Special Education: Early Childhood (Birth-Grade 2), M.S. Ed.

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Hegis Code 0808

Admission Requirements

All students applying for admission to degree status are required to:

Submit a completed application and the non-refundable fee.
Submit documentation of your teacher certification.
Submit an official transcript of an earned Bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited college.
Have achieved an undergraduate GPA of 3.0 overall and 3.0 in the major field during the last two years of undergraduate work.
Submit GRE scores or an equivalent test score.
Submit an essay reflecting on your student teaching and/or teaching experiences with students with special needs and identify one area of special needs that you would like to learn more about. Describe some of the issues you would discuss with a parent/guardian. Also describe two teaching adaptations that you might make for a child with special needs. Include references to at least five professional articles or books.
Submit three letters of reference.
Complete a personal interview.
Decisions on admission to the program are based on all of the above plus the admissions committee’s judgment about the applicant’s potential for success in the profession.

Admission is competitive and meeting the minimum admission criteria does not guarantee acceptance. Applications are reviewed upon receipt by the department chair and their designees. Applications are due March 1 for the following fall admission.

Please refer to the program web page for current admissions requirements. Occasionally changes must be made mid-year, in which case, updates are reflected only on our website.

Dignity for All Students Act

The Dignity for All Students Act (DASA) requires that all public school employees complete 6 hours of training/coursework that addresses harassment, bullying, and discrimination prevention and intervention. Students in this program are responsible for demonstrating that they have satisfied this requirement. For students who have not completed this training during their undergraduate program, the College provides workshops to satisfy this requirement.

Degree Requirements:

Degree requirements include a minimum of 10 courses in Special Education and a 40-day student teaching course experience at two grade levels. Since all candidates will already hold an initial teaching license, no additional field work is required unless designated by course instructors. The courses are focused on skill development across the curriculum.

A minimum of 36 s.h. of planned and approved course work as follows:

Additional Requirements:

Graduate students are required to maintain a 3.0 Cumulative GPA throughout their programs. Those whose GPA may fall beneath this minimum are placed on academic probation until either the grade point average meets that minimum or the student is academically dismissed. Full time students have one semester to bring the GPA to the minimum standard and part time students have until they complete an additional 12 credit hours.

Students must fulfill all degree requirements within six years and finish a minimum of 27 credits in residence.

All College policies and procedures found in this Graduate Catalog will apply to students enrolled in this program.