Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Education

Return to: School of Education & Human Development

Office: Lawrence Street Center, 701
Telephone: 303-315-6300
Fax: 303-315-6311
E-mail: education@ucdenver.edu

The Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Education (CLDE) program helps licensed teachers enhance their skills and credentials to support diverse languages, cultures, and abilities in the classroom Graduates are prepared to become leaders to serve multilingual learners in K-12 classrooms. This concentration emphasizes a socio-cultural approach to issues of language and learning, acknowledging the legitimacy of linguistic and cultural differences, and recognizing that academic settings represent important socializing forces in students’ lives. We emphasize the “whole learner” in our teaching and in teacher education, understanding that individuals do not merely add a language to their repertoire of communication but make fundamental identity adjustments as they progress in their studies. Course work includes language teaching methodology, language acquisition, linguistic analysis of English, multicultural foundations, assessment, literacy, and other areas.

The MA program also provides a foundation in teaching English to multilingual learners in a variety of contexts in the United States and abroad. Teachers who work in CLDE programs or in other content areas (such as art, language arts, math, music, science, social studies or technology), and who wish to integrate CLDE principles and strategies into their instruction for their multilingual learners, will find the MA program relevant to their interests and goals.

Course work includes language teaching methodology, language acquisition, linguistic analysis of English, multicultural foundations, assessment, literacy and other areas. This program has been developed as an advanced course of study for practicing teachers or individuals with some teaching experience. Applicants who are new to teaching, and who wish to teach in U.S. K-12 public school settings, should inquire about the Master of Arts in Teaching .

The program is intended for:

licensed elementary and secondary teachers returning to graduate studies for the master’s degree (30 semester hours)
licensed elementary and secondary teachers returning to acquire Colorado endorsement credentials (24 semester hours)
licensed elementary and secondary teachers returning to graduate studies for a certificate to aid them in helping their English language learners succeed (TCLD: 9 semester hours)

Program Options: