniently featuring multiple start dates each year.
| Term | Start Date | App Deadline | Document Deadline | Registration Deadline | Tuition Deadline | Class End Date | Term Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall I | 9/8/25 | 8/17/25 | 8/20/25 | 8/29/25 | 9/3/25 | 10/26/25 | 7 weeks |
Now enrolling:
8/17/25
Apply Date
9/8/25
Class Starts
Have questions or need more information about our online programs?
Ready to take the rewarding path toward earning your degree online?
Admissions
The next steps for applying to the online MAT in Elementary Education program
At William Paterson University, we’ve streamlined the admission process to help you get started quickly and easily. Please read the requirements for the MAT in Elementary Education (K-6) program, including what additional materials you need and where you should send them. Review the Program Map to determine eligibility of this program in your state. Already working as a teacher? Individuals who have a CE or Limited CE and are the teacher of record in a classroom should consider our MAT in Elementary Education (K-6), Alternate Route program.
The requirements include:
- Bachelor’s degree
- GPA 3.0 or higher
- Passing score on the Praxis Subject Assessment
- Resume with contact information of two references
- Submit online application and $50 application fee
- Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university with a minimum of 60 credits in Liberal Arts
- Official transcripts from all colleges and universities attended
- Minimum undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or higher
- Passing score on the Praxis Core Academic Skills for Educators (basic skills requirements) test – Limited CEAS candidates only
- Passing score on the Praxis Subject Assessment aligned with the student’s desired area of teaching
- Resume with names and contact information of two references
Note: Admission is open to NJ residents as well as individuals who plan to become NJ-certified teachers and work in NJ schools.
Official transcripts and other documents should be sent from the granting institutions to:
Email address: [email protected]
Mail address:
Office of Graduate Admissions and Enrollment Services
William Paterson University
Morrison Hall 102
300 Pompton Road
Wayne, NJ 07470
Courses
Review details of the online Master of Arts in Teaching Elementary Education coursework
For the MAT in Elementary Education (K-6) online program, you must complete a total of 36 credit hours of core courses.
CMAT 5150: Educational Perspectives and Practices in Inclusive Environments
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This course provides a knowledge base in teacher dispositions, national and state standards, pedagogical content knowledge, and learning theory to provide the framework for lesson plan development, differentiated teaching strategies, family/school connections, learning environment, and classroom management. The influence of cultural, linguistic, and socio-economic diversity upon learning is explored, as are learner characteristics in the social, behavioral, and academic domains. The course will introduce planning, conducting, and assessing learning experiences. It will also cover Autism, Harassment, Intimidation, and Bullying (HIB), and Child Abuse Recognition.
CMAT 5200: Foundations of Literacy Development
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This course will introduce candidates to designing school curricula (goals, method, materials, and assessments) that are flexible enough to accommodate the individual learning needs of all learners within general education classrooms. Using the model of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), candidates will learn to develop curriculum, instruction, assessments, and classroom environments that are accessible and applicable to students, teachers, and parents with differing abilities, and cultural and linguistic backgrounds.
CMAT 5250: Methods of Teaching English Language Arts in the Elementary Classroom
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
In this course, Teacher Candidates explore methods for assessing learners, planning instruction, and appropriately incorporating technology to teach reading comprehension, writing, speaking, and listening to elementary students. The course includes an overview of selected research-based English language arts instructional approaches and models used in elementary classrooms. Teacher candidates study current research and theoretical rationales for different approaches and examine key components of literacy instruction in the different models. Methods to engage families in home-school literacy practices are included.
CMAT 5300: Interdisciplinary Literacy for Social Justice
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This course is designed for pre-service teacher-candidates who are working with or will be working with students in an elementary classroom setting. The course takes an interdisciplinary approach to literacy, focusing on content areas including social studies, science, and the arts. Students explore frameworks for understanding interlocking systems of social oppression, including race, ethnicity, gender identity and expression, disability, and others, as these systems relate to teaching and learning in today’s schools. Students actively practice pedagogical approaches that support social justice by developing, implementing, and analyzing curriculum and instruction through a social justice lens.
CMAT 5350: Mathematical Content Knowledge: Teaching Diverse Learners in the Elementary Grades
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
The purpose of this course is to develop teacher candidate competence in planning, conducting, and assessing mathematics learning experiences with children from kindergarten through sixth grade to ensure the success of all children in meeting the standards. The course makes use of relevant readings and video to show the experiences of diverse children to enable teachers to interpret children’s mathematical behavior in meaningful ways. Students explore assessment of, and remediation for difficulties in mathematics. It considers mathematical thinking as part of a developmental process and explores the use of mathematical practices in instruction. The content of the course follows the recommendations for the New Jersey Student Learning Standards, principles and standards for school mathematics developed by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, (NCTM, 2000, 2002, 2014).
