Department Overview
Vision Statement
We seek to offer the highest quality teacher training for special education teachers and to provide advanced training to support academic excellence.
Consistent with this vision, the Special Education Department maintains high academic standards for student achievement and fosters integrity in the teaching-learning process. Faculty have diverse areas of expertise and provide quality instruction based on current research.
Mission Statement
The Special Education Department seeks to train qualified teachers who have experience with a wide variety of disabilities and with multiple instructional and behavioral methodologies.
Program of Study
The Department of Special Education offers a major in special education. Students who successfully complete the special education major will qualify for certification as a Learning Behavior Specialist I. Instructional time in the major typically begins in the freshman year and increases through the senior year. Students participate in the assessment and instruction of children with special needs in a variety of classroom settings in the local schools. Sixteen weeks of student teaching are required, with the time distributed equally between elementary and secondary levels. Upon graduation, students will qualify to teach exceptional children K-12 as LBS I teachers. Students are urged to contact the special education adviser in Horrabin Hall 91 to obtain assistance in planning their programs to meet certification requirements. All majors must be accepted into the Teacher Education Program (TEP) and must meet all TEP and departmental requirements to continue in the program.