Program Quickview
All of the master's degree programs described below prepare candidates for NYS initial and professional teaching certification in Adolescence Education (Grades 7-12) as a Specialist in Mathematics and are offered at the graduate level only.
- A minimum of 30 credits of coursework in mathematics, including a two-course calculus sequence.
- Undergraduate degree in a liberal art (BA) or science (BS).
- Meets All Coursework and Internship Requirements for BOTH Initial and Professional NYS Teaching Certification: In addition, you will need to pass the required state exams and complete the teaching requirements for professional certification.
- Shortest Program: Preservice teachers can complete the program in 15 months of full-time study (if starting in summer); certified teachers seeking additional certification in math may require less time.
- Focus on Math Education: Includes three courses as well as internships (taken concurrently with math methods courses) that are specific to mathematics teaching and learning.
- Focus on Teaching ALL Students: Includes courses on diversity, students with disabilities, and English language learners (ELLs); these required courses may be transferred in for certified teachers.
- Preparing for Technology-Rich Schools: Includes hybrid-online coursework in technology-rich teaching; options to take some courses online to experience this learning modality.
- Option to Add Specializations: With only a few additional credits required, you can pursue additional NYS certifications or advanced certificates that can strengthen your effectiveness with diverse learners and make you more marketable; see Opportunities for Additional Specializations.
Warner Programs that Prepare Math Teachers
- MS Program (TM3): 39 credits, including field experiences and two student teaching experiences.
- MAT Program (TM4): 51 credits; same requirements as above plus 12 additional credits of graduate courses in mathematics.

- NYS Extension to Teach Math in Grades 5-6: Qualifies you to teach your subject with younger children.
- NYS Certification in Teaching Students with Disabilities in Adolescence: Prepares you to better serve students with differentiated learning needs while qualifying you to teach in inclusive classes.
- NYS Certification in TESOL: Prepares you to better serve English language learners in your classes and qualifies you to teach ESOL courses.
- Advanced Certificate in Digitally-Rich Teaching: Prepares you to make the best use of digital technology in your teaching.
- Advanced Certificate in Urban Teaching and Leadership: Prepares you to teach and lead in racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically diverse urban settings.
Licensure in other states. Review certification and licensure requirements for Warner programs.
- Leading to Professional Certification Only (PM1): Our most flexible option, including 12 credits of electives; allows for possible addition of Advanced Certificates in Digitally-Rich Teaching or Urban Teaching & Leadership, or taking some leadership courses that provide a jump start toward school leadership certification.
- Leading to Extension to Teach Math in Grades 5-6 (PM5)
- Leading to NYS Certification in Teaching Students with Disabilities Grades 7-12 (PM6): To be able to better serve your students' diverse learning needs and to teach in inclusive classes (requires 35 credits including field experiences and one student teaching experience).

- Advanced Certificate (NM2): Fastest path; as few as 11 credits, including specialization courses plus 50 contact hours of field experiences.
- MS Program (SM2): 32 credits, including 50 contact hours of field experiences; also leads to NYS professional teaching certification in your original area of certification.

Our Approach
Creating Effective Math Teachers Who Can Inspire and Lead Change.
Warner graduates help young people discover that math is more than just memorizing formulas and algorithms. Our graduates help their students learn how to make connections between learning math and their own worlds, and help them learn how to apply mathematical concepts and skills to solve real problems. Our graduates become teachers who help to make math literacy possible for all students – a critical competence in the world today.

