Nondegree Course Descriptions

Mount Holyoke College Graduate Programs offers intensive credit and non-credit options for many of our courses. While both options provide you with valuable skills for career advancement and the opportunity to network with other professionals, they are geared towards learners with different goals and needs.

Read more about the differences here: https://www.mtholyoke.edu/admission/professional-and-non-degree/coursework-fees

Important Note: After a class begins, it is not possible to switch between the non-credit and credit options. If you need additional guidance, please call 413-538-3478 or email graduateadmissions@mtholyoke.edu.

Key
TagCourse Focus

Diverse Learners

General Education

Leadership

Mathematics Education



May – June 2023
Professional Development for Coaching Mathematics 

Description: This course is designed for elementary math specialists with responsibilities for supporting teachers in the development of strong mathematics education programs. Participants explore issues related to: learning mathematics while in the context of teaching; facilitating the professional development of colleagues; teachers' and students' ideas about mathematics and learning; and fostering a stance of collaborative investigation. By way of a central theme of mathematics learning, the institute will offer coaches opportunities to explore, through the coaching perspective, ideas of number and geometry in the elementary grades.
Format: Live online via Zoom.
Meeting dates: 6/26/23 - 6/30/23.
Meeting times: Monday - Thursday, 8:30am - 4:30pm; Friday, 8:30am - 12pm.
Noncredit cost: $549.
Credit cost: $1604. Scholarships available.

Register for noncredit
Apply for credit



July – August 2023
Building a System of Tens 
Description: Participants will explore the base-ten structure of the number system, consider how that structure is exploited in multi-digit computational procedures, and examine how basic concepts of whole numbers reappear when working with decimals. They will study the various ways children naturally tend to think about separating and combining numbers and what children must understand in order to work with numbers in these ways.
Format: Hybrid.
Meeting dates: 7/10/23 - 7/14/23.
Meeting times: 
Monday - Thursday, 8:30am - 4:30pm ET; Friday, 8:30am - 12:00pm ET.
Noncredit cost:
$549
Credit cost:
$1604. Scholarships available.

Register for noncredit
Apply for credit


Making Meaning for Operations 
Description: This course provides opportunities for participants to examine the actions and situations modeled by the four basic operations. The course will begin with a view of young children's counting strategies as they encounter word problems, moves to an examination of the four basic operations on whole numbers, and revisits the operations in the context of rational numbers.
Format: Hybrid.
Meeting dates: 7/17/23 - 7/21/23.
Meeting times: Monday - Thursday, 8:30am - 4:30pm ET; Friday, 8:30am - 12:00pm ET.
Noncredit cost: $549.
Credit cost: $1604. Scholarships available.

Register for noncredit
Apply for credit


Reasoning Algebraically About Operations 
Description: Participants examine generalizations at the heart of the study of operations in the elementary grades. They express these generalizations in common language and in algebraic notation, develop arguments based on representations of the operations, study what it means to prove a generalization, and extend their generalizations and arguments when the domain under consideration expands from whole numbers to integers.
Format: Hybrid.
Meeting dates: 7/24/23 - 7/28/23.
Meeting times: Monday – Thursday: 8:30am - 4:30pm ET. Friday: 8:30am - 12:00pm ET.
Cost: $549.
Credit cost: $1604. Scholarships available.

Register for noncredit
Apply for credit

Institutes / certificate programs

Social Justice and Advocacy Institute 
Two courses; 5/31/23 - 7/21/23

Equity & Social Justice: A Teacher's Role
In this course, participants will learn to address issues of social justice seamlessly and incorporate social justice into the design of their learning environments. This will be accomplished in three steps: First, participants will be assigned a self-awareness partner to process socialization around social issues. Second, participants will produce narratives about their social justice development. Finally, participants will create action plans that will create learning environments that don't shut down dialogues about difference, but open them up. Participants will then take this new learning and self-awareness and apply it to education systems outside of their classroom.
Meetings: Biweekly: 5/31/23 - 6/30/23, Mondays and Wednesdays, 5:00pm - 9:00pm ET; 6/16/23 - 6/30/23, Fridays, 5:00pm - 9:00pm ET.


Outreach and Advocacy for Educational Change

This course integrates Teacher Leader Model Standards for Domains VI and VII: assessing community needs and values, engaging families and colleagues in partnerships, and advocating for students and for the teaching profession. Participants will explore culturally responsive teaching approaches and strategies for collaborating with families to support meaningful and relevant student learning and development. Participants will also learn how to use research, policies, and persuasive communications to help build appropriate programs, interventions, and advocacy efforts that promote positive outcomes for both students and teachers.
Meetings: 7/10/23, Monday, 6:00pm - 9:00pm (Online); 7/17/23 - 7/21/23, Monday - Friday, 8:30am - 4:30pm (Hybrid).

Format: Online/Hybrid.
Noncredit cost: $1250.
Credit cost: $4812. Scholarships available.

