Special Education B.A. — Early Childhood Special Education Teaching Emphasis (Birth to 8 Years)
College of Education and Behavioral Sciences
Contact: David Stewart, Administrative Assistant III
Location: McKee 29
Telephone: 970.351.1667
Fax: 970.351.1061
Website: www.unco.edu/cebs/sped
Advising Information:
Students must consult with their assigned major advisor each semester prior to registering.
Assigned advisor is available through the Ursa login; ursa.unco.edu; under Student tab Academic Profile channel and is term specific. If no advisor is listed, contact the major program for advisor information.
The program consists of three parts:
- Liberal Arts Core (LAC) Credits
- Required Major Credits
- Professional Teacher Education Program (PTEP) Credits
Program Description:
The curriculum consists of recommended Liberal Arts core requirements, courses in early childhood and early childhood special education theory, practice, and pedagogy and courses in the Professional Teacher Education Program to ensure students have the breadth of knowledge to be an early childhood special education teacher. Strong emphasis is placed on promoting families as partners, collaborative and cross-disciplinary service approaches, recommended intervention practices that are based on research evidence, and appropriate practices for work with children and their families across a range of abilities and cultural experiences. Students are required to take technology courses; and the use of technology is incorporated into the special education coursework. Extensive field based experiences in inclusive settings with children in three age-groups- birth to 2 years, 3- 5 years, and 5-8 years are included. The program meets national and state early childhood special education professional development standards for the promotion of development and learning of young children from birth to age 8 in inclusive settings.
This major allows early childhood special education teachers to learn and apply the roles and responsibilities they must perform on a daily basis:
-
assess young children with disabilities;
-
plan and implement an Individualized family Service Program and Individualized Education program in collaboration with families and professionals under the rules and regulations of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the Colorado Exceptional Children Education Act.
Program Admission Requirements:
Academic Good Standing
Program Requirements:
Students must have a 2.75 GPA at UNC by the time 30 semester hours are completed. First semester transfer students’ GPA will be reviewed at the end of the first semester on campus. Student must have a 3.0 GPA to enroll in EDSE 438.
Degree Requirements — 125 Credits
Degree Requirements
1. Required Specific LAC — 24 credits
LAC area 1.a. — Elementary Composition
LAC area 1.b. — Intermediate Composition
LAC area 2 — Mathematics
| MATH 181 | Fundamentals of Mathematics I: Number and Operations | 3 |
| MATH 182 | Fundamental Mathematics II: Algebra, Probability and Data Analysis | 3 |
LAC area 4 — History
Choose one of the following courses:
| HIST 100 | Survey of American History from Its Beginnings to 1877 | 3 |
| HIST 101 | Survey of American History from 1877 to the Present | 3 |
LAC area 5.a. — Economic and Political Systems or LAC area 5.b. — Geography
Choose one of the following courses:
LAC area 5.c. — Human Behavior and Social Systems
Choose one of the following courses:
| ASLS 160 | Introduction to Human Communication and Its Disorders | 3 |
| SOC 120 | Introduction to Family Studies | 3 |
LAC Electives
| MIND 293 | Play as a Route to Insight and Creation | 3 |
Remaining LAC — 19 credits
See "Liberal Arts Core."
2. Required Major — 70 credits
Required Major Courses — 39 credits
Take all of the following courses:
| EDSE 201 | Culture of Special Education | 3 |
| EDSE 203 | The Individualized Education Program and the Collaborative Process | 3 |
| EDSE 270 | Field-Based Experience | 3 |
| EDSE 331 | Typical and Atypical Development of Young Children | 3 |
| EDSE 332 | Appropriate Assessment in Early Childhood Special Education | 3 |
| EDSE 333 | Evidence-based Practices for Preschool Learners, 3-5 Years | 3 |
| EDSE 334 | Evidence-based Practices for Young Learners, 5 to 8 Years | 3 |
| EDSE 431 | Introduction to Early Childhood Special Education | 3 |
| EDSE 432 | Evidence-based Practices for Infants and Toddlers, Birth to 3 Years | 3 |
| EDSE 434 | Collaborative Practice with Families and Professionals | 3 |
| EDSE 435 | Young Children with Significant Support Needs | 3 |
| EDSE 436 | Field Experience in Early Childhood Special Education: Birth to 3 Years | 3 |
| EDSE 437 | Field Experience in Early Childhood Special Education: 3-8 Years | 3 |
Additional Required Courses — 31 credits
Take all of the following courses:
| ECLD 350 | Teaching Young Bilingual Children | 3 |
| EDEC 205 | Nutrition, Health, and Safety | 3 |
| EDEC 220 | Curriculum Development: Methods and Techniques | 3 |
| EDEC 240 | Administration of Early Childhood Care and Education Program | 3 |
| EDEC 241 | Administration: Human Relations for Early Childhood | 3 |
| EDEC 400 | Child Development in Context (0-8 years) | 3 |
| EDEC 465 | Managing Early Childhood Classrooms | 2 |
| EDRD 319 | Language and Literacy Development of Preschool and Elementary School Children | 3 |
| ET 247 | Technology in Education for Elementary Teaching | 1 |
| ET 347 | Educational Technology Applications for Elementary Teaching | 1 |
| MATH 283 | Fundamental Mathematics III: Geometry and Measurement | 3 |
| PSY 347 | Educational Psychology for Elementary Teachers | 3 |
3. Required PTEP — 12 credits
| EDF 366 | Conceptions of Schooling: Context and Process | 3 |
| EDFE 110 | Application for Initial Admission to PTEP | 0 |
| EDFE 120 | Application for Full Admission to PTEP | 0 |
| EDSE 130 | Student Teaching Application | 0 |
| EDSE 438 | Student Teaching in Early Childhood Special Education | 9 |