Special Education Course Descriptions
ESP 600 Foundations of Special Education
This course offers an examination of the historical, social, and legal foundations of special education. Emphasis will be placed on issues, trends, and legislation which affect the provision of services in school, home, and community settings with a focus on inclusion of individuals with disabilities in home and school settings. An overview of the characteristics and instructional needs of individuals with disabilities will be provided. The impact of diversity on services to persons with special needs in the school will also be addressed.
ESP 601 Learning Disabilities: Theory & Practice
This course will familiarize prospective special educators with theory and current issues as they relate to the definition, etiology, assessment, eligibility, service delivery, characteristics, and individual needs of students with learning disabilities. A repertoire of teaching strategies to include the use of differentiated instruction will be developed in academic areas as language arts, social studies, math, and science. Issues related to the impact of culture, family, values, individual resources, and, too often, the lowered expectations of schools on educational outcomes for individuals with learning disabilities will also be examined. This course will also consider assistive technology and classroom assessment practices relevant to students with learning disabilities
ESP 602 Strategies for Working with Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disabilities
This course is intended to help teachers understand the assessment of and intervention for students with emotional and behavioral disorders with an emphasis on elementary and middle school settings. Theoretical and practical applications of behavioral analysis will be included with stress placed on the prevention of behavior problems while supporting the development of independence and positive social interaction skills. This course will also focus on identifying, recording, evaluating, and effecting positive change in the social and academic behaviors of students with special needs in elementary and middle schools through the process of behaviorally-based instruction, functional behavioral assessments, and the development of behavior support plans. The impact of culture and individual values on the assessment, perception, and response to students with emotional and behavioral disorders and their families will also be carefully considered.
ESP 603 Identification, Assessment and Treatment Models for At-Risk Readers
This course explores the connections between special education professionals and the most recent research in the field of reading education by focusing on the atypical development and educational needs of students who experience difficulties in acquiring the literary skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing. Best practices for teaching at-risk readers and those who have demonstrated significant reading delays will be explored. Topics will include, but not be limited to, reading assessment, best-practices instructional models for at-risk readers at the elementary and middle school levels, and a comparison of the more constructivist models of reading instruction with the models of systematic, sequential instruction as proposed by National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education and the Council for Exceptional Children. The use of assistive technology in the inclusive classroom to benefit at risk readers will also be considered.
ESP 604 Educating Students with Mild to Moderate Disabilities
Provides the necessary knowledge and skills to select, adapt, and sequence instructional methods and materials for a range of students with higher incidence developmental disabilities. The development of differentiated instructional methodologies along with group instructional procedures will be examined. Emphasis will also be placed on the integration of general education and special education methodologies along with the development of Learning Communities, instructional differentiation and curricular adaptation, access to the general curriculum, functional skill objectives, and community-based instruction. Consideration will be given to issues relevant to the student’s cultural and social background in the identification of disability, developmental delay, and the development of individual educational objectives. IEP development and relevant legal and service mandates as per IDEA and ADA will also be examined.
ESP 605 Educating Students with Severe and Multiple Disabilities
This course examines the characteristics of learners with severe or multiple disabilities along with related curriculum development and methods of instruction to include the use of assistive technology and alternative assessment practices. It also examines the issues, problems, and trends affecting the development and implementation of community-based educational, recreational, work and living options, and supports. Sample topics include identification and eligibility, least restrictive environment and inclusion, community-based instruction, person-centered planning, family involvement, medical concerns as relevant to the classroom, advocacy, and teacher roles and responsibilities. The unique perceptions, educational, and social needs of families of children with severe and multiple disabilities will also be examined with sensitivity to culture and values.
ESP 606 Assistive Technology for Special Needs Learners
This class is designed to help special educators develop an awareness of applications for, and the utilization of, assistive technology in the inclusive classroom to include low, middle, and high tech applications. Assessment models to establish student need for assistive technology will be addressed along with features of computer based instruction. The use of assistive technology to allow students with a wide range of learning and other special needs access to computers and computer based instruction, least restrictive environments, and access to the general curriculum will be considered. The impact of diversity and culture on technology along with the legal mandates which drive the availability of assistive technology in schools will also be examined.
ESP 607 Professional, Family & Community Collaboration in Schools and Schooling
This course will develop a comprehensive set of strategies and methods for collaborating with and involving general and special education teachers and other professionals as well as parents and community in working partnerships for the benefit of students with disabilities. School relationships with families of children with special needs and potential barriers to these contacts to include cultural and individual perceptions will be considered along with legal rights of families whose children receiving special education services. A strong emphasis will be placed on a family-centered approach to education with a goal that teachers will become better able to analyze their own personal values, beliefs, and cultural biases in order to offer better support for families.
ESP 608 Assessments of Students with Disabilities at the Childhood and Middle Childhood Level
The purpose of this course is to provide knowledge and develop skills in assessment and related program planning for childhood and middle childhood students (grades 1-9) with special needs. The class will emphasize an individualized, family-centered, and culturally competent approach to assessment. A study of assessment procedures used in the referral, identification, and instructional phases of program planning for students with special needs in childhood and middle childhood education will be emphasized. There will be an additional focus on those specific educational assessment methods and procedures used in decision making and program planning for students with disabilities to include those with culturally or linguistically diverse backgrounds.
ESP 610 Integrative Practicum Seminars: Childhood
This course engages prospective special educators in a seminar process to share, analyze, and extend their professional experiences to include collaboration with professionals and parents and the development of co-teaching relationships in the school setting with attention to the elementary classroom. Support will also be given towards the development of individual systems of self reflection and evaluation while working to refine teaching experiences and skills through group analysis to improve instruction and guide professional growth.
ESP 611 Integrative Practicum Seminars: Middle Childhood
This course engages prospective special educators in a seminar process to share, analyze, and extend their professional experiences to include collaboration with professionals and parents and the development of co-teaching relationships in the school setting with attention to the middle school classroom. Support will also be given towards the development of individual systems of self reflection and evaluation while working to refine teaching experiences and skills through group analysis to improve instruction and guide professional growth.
ESP 677 Student Teaching in Special Education: Childhood
This course is designed to provide students with experience as Special Educators in the elementary classroom. Prospective special educators will have the opportunity to work closely with practitioners such as Special Education teachers, coordinators and supervisors, and related service professionals. Through involvement in practical field experiences, the prospective special educator will acquire a realistic perspective of special education and develop the knowledge, skills, and aptitudes needed for entry as Special Education teachers in elementary classrooms.
ESP 678 Students Teaching in Special Education: Middle Childhood
This course is designed to provide students with experience as Special Educators in the middle school classroom. Prospective teachers will have the opportunity to work closely with practitioners such as Special Education teachers, coordinators and supervisors, and related service professionals. Through involvement in practical field experiences, the prospective special educator will acquire a realistic perspective of special education and develop the knowledge, skills, and aptitudes needed for entry as Special Education teachers in middle school classrooms.
ECI 695 Seminar: Teacher as Researcher
This project requires students to participate in an educational institution and to identify, understand, conceptualize, and respond to relevant professional issues. Students will recognize an educational problem or concern within the field of education and will identify an appropriate research model using an action oriented approach in order to reflect upon, understand, develop, propose, and examine possible solutions to that problem. The problem/concern will be considered early in the graduate program and carried to its required completion in this culminating activity via the writing and presentation of an original Masters Capstone project using knowledge gained within the required/selected courses taken during the student’s graduate studies.
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