Curriculum: Master of Arts in Teaching—Special Education

This course provides students a foundational understanding of the modern practices within special education. Students gain understanding by studying how the field has evolved throughout time. Information presented in this course is contextualized through various means including: understanding of human need, law/policy, and current research. From this course, students gain an initial understanding of the legal and ethical roles and responsibilities of a professional within the field of special education.

This course focuses on foundational reading skills including letter-sound correspondences, common spelling patterns that help students decode and spell words in the English language, the application of the principles of phonemic awareness and phonics to evidence-based instructional practices including practices addressing dyslexia for the middle grades and special educational programs. Students will learn how to use these foundational skills to support students in word identification, fluency, vocabulary, and spelling.

In this course students will demonstrate understanding of reading as the process of constructing meaning through the interaction of the reader's existing knowledge, the information suggested by the written language, and the context of the reading situation, as well as how various factors such as content, purpose, tasks, and setting influence the reading process. The course will provide an explanation of the differences among learners and how these differences influence reading, and are related to collaboration with parents, support personnel, and others who support student reading and writing development. The course provides knowledge about direct instruction and how to use reading strategies with narrative and expository texts. The course will explore strategies for self-monitoring of comprehension. The course will provide opportunities for students to monitor their own word identification through the use of syntax, semantic, and graphophonemic relations, as well as context, to identify and define unfamiliar words, and how to employ effective techniques and strategies for the ongoing development of independent vocabulary acquisition.

The primary purpose of this course is to help teacher candidates acquire the understanding and skills related to increasing, decreasing, maintaining, and generalizing behaviors. Teacher candidates enrolled in this course will gain an understanding of applied behavior analysis, and how to create a positive and safe learning environment in schools by carefully assessing socially significant students' needs and the context in which (both desired and problem) behavior occur. Teachers can prevent or decrease problem behavior by: (1) applying effective primary prevention and early intervention strategies in the classroom, and (2) identifying students, with and without disabilities, who need additional behavioral support. Teachers can apply an understanding of individual and group motivation and behavior to create a safe learning environment that encourages positive social interaction, active participation, academic engagement, and independence.

This course is designed to assist teacher candidates in the development of the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary to become successful literacy instructors for (K-12) students with disabilities. Through course readings, activities, and required course assignments, teacher candidates will gain practical experiences that will prepare them to facilitate student learning.

This course provides an overview of how the principles of Universal Design for Learning can be used to design online and blended learning experiences that meet the needs of diverse learners including those who are accelerated and those who are struggling for a variety of reasons. Special attention will be given to integrating technologies that support student engagement, authentic learning, and general accessibility supports.

This course will focus on special topics associated with assessment and evaluation of learners who have special needs. Specifically, this course provides a foundational understanding of assessment in education and special education. Course content will cover legal and ethical issues, statistical and measurement considerations, and both formal and informal assessment processes across all abilities and disabilities. Students will gain understanding in the selection, administration, scoring, and interpretation of formal and informal assessments for the purpose of identifying and addressing exceptional learning needs.

This course surveys current literacy curricula, methods, and materials for grades K-12 and is designed to bring teachers and administrators up-to-date in the field of evidence-based literacy instruction. A major goal of this course is to identify the instructional contexts and practices most likely to support literacy development, particularly vocabulary development and comprehension among all school-age students.

This course provides foundational understanding of curriculum development and instructional planning for individuals with mild to moderate disabilities. Course content covers service delivery, service delivery roles of the special educators, Individual Education Plan (IEP) development, instructional planning and transition preparation and programming. Teacher candidates will develop knowledge and skills in supporting various learning environments, providing for transition, and IEP development.

A full time, supervised, mentored, clinical experience with students who have mild or moderate educational needs.

Seminar to provide a professional learning community to support student teachers during their clinical experience.

This course is designed to assist intervention specialist candidates develop the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary to address the communication and literacy needs of students with complex learning needs. Through course readings, activities, and required course assignments, intervention specialist candidates will gain practical experiences that will prepare them to facilitate student learning.

This course addresses assessment and planning for students with significant disabilities. Topics include formal and informal assessment, curriculum planning, individualized instruction. Participants will be expected to observe and plan instruction from those observations.

Instructional Strategies (MI) provides students with an overview of the instructional strategies necessary for students with moderate to intense disabilities. Teacher candidates understand how students differ in their approaches and responses to learning and create instructional opportunities that are adapted to diverse learners.

A full time, supervised, mentored, clinical experience with students who have moderate or intense educational needs.

Seminar to provide a professional learning community to support students teachers during their clinical experience working with individuals who have moderate to intense educational needs.