Special Education (SPED)
Prerequisites: Open to all majors/minors. Admission to Teacher Education Program for teaching majors in the College of Education and Human Sciences that do not have a Special Education focus area.
Description: Introduction to basic concepts related to the education of exceptional learners. Historical factors, legislative statutes, and instructional models.
Prerequisites: SPED 201.
Description: Conceptual foundations, strategies and techniques for communicating effectively with educational personnel and parents. Roles of educational personnel in inclusive settings, pragmatic issues involved in designing and implementing collaborative efforts, techniques for increasing interpersonal problem solving, modes of communication, and skills for dealing with conflict and resistance.
Prerequisites: SPED 201 and sophomore standing
Description: Emphasis on knowledge and experience with interpreting norm-referenced, criterion-referenced, curriculum-based, and other data sources in making educational decisions. Use of assessment data for instructional planning and evaluation. Knowledge of the range of assessments used by other professionals in making educational decisions
Prerequisites: SPED 201; parallel SPED 397; CYAF 374 or 474 or parallel; admission to the Inclusive Early Childhood Education major (IECE)
Description: History and trends in early childhood special education. Methods for educating children with and without disabilities in inclusive classroom settings. Focus on classroom-wide adaptations, individual accommodations, and the development and implementation of a functional intervention plan for one target child.
Prerequisites: Admission to Teacher Education Program.
Description: Guided observations and/or clinical experiences in schools and/or agencies offering programs for children and/or youth.
Prerequisites: Admission to Teacher Education Program.
Description: Guided observations and/or clinical experiences in schools and/or agencies offering programs for children and/or youth.
Must be taken concurrently with a practicum course
Description: Legal and ethical requirements for educating exceptional learners; identification, referral, and placement procedures; development and use of the Individual Education Program; strategies for teaching and accommodating academic and behavior of a range of exceptional and other at-risk learners in the elementary school.
Prerequisites: Admission to the Teacher Education program.
Must be taken concurrently with a practicum course.
Description: Legal and ethical requirements for educating exceptional learners; identification, referral, and placement procedures; development and use of the Individual Education Program; strategies for teaching and accommodating academic and behavior of a range of exceptional and other at-risk learners in the secondary school.
Prerequisites: Parallel with SPED 497
Description: Concepts, instructional strategies, and attitudes related to the education of exceptional learners. Peer- and instructor-generated topics that are relevant to the student teaching experience.
Prerequisites: SPED 212 (required for undergraduate students only). Parallel with SPED 406A/806A.
Description: Theory and techniques for assessing and teaching word identification, vocabulary, comprehension and writing skills in grades 7 to 12.
Prerequisites: SPED 212 (required for undergraduate students only). Parallel with SPED 406/806.
Requires two hours per week in a Reading Center.
Description: Teaching and/or tutoring experience evaluating and instructing students with reading problems in a Reading Center. Assessment, instructional planning, delivery of instruction, writing diagnostic reports and parent communication.
This course is taken concurrently with a practicum experience.
Description: Principles of Classroom Instruction That Works and Explicit Instruction are instilled as a framework for instructional planning at the secondary level. Co-teaching with content teachers and transitional planning for secondary students with disabilities will also be addressed.
Prerequisites: SPED 201; sophomore standing
Description: Understanding characteristics of students with math learning disabilities and potential causes. Evidence-based instructional strategies in math for teaching students with math learning disabilities and those who are at-risk.
Prerequisites: SPED 201, TEAC 311, TEAC 313 for elementary education majors; SPED 201, CYAF 383, CYAF 316A, CYAF 397D for inclusive early childhood education majors; SPED 201, SPED 212, and SPED 414 (or equivalent) for SPED majors. Must be taken with: SPED 415A/815A.
Priority will be given to students who will be student teaching the following semester.
Description: Theory and techniques for assessing and teaching early literacy skills in small groups and one-on-one for children who struggle with literacy.
Prerequisites: SPED 201, TEAC 311, TEAC 313 for elementary education majors; SPED 201, CYAF 383, CYAF 316A, CYAF 397D for inclusive early childhood education majors; SPED 201, SPED 212, and SPED 414 (or equivalent) for SPED majors. Must be taken with: SPED 415/815.
Priority will be given to student who will be student teaching the following semester.
These courses may not be taken concurrently with SPED 454, they must be completed prior to taking SPED 454.
Description: Techniques for managing children's challenging behaviors. Functional assessment of behavior problems, strategies for preventing behavior problems, techniques for increasing prosocial behavior, and non-aversive procedures for decreasing problematic behavior.
Prerequisites: SPED 861: Admission to Graduate Degree or Certificate program in Special Education SPED 461: SPED 201, CYAF 271 and admission to the Inclusive Early Childhood Education major; CYAF 380 or parallel
SPED 861 requires a practicum in home visiting.
Description: Assessment and intervention strategies for developing appropriate early intervention programs for infants and toddlers with disabilities. Rationale and principles for conducting home-based, family-centered, and transdisciplinary services.
Description: Provide a broad overview of the psychological, social, and educational aspects of low-incidence disabilities, including autism, physical disabilities, intellectual disabilities, various degrees of vision and hearing loss, and multiple disabilities.
Prerequisites: Prior arrangements with faculty member and permission.
Description: Individual or group projects that are extensions of course work, such as preparation of teaching materials, review of literature, observation/exploration of practices, design of curricular or clinical tools. Topic, scope and grading parameters are under guidance of a department faculty member, but topic can be student-initiated. These projects are generally relevant to the student's professional practice and advance the student's and possibly others' knowledge on a topic. Such projects may result in professional presentations.
Prerequisites: Permission.
Description: Practice skills and ideas introduced in the content and methods courses of the undergraduate degree program. Demonstrate independence and competence in planning, implementing, and delivering assessment and instruction in educational settings.
Prerequisites: Admission by application only
Prerequisites: Completion of all courses and pre-student teaching practica in the Inclusive Early Childhood Education major.
Description: Final supervised field experience in the public schools with young children who have disabilities under age 5. Minimum 10 weeks, full-time placement.
Description: Supervised teaching experiences in schools. Accompanying seminar focuses on: teacher certification, teacher and student rights and responsibilities, proper conduct of teachers, selected legal aspects of education, methods of communicating with parents and community members, and current issues which impact education.
Description: Individual or group project designed to help students develop understandings, skills, and outlooks that would allow them to conduct original, independent research in the future. Topic of research may be related to the instructors current research projects or area of study or a topic of interest to the student for pilot work; approval of the topic/project is at the discretion of the instructor.
Prerequisites: Good standing in the University Honors Program or by invitation.
Description: Conduct a scholarly research project and write a University Honors Program or undergraduate thesis.