Special Education B.A. — Early Childhood Special Education Teaching Emphasis - Early Childhood Special Education Endorsement (Ages Birth-8)
Program temporarily not accepting new applications for admissions.
College of Education and Behavioral Sciences
Contact: Nancy M. Sileo or Jennifer Lieber
Location: McKee 29
Telephone: 970.351.2691
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.
To find your advisor, log into ursa.unco.edu; go to 'Student' tab and click 'View Student Information' link. If no advisor is listed, contact the major program for advisor information.
The program consists of three parts:
- Liberal Arts Curriculum (LAC) Credits
- Required Major Credits
- Professional Teacher Education Program (PTEP) Credits
- University-Wide Credits
Program Description:
The curriculum consists of recommended Liberal Arts Curriculum 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:
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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.
PTEP Program Requirements:
Teacher candidates who complete an approved content degree and the UNC professional teacher education program, as well as pass the appropriate Colorado Department of Education designated PRAXIS exam (if applicable), will be eligible for recommendation from UNC for a Colorado Department of Education teaching license.
If you are seeking licensure in your program area, the following items are required to complete your program.
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Completion of Application for Initial Admission to PTEP
- Completion of Full Admission to PTEP
- Completion of Application for Student Teaching
- Completion of content specific PRAXIS test prior to Student Teaching
- Candidates may not take extra courses with Student Teaching without prior approval from the Program Coordinator and the STE Director.
- All PTEP Field Experiences and methods courses need to be successfully completed prior to Student Teaching.
- Student Teaching outside the supervision of UNC Faculty may or may not be approved.
- Teacher Candidates will not be placed in a school where they were once students or where they have a close relative attending and/or working.
- Teacher education and educator preparation licensure programs do not accept Professional Teacher Education Program (PTEP) or field based courses that are more than ten years old. PLEASE NOTE: Teacher Candidates have the right to petition this policy at the discretion of the program coordinator.
Please work with your content advisor to determine when these requirements will be completed throughout your program.
Degree Requirements — 120 Credits
1. Liberal Arts Curriculum — 31 credits
Written Communication — 6 credits
Select any courses to fulfill this requirement from the currently approved LAC course list.
The following courses are recommended, but not required for the major:
See Written Communication courses
Mathematics — 3 credits
These courses are recommended to fulfill Mathematics requirement and fulfill both LAC and major requirements.
- MATH 181 Fundamentals of Mathematics I: Number and Operations
- MATH 182 Fundamental Mathematics II: Algebra, Probability and Data Analysis
See Mathematics courses
Arts & Humanities, History, Social & Behavioral Sciences, U.S. Multicultural Studies, and International Studies — 15 credits
To complete the LAC in the minimum number of credits, be sure to choose at least one course with an IS designation and one course with an MS designation.
Select any courses to fulfill this requirement from the currently approved LAC course list. Please work with your advisor for recommended courses for this section of LAC.
See Arts & Humanities, History, and Social & Behavioral Sciences courses
Natural & Physical Sciences — 7 credits
Select any courses to fulfill this requirement from the currently approved LAC course list.
See Natural & Physical Sciences courses
See Liberal Arts Curriculum
2. Required Major — 71 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 — 32 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 250 | Diverse Early Language and Literacy | 3 |
| ET 340 | Integration of Technology into Content and Pedagogy | 2 |
| MATH 181 | Fundamentals of Mathematics I: Number and OperationsLAX1 | 3 |
| MATH 182 | Fundamental Mathematics II: Algebra, Probability and Data AnalysisLAX1 | 3 |
| MATH 283 | Fundamental Mathematics III: Geometry and Measurement | 3 |
| PSY 347 | Educational Psychology for Elementary Teachers | 3 |
3. Required PTEP — 15 credits
| EDF 366 | Conceptions of Schooling: Context and Process | 3 |
| EDSE 438 | Student Teaching in Early Childhood Special Education | 9-12 |
4. University-Wide Credits — 3 credits*
Complete additional credits to achieve the minimum credits needed for any degree at UNC; for this program, that will typically be 3 credits.
*Note: Students who apply the recommended courses to both the liberal arts curriculum and the major requirements will have an increased number of university wide electives to apply to this degree. See your advisor for details.