Register for noncredit
Apply for credit


Independent Schools Mentoring program 
Description: Working at an independent school requires a unique set of skills and dispositions. Mentors play a critical role in supporting teacher retention in the “triple threat” (teaching, advising, coaching) challenges facing independent school faculty. The best mentors foster practical skills that drive instructional innovation and possess the leadership dispositions to foster educator resilience. Our one-year, cohort-based certificate program supports educators in becoming effective and emotionally intelligent mentors for the next generation of independent school educators. Join a network of colleagues from across the globe who share your passion for quality, equity, and longevity in the independent school workforce!
Format:  Online.
Schedule:

Course

Description

Timeframe

Schedule 

Fostering a Collaborative Culture (2 credits)

Develop positive professional relationships, improve school culture, lead for change

5/30/23 - 6/29/23

Tues. & Thurs., 6:00 - 9:00pm ET.

Coaching, Mentoring, and Facilitating Instructional Improvements (2 credits)

Best practices in observation, feedback, and consultation for mentors

7/6/23 - 7/27/23

Thurs., 7/6/23: 6:00pm - 9:00pm ET
Wed., 7/19/23: 1:00pm - 4:30pm ET
Thurs. & Fri.,7/20 & 7/21: 8:30am - 4:30pm ET
Tues., & Thurs., 7/25 & 7/27: 6:00pm - 9:00pm ET

 

Owning Assessments and Data for Student Learning (2 credits)Facilitate and support colleagues in using assessment tools to inform decisions to improve practice and student learning7/5/23 - 7/19/237/5 - 7/13: Mon. & Wed., 6:00pm - 9:00pm ET
7/17 - 7/18: Mon. & Tues., 8:30am - 4:30pm ET
7/19: Wed., 8:30am - 12:00pm ET

Practicum I: Professional Development and Mentoring (3 credits)

Cultivate facilitation skills, professional development design, implementation, and assessment, hone coaching and mentoring skills

9/6/23 - 12/12/23

Mondays, 6:00 - 9:15pm ET

Personal and Professional Leadership (1 credit)

Elevate teacher leadership through storytelling personal leadership development

January 

Two, 2 hour workshops
Dates & times TBD.

Advanced Practicum: Professional Development and Mentoring (2 credits)

Create systematic improvements in professional learning and mentoring in independent schools

January- April

Weekly 2 hour workshops
Dates & Times TBD

More Information:https://www.mtholyoke.edu/academics/find-your-program/independent-schools-mentoring-institute
Noncredit cost of foundation level (summer only): $1750.
Noncredit cost of full certificate program (full year): $3500.
Credit cost of foundation level (summer only): $4812. Scholarships available. 
Credit cost of full certificate program (full year):
$9300. Scholarships available. 

Register for noncredit
Apply for credit

Instructional Coaching & Leadership program 

Description: Instructional coaches and mentors play a vital role in improving academic outcomes for students, fostering a positive school climate, and enhancing a school’s professional culture. The best coaches possess practical skills that drive instructional improvements AND leadership dispositions to foster educator resilience. If you are a skilled educator who wants to take on a leadership role during this time, our one-year, cohort-based, Instructional Coaching and Leadership program will equip you with the skills and dispositions you need. Join colleagues from across the globe who share your passion and are facing similar challenges.
Format: 
Online.

Course

Description

Timeframe

Schedule 

Fostering a Collaborative Culture (2 credits)

Develop positive professional relationships, improve school culture, lead for change

5/30/23 - 6/29/23

Tues. & Thurs., 6:00 - 9:00pm ET.

Coaching, Mentoring, and Facilitating Instructional Improvements (2 credits)

Best practices in observation, feedback, and consultation for mentors

7/6/23 - 7/27/23

Thurs., 7/6/23: 6:00pm - 9:00pm ET
Wed., 7/19/23: 1:00pm - 4:30pm ET
Thurs. & Fri.,7/20 & 7/21: 8:30am - 4:30pm ET
Tues., & Thurs., 7/25 & 7/27: 6:00pm - 9:00pm ET
 

Promoting Professional Learning (2 credits)

Design and implement professional learning opportunities for adults

9/6/23 - 12/12/23

Wednesdays, 6:00pm - 8:15pm ET

Practicum I: Professional Development and Mentoring (3 credits)

Cultivate facilitation skills, professional development design, implementation, and assessment, hone coaching and mentoring skills

9/6/23 - 12/12/23

Mondays, 6:00 - 9:15pm ET

Personal and Professional Leadership (1 credit)

Elevate teacher leadership through storytelling personal leadership development

January 

Two, 2 hour workshops
Dates & times TBD.

Advanced Practicum: Professional Development and Mentoring (2 credits)

Create systematic improvements in professional learning and mentoring in independent schools

January- April

Weekly 2 hour workshops
Dates & Times TBD

More Information: https://www.mtholyoke.edu/academics/find-your-program/instructional-coaching-leadership-institute
Noncredit cost: 
$3600.
Credit cost: 
$9300. Scholarships available.
Register for noncredit
Apply for credit

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