Summer Study for Educators
Graduate Level Online Courses for Summer 2026
Begin Certificate or Degree Studies • Enhance Your Credentials
Are you interested in earning a master’s degree, endorsements, or hours toward recertification and salary credit? FDU’s School of Education offers convenient online summer courses to help you achieve your educational and professional goals.
You can realize significant cost savings through our special tuition pricing, too. After registering for your first three credits at the regular tuition rate, you’ll receive $100 off each additional credit taken. Summer discount available only for courses taken through our NJ campuses. The discount does not apply to the online EdD.
Whether you’re an educator needing professional development courses, a teacher pursuing special certification, or a current FDU graduate education student, you’ll find a variety of learning options this summer at FDU!
Teaching Social Justice in Your Classroom
This summer, FDU is offering two 1-credit online courses for practicing teachers that align with NJDOE instructional mandates.
These post-graduate courses give practicing teachers a knowledge base in social justice education designed to fulfill New Jersey Department of Education instructional mandates on anti-bias/anti-racist topics. Each course provides both the content and pedagogical support to help practicing teachers confidently integrate these subjects in an age-appropriate way in their classrooms.
Teachers can take as one or both courses. Credits earned can be applied to FDU’s new 12-credit post-graduate Social Justice Education Certificate or select graduate education degree programs.
Course Descriptions
EDUC 5510: Teaching African American History
4 Consecutive Online Sessions, offered Monday thru Thursday
Dates: July 13 to 16 • Time: 11 AM to 3 PM
Provides educators with content knowledge on the history of Black and African Americans in the United States and pedagogical materials to incorporate this history into K-12 social studies lessons and related classes.
EDUC 5513: Teaching Asian American History
4 Consecutive Online Sessions, offered Monday through Thursday
Date: August 3 to 6 • Time: 11 AM – 3 PM
Explores issues related to ethnic identity development, religion, gender and assimilation in Asian American and Pacific Island (AAPI) communities. Also examines AAPI history and heritage and ways to incorporate these into K-12 social studies lessons and related classes.
NOTE: Interested teachers have the option of taking EDUC 5511 – Teaching Holocaust and Genocide and EDUC 5513 – Teaching Asian American History in the Fall of 2026.
Other Summer Highlights for Teachers
Dyslexia Studies
EDUC 6737 81: Phonemic Awareness (1 Credit)
Theoretical framework and research. Developmental stages and related tasks. Assessment as a basis for individualized instruction. Guidelines for selection of published materials and teacher made materials.
EDUC 6752 81 K-4 Literacy for the Struggling Reader (1 credit)
The focus of this course will include finding appropriate and exciting literature for the struggling reader, using picture books effectively for listening comprehension and vocabulary instruction and analyzing traits of literature beneficial to children with dyslexia.
EDUC 6925 81 Early Literacy Intervention
This course will explore a variety of ways in which multisensory, research-based practices are used to support beginning struggling readers with foundational literacy skills. Instructional emphasis will be placed on letter naming and letter sound fluency, mastery of simple and complex phonological skills and the automaticity of CVC whole word blending and reading. Using the Orton Gillingham approach, participants will design explicit and systematic instruction to meet the specific needs of non and emergent readers. As a culminating activity, participants will analyze a range of case studies and design instructional lessons to address the needs of each individual learning profile presented.
Educational Leadership
EDUC 6757 81 Leading Inclusive Schools
School leadership is only effective when the school works for all students, those whose identities are in the mainstream and those whose identities have been marginalized. Effective principals base their work on commitment to principles, values, theory, and practice that strive to meet each student where they are academically and emotionally, and provide the supports for them to grow from there. This course does likewise with merging leaders by helping them to examine their personal values and histories, develop skills for democratic and inclusive decision-making, and build a strong knowledge base of research and best practice.
EDUC 6758 Data-Informed Leadership
Effective school leaders guide their schools to make decisions informed by the judicious use of instructionally supportive data. In this course, leaders learn to distinguish the appropriate uses of formative and summative assessments to guide instruction, program evaluations, and provision of support services. They further learn how to guide faculty to collaborate in data analysis and decision-making that is so informed. Finally, this course guides leaders to navigate review processes for program evaluation such as school improvement audits and equity audits.
EDUC 6759 Leading Equity and Excellence
Effective schools must address issues academic equity with the same urgency as high levels of achievement for all learners. Since US schools have historically failed to do so, this course emphasize developing a transformative approach to school structures, policies, and practices. Emerging leaders in this course learn to address the emotional and intellectual work of equity leadership. They develop effective strategies for developing teams of stakeholders to build equitable schools together. Finally, they examine strategies for sustaining that leadership over a long career.
EDUC 6760 Community-Engaged School Leadership
This course focuses on developing skills and knowledge for school leaders who are committed to creating strong partnerships between schools and the communities they serve. Leaders here learn to develop reciprocally supportive relationships with families, community organizations and local businesses to create a nurturing network for students. Skills and knowledge to do so include effective listening and communicating with multiple stakeholders, creating and sustaining community-based initiatives, and defining a school culture that mirrors the aspirations of all families whose children attend.
English as a Second Language
EDUC 6650 81: Behavioral Science for Teaching: Language and Culture
This course examines human culture as a general phenomenon and the human capacity for “culture” as the major mechanism that renders the individual capable of internalizing various types of educational messages. Students explore the relationship between language and culture with implications for materials selection and curriculum development.
EDUC 6551 82: Language Acquisition in Bilingual/Bicultural Contexts
This course introduces students to current theories of language acquisition in bilingual/bicultural contexts. It explores current understandings of language development for emerging bilingual/bicultural individuals in K-12 educational settings.
Post-Bac/MAT
EDUC 6740 81: Introduction to Students with Disabilities Including Autism Spectrum
Introduction to the student with disabilities and autistic spectrum disorders. Overview of normal growth and development as a basis to identify developmental delays and learning differences. Characteristics of different disabilities and their effects on how children learn. Review of federal, state and local regulations and their effects on local policies, procedures and placement. Transition planning, resources and assistive technology to enhance the performance of students with disabilities and autistic spectrum disorders.
EDUC 5501 Educational Technologies (1 credit) (5 Sessions Mon/Wed 5/20-6/5 5:15-7:45 via Zoom)
This course provides a survey of educational technologies used in schools. It ensures that candidates are able to apply their knowledge of ISTE standards related to instructional practice at the appropriate progression levels. It enables candidates to utilize a variety of best practice tools and instructional strategies to enhance student learning and engagement and provide equitable and inclusive learning experiences for diverse P-12 students.
Reading Specialist/Literacy
EDUC 6493 81 Remediation of Adolescent Reading Difficulties
This course provides an in-depth study of strategies for the prevention and remediation of reading difficulties in adolescent learners. Candidates will study reading processes and skills necessary (academic vocabulary, morphology, sentence structure) for the adolescent learner. Additionally, candidates will study the specific instructional strategies related to supporting students’ comprehension, motivation, and engagement with complex texts across disciplines. This course will consider evidence-based best practices in remediating reading difficulties of adolescents.
EDUC 6766 81 Literacy, Language, and Culture
The focus of this course is on recent research and findings in language development, its connection to literacy learning, and enactment of quality practices in K-12 education across the curriculum with specific consideration of culturally linguistically diverse learners. Additionally, students will cultivate a culturally and linguistically responsive orientation to promote anti-bias literacy pedagogy.