Southwestern’s Middle Grades Education professional sequence enables students to develop the understanding and competencies essential for teaching pupils in the 4th through 8th grades. Students in the Middle Grades program must complete two academic concentration areas, each requiring a total of 12 semester hours of course work in their respective fields. The concentrations available are: Language Arts, Social Studies, Science, and Mathematics. In addition students must complete 900 hours of field experience – half of which will be accrued during observation and the other half during student teaching.