Required Courses
8 credits

• Race and Ethnicity
• The Socio-Cultural Context of Teaching and Learning

Concentration
20 credits (August July)

• Special Education: Foundations for Understanding Inclusive Schools
• Developmental Language, Literacy and Writing: Assessment and Instruction 
• Differentiated Assessment and Instruction: Redesigning Individualized Plans 
• Adaptive Learning/Behavior Management Strategies: Consultation and Collaboration 
• Portfolio and Panel Review*

**Practicum: for those seeking a license

Electives
12 credits
(Select 3 courses from the following list)

• Child and Adolescent Development and Variation
• Beyond Behavior Management: Building Classroom Communities for Diverse and Challenging Learners
• Developing Skills and Accessing Ideas: Curriculum for Students with Learning and Behavioral Difficulties

Other electives may be selected from the Master of Education in Literacy

ED 3625  Special Education: Foundations for Understanding Inclusive Schools
This module looks beyond an Introduction to Special Education to build a foundation for inclusive classes. It is designed to enable teachers to better understand and plan for the broad and varied range of student learning and behavioral styles found in every school. The neurodevelopmental functions underlying learning, along with their variations and pedagogical implications are examined. Participants develop an understanding of the historical perspective on special education, the role of the special educator in crafting and implementing IEPs and the responsibility of special educators to create partnerships across school, family and community.

ED 3626      Developmental Language, Literacy and Writing: Assessment and Instruction
This module introduces fundamental theoretical instructional principles of developing oral and written language, reading, writing and language art skills. Participants will learn about materials, instructional strategies and classroom-based assessment for literacy development and instruction and empowering both elementary and secondary readers. The focus on early literacy acquisition is linked to clinical assessment and questions regarding English language learners and students with mild-to-moderate learning disabilities and variations.

ED 3627  Differentiated Assessment and Instruction: Redesigning Individualized Plans
This module focuses on the development of individualized intervention programs for children and youth in need of special education. Participants will translate the results of norm-referenced diagnostic assessments to curriculum-based or criterions referenced assessments and determine goals for intervention and effective instructional strategies. They also will learn about the limitations of assessments and develop the skills to design informal classroom-based assessments that reflect student learning and drive instruction.

ED 3628     Adaptive Learning/Behavior Management Strategies: Consultation and Collaboration
This module extends participants competence in theory, research and practice pertaining to creating a sense of classroom community, family engagement and school culture. Behavior management approaches will be critically examined and participants will develop practical interventions and skills for preventing, intervening, and remediating behavior problems. Participants apply inclusive principles to the classroom, examine student issues and learning needs, and analyze delivery models to consider how to impact participants teaching, classroom and school.

ED 3674    Practicum, Portfolio and Panel Review
All participants must pass a competency review to complete the program of study. An exhibition will include work products demonstrating competencies in the Professional Standards for Teachers, particularly as they relate to students with specialized learning needs. Participants will exhibit a portfolio in which they demonstrate the following competencies:

• The ability to assess the learning and/or behavioral needs of specific students
• The ability to design and implement curriculum adapted to meet specific learning needs
• Understanding the social, pedagogical and community contexts of special/inclusive education at their site.
  

ELECTIVES

Child and Adolescent Development and Variation
The biological, neuropsychological, psychosocial, cognitive, behavioral and ecological theories of development are reviewed in this course. Progress in the developmental domains, and the intersection among these domains in development and learning, are examined from birth through adolescence, within these theoretical perspectives.  The impact of culture on development is infused throughout. Variations in development are considered in terms of biological and environmental risks and disability. Assessments and interventions in development and learning are introduced.

Beyond Behavior Management:  Building Classroom Communities for Diverse and Challenging Learners
This course offers students a set of broad perspectives on building inclusive classroom communities. Moving beyond the rudimentary management of behaviors, students will examine teaching rooted in clearly defined expectations and logical consequences, teaching that helps foster communal responsibility, self-discipline, and self-determination for students with disabilities and their typical peers. This exploration will contain a sustained examination of specific programs (i.e., Assertive Discipline, Tribes, The Responsive Classroom) and observational and problem solving tools. Students will develop skills for identifying, assessing and responding to the range of challenging situations they can expect to encounter across the grades.

Developing Skills and Accessing Ideas:  Curriculum for Students with Learning and Behavioral Difficulties