Department of Special Education

College of Education

www.uni.edu/coe/specialed

 

Staff:

F. Kohler, Interim Head. S. Alper, S. Etscheidt, D. Gallagher, C. Kliewer, A. Petersen, D. Raschke, P. Sitlington, A. Staples

 

The Department of Special Education offers the following minors and graduate programs. Specific requirements for these programs are listed within this Department of Special Education section in the following order:

 

Minors

Early Childhood Special Education-Teaching

Severe Disability-Teaching

Special Education-Teaching

      Instructional Strategist I: Mild/Moderate K-8 Emphasis

      Instructional Strategist I: Mild/Moderate 5-12 Emphasis

Teacher of Students With Visual Impairments (TVIS)

 

Graduate Majors (M.A.E.)

Special Education

Teacher of Students With Visual Impairments

 

Graduate Major (Ed.D.)

Doctor of Education: Special Education intensive study area

 

Undergraduate Programs

 

Minors

 

Early Childhood Special Education-Teaching

 

Required:
Special Education: 220:140; 220:141; 220:153	9 hours
Special Education: 220:192 (3 hours, Practicum with Children with Disabilities in Least Restrictive Environment); 220:192 (1 hour, Practicum in Home intervention)	4 hours
Total	13 hours

 

 

Severe Disability Minor-Teaching

This minor will lead to certification for teaching students with moderate, severe and profound disabilities from chronological ages 5-21 (Instructional Strategist II). Students must complete the requirements for an Early Childhood, Elementary or Secondary Education major and complete student teaching in both the major and the special education minor endorsement area.

 

Required:
Special Education: 220:142 or 220:143; 220:153; 220:167; 220:183; 220:184; 220:187; 220:192	23 hours
Communicative Disorders: 51C:160	2 hours
Total	25 hours

 

 

Special Education Minor-Teaching

This minor will lead to certification for teaching students with moderate, severe and profound disabilities (Instructional Strategist I). Students must complete all requirements for an Early Childhood, Elementary, Secondary Education major and complete student teaching in both the major and the special education minor endorsement area.

 

Instructional Strategist I: Mild/Moderate K-8 Emphasis

Required:
Special Education core: 220:170; 220:174; 220:184; 220:192	12 hours
Minor Requirements:
Educational Psychology: 200:176	3 hours
Special Education: 220:142 (corequisite 220:192); 220:146	9 hours
Total	24 hours

 

Instructional Strategist I: Mild/Moderate 5-12 Emphasis

Required:
Special Education core: 220:170; 220:174; 220:192	12 hours
Minor Requirements:
Educational Psychology: 200:176	3 hours
Special Education: 220:143 (corequisite 220:192); 220:147; 220:151	12 hours
Total	27 hours

 

Teacher of Students With Visual Impairments (TVIS) Minor

 

This minor will lead to endorsement for teaching students with visual impairments, from birth to 21. Students must complete the requirements for an Early Childhood, Elementary, or Secondary Education major and complete student teaching in both the major and the special education minor endorsement area.

 

Required:
Special Education core: 220:124; 220:126; 220:127; 220:130; 220:132; 220:134; 220:136; 220:138	22 hours
Total	22 hours

 

 

Master of Arts in Education Degree Programs

 

Graduate Majors (M.A.E.)

 

 

Major in Special Education

 

This major is designed to prepare special education professionals for leadership positions and for advanced professional studies. To be eligible for the Special Education Consultant endorsement the student must have four years of successful teaching experience, two of which must be congruent with the desired Special Education Consultant endorsement. Students desiring to be endorsed as Work Experience Coordinators must hod a Special Education Teaching 5-12 endorsement.

 

This major is available on the thesis and non-thesis options, and requires a minimum of 30 semester hours. A minimum of 18 hours of 200-level course work is required for both thesis and non-thesis options.

 

Students on the thesis option must complete 6 hours of 220:299 research and present a defense of the thesis. Students on the non-thesis option must submit an acceptable graduate research paper and successfully complete a final written comprehensive examination.

 

The Graduate Record Examination (General Test) is not required for admission to the program.

 

Students intereseted in this program must submit a completed Application for Admission to Graduate Study and should contact the Department of Special Education for any other admission requirements. Graduate information and application for graduate admission can be found at www.grad.uni.edu/admission/default.aspx.