Throughout the program, graduate students engage in collaborative problem-solving activities around a range of mathematical topics using appropriate technology. These intensive experiences are intended to challenge conventional conceptions of mathematics and how people learn math. Ultimately, the goal is to begin the long-term process of building durable perspectives and skills that will help teachers design engaging, equitable, and rigorous math learning experiences for K-12 students.
On a more practical level, the program offers multiple opportunities to analyze curricula designed to be coherent and comprehensive. This stands in contrast to conventional curricula that suffer from the “mile-wide, inch-deep” phenomenon. These “reform” curricula emphasize a developmental approach to learning mathematics concepts by sequencing activities in a way that builds upon students’ intuitive understandings to more conventional, formal representations. The curricula consistently emphasize the connections between mathematical representations, between procedures and concepts, and between instructional units. This ensures that key mathematical ideas are developed over the course of weeks, months, and even years. Furthermore, the curricula situate problems in context so that students use everyday situations to develop mathematical forms of thinking. There are several opportunities throughout the program to observe teachers using these curricula.
The program is committed to issues of equity and inclusion. Many efforts are focused on students in under-resourced school districts and people who are typically underrepresented in mathematics.
The Warner Advantage
Preparing Graduates to Innovate, Advocate, and Elevate.
- Become a math teacher who can create learning opportunities that are inviting and accessible for all students – engaging with cutting-edge research and educational innovations.
- Be challenged to be an agent of change, who can effectively introduce new ideas and practices that will enhance students’ learning and address current inequities.
- Leverage the reputation of a leading research university to strengthen recognition of your degree.
- Network with the best and the brightest future colleagues.
- Make yourself stand out when applying for teaching positions by pursuing additional specializations for a few additional credits.
- Learn from an accessible, supportive faculty of researchers and accomplished practitioners who will prepare you to be adaptive experts in today’s K-12 schools.
- Shorten your path to a doctoral degree by earning transferable credits.
- Benefit from a guaranteed 50% scholarship.
- Take advantage of online learning options that help reduce trips to campus.
- Be ready to teach the school year following enrollment, as the program can be completed in as little as 15 months, even by those new to the teaching profession.
All About Experience

East High School Partnership
Our students have the opportunity to observe and learn from the reforming of an urban high school. As the Educational Partnership Organization (EPO) for East High School, we are overseeing a radical transformation affecting all aspects of the school – including the implementation of innovative mathematics curricula and teaching practices.

Cultivating Equity in Mathematics
The Center for Professional Development and Education Reform at the Warner School kicks off with the largest Mathematics Leadership Cadre in the program’s seven-year history. Over the years, the professional working group has provided hundreds of educators with opportunities to learn, share resources, and connect with other educators.

Project SyncOn
Warner students will benefit from the work of faculty exploring innovative uses of digital platforms. In fact, faculty member and Program Director Jeffrey Choppin is currently the principal investigator of a $2.8M National Science Foundation grant developing and studying innovative online professional learning experiences for mathematics teachers in rural schools.
Career Opportunities
Advancing Education and Your Career to the Next Level.
Unlike graduates of an undergraduate teacher preparation program, our graduates will have already met all the coursework requirements for NYS professional teaching certification. This means they will only be required to complete three years of teaching and some state exams in order to obtain this additional level of certification – a NYS requirement within five years of beginning a teaching job.
At the same time, some of our graduates have chosen to pursue careers other than teaching in K-12 public schools. These include teaching in private schools and other educational settings, including informal and after-school environments, community-based organizations, and private industry.

Faculty
An Accessible, Supportive Faculty of Researchers and Accomplished Practitioners.

Math Teacher Preparation Program Director and Advisor
LeChase Hall 444
zborys@warner.rochester.edu
Core Program Faculty
Raffaella Borasi, PhDCynthia Callard, EdD
Jeffrey Choppin, PhD
Additional Program Area Faculty
Scholarships
Making Warner Affordable.
Byron Williams Teaching Scholarships – Guaranteed 50% Tuition Savings
All new students starting their master’s programs in teacher education leading to New York State teaching certification are guaranteed a minimum 50 percent tuition scholarship, provided they commit to teach in a United States school for a minimum of two years after graduation.

Try Us Out
Get a Taste of What Warner Has to Offer.
- East High: This Rochester City School District secondary school is undergoing major transformation under the oversight of the University of Rochester as its educational partnership organization, and has adopted “Connected Mathematics Project” as its middle school math curriculum.
- East Irondequoit Digital Conversion: A K-12 partner school that has incorporated iPads into student learning and implemented a district-wide Learning Management System (LMS) to transform teaching practices.
Contact admissions to arrange for a visit or learn more about opportunities for non-matriculated students.
