The Special Education major is an undergraduate program in the College of Education and Professional Studies that focuses on skills and dispositions needed to work with students with disabilities from Kindergarten through 12th grade. The program provides well rounded knowledge about disabilities such as Autism, emotional/behavior disorders, intellectual disabilities, and learning disabilities and helps prospective teachers hone their skills in behavior management, adapted curriculum, and for teaching content areas such as science of reading interventions in special and co-taught arrangements. Special Education majors earn K-12 Cross Categorical Licensure.

The SPECED4U program is an asynchronous online program designed for paraprofessionals who are seeking to complete a Special Education major while working as educational assistants.

Elementary Education majors may select Adaptive Education as a dual license area and may complete Cross Categorical License through the CrossCat4U program.

Students in other education majors may select Adaptive Education as a minor, and students in non-education majors may select the Disability in Community, School, and Society minor as part of their program of study.

Dual Licensure Early Childhood including the ECE4U program is also offered through the Department of Special Education.

Major/Emphases

Writing Proficiency Requirement: Requirement accomplished in several courses within the emphasis course sequence.

Grades of Incomplete or below a C (i.e., C- or lower) in special education courses (prefix SPECED or SPECFLD) and in MATH 147 and ELEMMID 425 (or substituted courses) must be removed before the student can enroll in SPECFLD 489.

Department Staffing Procedure

Students in the department of Special Education are expected to maintain professional dispositions as they matriculate. Students experiencing difficulty may be asked to participate in a department staffing to assist the student in the drafting of a plan to facilitate improvement in professional disposition and successful completion of their program.