CMAT 5400: Mathematics Pedagogy in the Elementary Classroom
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This course focuses on the understanding and application of learning and assessment of mathematics at the elementary school levels, according to the recommendations of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM, 2000, 2002, 2014) and New Jersey Learning Standards (2020). Strategies of teaching whole class and small groups hands-on problem solving and posing, integrating mathematics across and within the curriculum, technology applications in mathematics, analysis of current mathematics curriculums and standards, and applications of mathematics in the real world are explored in depth. Candidates’ knowledge, understanding, and application of elementary mathematics curriculum, standards, and technology are expanded by building the underlying mathematical conceptual knowledge of educators, exploring the integration of literacy skills in mathematics and in-depth analysis of student thinking and teacher decisions during planning, implementation and assessment.
CMAT 6330: Teaching, Schools and Communities
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This course exposes candidates to diverse approaches to teaching, technology, and learning across communities. Candidates will examine in-school factors (access to passive v. active technology tools; effective learning strategies; homework practices; and assessment norms) and out-of-school factors (communities funds of knowledge, community resources; and children’s activities, schedules and access to supplemental tutoring) across communities. Candidates will analyze how schools may support or counter theories of social reproduction for children from socio-economically and racially privileged/nonprivileged backgrounds. Similarly, candidates will identify specific culturally responsive practices that support students from diverse backgrounds and identities.
CMAT 6430: Research Across Schools and Communities
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
The purpose of this course is to provide a capstone to the Master of Arts in Teaching clinical experience through identifying, planning, and implementing a research project that improves teaching and learning. The course builds upon the initial reflection of effective and inclusive teaching, technology and assessment practices in CMAT 6220. The primary aim of the course is to learn the basic principles of research, identify problems that inhibit/enhance learning, research solutions, and suggest strategies to bring about change. Through an understanding of research methods, candidates will complete a research project related to their school setting with the goal of improving student outcomes.
EDUC 5110: Pre-Clinical Experience
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This course will consist of a combination of reflection on online teaching videos and a minimum of 50 hours in a face-to-face clinical experience in a school setting for students with disabilities.
EDUC 5450: K-6 Clinical Internship and Seminar 1
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This course is the first of two seminars which accompany the year-long Clinical Practice Internship. In their clinical placement internship, candidates work with an experienced teacher to develop professional knowledge, including identifying and meeting major goals in assessment, instruction, reflection and classroom management skills. Students are formally observed a minimum of four times during the semester by a University Supervisor. Teacher candidates will receive pre and post lesson feedback from the university supervisor and classroom teacher. They explore issues such as the context for learning, student factors, and characteristics of students with whom they work. Teacher candidates examine the procedures for identifying, assessing, and providing special education services for P-12 students with disabilities. They investigate methods for professional collaboration and co-teaching models which will allow them to support students with disabilities in classrooms. Seminar sessions are held online asynchronously using Blackboard technology.
EDUC 5500: K-6 Clinical Internship and Seminar 2
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This course is the second of two seminars which accompany the year-long Clinical Practice Internship. In their clinical placement internship, candidates work with an experienced teacher to develop professional knowledge, including identifying and meeting major goals in assessment, instruction, reflection and classroom management skills. Students are formally observed a minimum of seven times during the semester by a University Supervisor. Teacher candidates will receive pre and post lesson feedback from the university supervisor and classroom teacher. They explore issues such as the context for learning, student factors, and characteristics of students with whom they work. Teacher candidates examine the procedures for identifying, assessing, and providing special education services for P-12 students with disabilities. They investigate methods for professional collaboration and co-teaching models which will allow them to support students with disabilities in classrooms. Seminar sessions are held online asynchronously using Blackboard technology.
SPED 6430: Curriculum Design for All Learners
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This course will introduce candidates to designing school curricula (goals, method, materials, and assessments) that are flexible enough to accommodate the individual learning needs of all learners within general education classrooms. Using the model of Universal Design for Learning, candidates will learn to develop curriculum, instruction, assessments, and classroom environments that are accessible and applicable to students, teachers, and parents with differing abilities, and cultural and linguistic backgrounds.
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