Elementary Special Education

Master of Education

About This Program | Program Requirements | Admission

About This Program

Program Purpose

Students with special needs must be taught by professionals who are trained in the identification, assessment, and teaching of individuals with exceptionalities. To reach this goal, the Master of Education in Special Education program has three distinct options which allow the master’s candidate to focus on his/her individual needs and career goals. This program reflects an inclusion model of special education service delivery.

Career Goals

Courses that include specific content addressing special education, humanistic and behavioral studies, emerging technologies, interactions with other professionals and parents, legislation, policy, procedures, and research are included. A supervised clinical experience is required for students seeking certification (Option A); a core of electives is to be selected by students seeking an instructional focus (Option B); and administrative courses are mandated for those students enrolled in the administrative option (Option C).

Program Competencies

The Division of Education has 14 program competencies derived from the Delaware Professional Teaching Standards and the Division of Education Conceptual Framework. Teacher candidates will demonstrate knowledge, skills, and dispositions required to:

All options

1. Critique current research in the area of curriculum and methods of teaching students with exceptionalities.
2. Interpret and use behavioral programming while recognizing the significance of relationships in classroom management.
3. Analyze informal and formal assessments used in identifying students with special needs and develop plans to meet educational goals and objectives.
4. Enable professionals in schools to understand and utilize assistive technology for students with disabilities.
5. Plan and implement content lessons that accommodate or adapt for unique needs of individuals with severe and multiple disabilities.
6. Apply knowledge of legislation, policy, and procedure during IEP meetings with professional colleagues and parents.
7. Apply best practices and research in special education to program development, administration, supervision, and evaluation.
8. Examine language development and its particular relationship to students with disabilities.
9. Practice methods, techniques, and instruments used to diagnose and remediate reading-related problems.

Option A (Certification)

10. Immerse oneself in an actual special education setting through active participation as a teacher.
11. Exhibit an affect of confidence, caring, professionalism, and energy in teaching students from a diverse society.

Option B (Instruction)

12. Design classroom strategies that serve diverse populations, attend to development issues, and recognize parenting issues.

Option C (Administration)

13. Demonstrate a curriculum plan based on theory and practice that includes leadership, management, classroom organization, and school support services for special education programs.

Outcomes Assessment

The assessment of outcomes consists of multiple measures. Grades on assignments and for courses are the first level of assessment. The course goals, learning outcomes, and assignments are designed to address measurement of the program competencies as well as the graduation competencies. Other assessment measures include observation of the application of knowledge in practical settings and alumni surveys that query such items as preparation levels for careers and life-long learning activities.

Program Design

The Special Education master’s program is a nationally recognized program by the Council for Exceptional Children and the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), and is designed to serve teacher candidates with a variety of educational needs. Options follow:

• Teacher candidates who wish to obtain a master’s degree and a standard teaching certificate for special education grades 1-8 (Option A)
• Teacher candidates who wish to obtain a master’s degree with an instructional focus (Option B)
  [will not lead to certification]
• Teacher candidates who wish to obtain a master’s degree with an administrative focus (Option C)
  [will not lead to certification]

The program is designed for individuals who have at least a bachelor’s degree in a field other than education and who wish to become certified teachers in Special Education (Option A), as well as Teacher candidates who have completed at least a bachelor’s degree and already hold a Delaware teaching certificate (Options B and C).

To obtain a Master of Education degree in the Special Education program, Teacher candidates must complete five courses as program prerequisites. Some of these courses require prerequisites and some (methods courses) require the successful completion of the PRAXIS I: Math, Reading, and Writing (or relevant exemption tests) as a prerequisite. Teacher candidates who have completed a bachelor’s degree with a major in education or a Master of Education degree with a concentration in Studies at Wilmington University will have completed all program prerequisites. Teacher candidates with education degrees from other institutions must have their transcripts evaluated to assure that program prerequisites have been met. To fulfill the requirements of this program, Teacher candidates must complete all course requirements as specified, depending on the option which is chosen.

Teacher candidates choosing to pursue Option A must apply to the Office of Clinical Studies for a student teaching placement for the fall semester by March 1 or for the spring semester by October 1. Applications are available in the Office of Clinical Studies in the Division of Education but do not take the place of registration. Registration and payment for student teaching are still necessary. In addition to the requirement of a cumulative GPA of 3.0, passing scores on the PRAXIS I: Math, Reading, and Writing (or relevant exemption tests) or a current, standard Delaware teaching certificate, successful results from the appropriate PRAXIS II test are also required before student teaching. A criminal background check is required for student teaching.