 

Required professional core:
Educational Psychology: 200:214 or Social Foundations 260:234	3 hours
Measurement and Research: 250:205	3 hours
Required special education core:
Special Education: 220:289	3 hours
Emphasis in special education (choose one from below)	21 hours
Total	30 hours

 

Field Specialization Emphasis

Required:
Special Education: 220:256 or 220:260; 220:293; 220:295	9 hours
Approved electives (6 hours of 220:299 Research required on thesis option)	12 hours
Total	21 hours

 

Special Education Consultant Emphasis

Required:
Elementary, Early Childhood, and Middle Level Education: 210:221 or 210:270	3 hours
Special Education: 220:240; 220:245; 220:290	11-12 hours
Approved electives (6 hours of 220:299 Research required on thesis option)	5-6 hours
Total	21 hours

 

Career/Vocational Programming and Transition Emphasis

Required:
Special Education: 220:254; 220:290 (3 hours); 220:293; 220:295	12 hours
Approved electives (6 hours of 220:299 Research required on thesis option)	9 hours
Total	21 hours

 

Teacher of Students With Visual Impairments Major

 

This major will lead to an M.A.E. degree for teaching students with visual impairments from birth to 21. Students must complete the requirements for Early Childhood, Elementary, or Secondary Education major at the B.A. level to be enrolled in this major.

 

This major is available on the thesis and non-thesis options. A minimum of 40 hours is required for the thesis option; a minimum of 37 hours is required for the non-thesis option. A minimum of fifteen hours of 200-level course work is required to the thesis option. A minimum of twelve hours of 200-level course work is required on the non-thesis option.

 

The Graduate Record Examination (General Test) is not required for admission to the program.

 

Successful completion of a final research paper or an oral comprehensive examination is require for the thesis option, which will be determined based upon the student's needs. Successful completion of a final written comprehensive examination is required for the non-thesis option.

 

Note that students should take an additional nine hours of student teaching to qualify for the Teacher of Students With Visual Impairments State Endorsement.

 

Students interested in this program must submit a completed Application for Admission to Graduate Study and should contact the Department of Special Education for any other admission requirements. Graduate infromation and application for graduate admission can be found at www.grad.uni.eu/admission/default.aspx.

 

Required professional core:
Educational Psychology: 200:214 or Social Foundations: 260:234	3 hours
Measurement and Research: 250:205	3 hours
Required special education core:
Special Education: 220:293; 220:295	6 hours
TVI emphasis requirement:
Special Education: 220:124; 220;126; 220:127; 220:130; 220:132; 220:134; 220:136; 220:138	22 hours
Research: 220:299 Thesis (6 hours) Non-thesis (3 hours)	3 or 6 hours
Thesis option total	40 hours
Non-thesis option total	37 hours

 

Doctor of Education Degree Program

 

This program is intended to provide practicing educators the opportunity to continue their study and earn the terminal professional degree in their field. The Ed.D. degree requires a minimum of 60 semester hours of credit beyond the master's degree. The Graduate Record Examination (General Test) is required for admission to the program.

 

There are three components to the program:

1.  15 semester hours in a Professional Common Core of work in educational foundations, fundamentals, and research

2.  38 semester hours of Advanced Professional Study in one of six areas of intensive study and a related area

3.  A Dissertation of 7 semester hours.

By design, then, all students are required to study in basic areas that undergird and define educational practice and develop skills of problem definition, data collection and analysis, and interpretation. The six areas of intensive study provide for a specialized focus on practice. The six intensive study areas are: Community Health Education, Curriuculum and Instruction, Educational Leadership, Leisure, Youth, and Human Services, Rehabilitation Studies, and Special Education. (In some areas, it is possible to combine doctoral degree study with work toward an endorsement to perform a particular role in K-12 education.)

 

The Special Education area of intensive study is designed to provide students with a variety of leadership positions in public schools, higher education and human services agencies serving infants, children, youth and adults with disabilities. This program will center on preparing leaders who will be able to promote new meaning about diversity, develop inclusive school cultures and instructional programs, and forge productive relationships between schools and their communities. (For more information, contact the Head, Department of Special Education.)

 

Students interested in this program must submit a completed Application for Admission to Graduate Study. Graduate information and application for graduate admission can be found at www.grad.uni.edu/admission/default.aspx.

 

 

I.  Professional Common Core (15 hours)
Educational Foundations Interdepartmental, Education: 190:301	3 hours
Research: Interdepartmental, Education: 190:303; 190:305; 190:307 Measurement and Research: one of the following - 250:270; 250:300; 250:301; 250:310	9 hours 3 hours
II. Advanced Professional Studies This is the component of the program that relates to and supports the student's professional career goal. Students will elect one of six areas of intensive study. Specific course requirements for individual students will depend on faculty requirements and student background, interests, and goals. The only program limitations on work in this component are that the course work (including seminars, practica, independent readings, and independent research) be at the 200- or 300-level except as allowed by the general regulations, and that there be a minimum of 6 hours outside of the elected area of intensive study. The six areas of intensive study are: Community Health Education Curriculum and Instruction Educational Leadership Leisure, Youth and Human Services Rehabilitation Studies Special Education	38 hours
III. Dissertation (7 hours) This is the program component in which the student demonstrates proficiency in the integration of theory and practice (i.e. it involves the application of existing knowledge and/or results of individual research to an educational problem or situation). Required: Doctoral Seminar: 190:389 Dissertation Research: 190:399	1 hour 6 hours
Total	60 hours