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Undergraduate 2019-2020

Special Education B.A. – K-12 Special Education Teaching Emphasis - Licensure: Special Education Generalist (Ages 5-21)

College of Education and Behavioral Sciences

Contact: Tess Henkelman, Administrative Assistant II

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.

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:

  1. Liberal Arts Core (LAC) Credits
  2. Required Major Credits
  3. Professional Teacher Education Program (PTEP) Credits

Program Description:

The curriculum consists of recommended Liberal Arts core requirements, courses in professional teacher preparation, courses in special education theory, practice, and pedagogy and courses in Liberal Arts Core content to ensure teachers have the breadth of knowledge needed to be a special education teacher. Strong emphasis is placed on literacy and mathematics in both Liberal Arts Core requirements and content area coursework. Students are required to take technology courses; and the use of technology is incorporated into the special education coursework. The program is organized around nine themes including individual differences (disabilities, culture, and language), interpersonal/collaborative skills, direct instruction, legal responsibilities/processes, organizational/systemic processes, behavioral management, knowledge and access of resources, inquiry skills, and implementation of special educator roles. Topics emphasized within these themes include normal developmental learning, general assessment concepts, foundational characteristics of disabilities, service delivery models, and technology.

Program Admission Requirements:

  • Academic Good Standing

PTEP Program Requirements:

If you are seeking licensure in your program area, the following items are required to complete your program.

  • 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 — 122-126 Credits

Degree Requirements

1. Required Specified LAC — 18-19 credits

LAC area 2 — Mathematics

MATH 181Fundamentals of Mathematics I: Number and Operations

3

MATH 182Fundamental Mathematics II: Algebra, Probability and Data Analysis

3

LAC area 4 — History

Choose one of the following courses:

HIST 100Survey of American History from Its Beginnings to 1877

3

HIST 101Survey of American History from 1877 to the Present

3

LAC area 5 — Social and Behavioral Sciences

Choose one of the following courses:

ECON 101Understanding the Contemporary Economy

3

ECON 205Principles of Microeconomics

3

GEOG 100World Geography

3

GEOG 110Geography of the United States and Canada

3

PSCI 100United States National Government

3

PSCI 105Fundamentals of Politics

3

LAC area 5.c. — Human Behavior and Social Systems

PSY 230Human Growth and Development

3

LAC area 6 — Physical and Life Sciences

Choose one of the following courses:

BIO 265Life Science Concepts

3

ESCI 265Earth Science Concepts for Elementary Teachers

3

SCI 265Physical Science Concepts

4

Remaining LAC — 21-22 credits

See "Liberal Arts Core".

2. Required Major — 60-62 credits

Take all of the following courses:

EDSE 201Culture of Special Education

3

EDSE 203The Individualized Education Program and the Collaborative Process

3

EDSE 320Assessment in Special Education

3

EDSE 321Advanced Assessment in Special Education

3

EDSE 322K-12 Methods in Special Education

3

EDSE 325Behavioral Dimensions of Students with Exceptionalities I

3

EDSE 326Behavioral Dimensions of Students with Exceptionalities II

3

EDSE 327Methods for Teaching Mathematics: Students with Special Needs

3

EDSE 328Field Experience in Special Education: Elementary

3

EDSE 329Field Experience in Special Education: Secondary

3

EDSE 442Language and Literacy for Students with Severe Delays

3

EDSE 443Support Systems in Special Education

3

EDSE 460Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students with Disabilities

3

ASLS 266Normal Speech and Language Development

3

ASLS 365Language Disorders in Children

3

EDRD 410Achieving Effective Instruction in Developmental Reading

3

EDRD 411Elementary Reading Diagnosis and Individualization

3

MATH 283Fundamental Mathematics III: Geometry and Measurement

3

Foreign Language

Choose one of the following courses:

ASL 101American Sign Language I

3

Any Foreign Language Course

3-5

ASL 101 is recommended.

Choose one of the following courses:

EED 341Methods for Teaching Composition in Secondary Schools

3

EED 342Methods and Materials for Teaching Language and Composition in the Elementary School

3

3. Required PTEP (Main Campus) — 23-24 credits

Application for Initial Admission to PTEP

Application for Full Admission to PTEP

Successfully Pass Program Specific PRAXIS Test

Sucessfully complete Application for Student Teaching

EDSE 270Field-Based Experience

3

EDSE 444Student Teaching in Special Education

1-15

EDSE 270: EDSE 271 may be substituted for EDSE 270 only with advisor consent based on documented prior experience in a K-12 school.

EDSE 444: must be taken for 12 credits.

Choose one of the following courses:

EDF 366Conceptions of Schooling: Context and Process

3

EDF 370Social Foundations of Education

3

Complete both:

ET 247Technology in Education for Elementary Teaching

1

ET 347Educational Technology Applications for Elementary Teaching

1

or complete

ET 449Integrating Technologies into Secondary Education Pedagogy

3

Choose one of the following courses:

PSY 347Educational Psychology for Elementary Teachers

3

PSY 349Educational Psychology for Secondary Teachers

3

Center for Urban Education

The Center for Urban Education offers the full comprehensive four-year Special Education BA Program. 

All other courses listed in the areas of LAC and Major Credits apply to Center for Urban Education students.

3. Required PTEP (Center for Urban Education) — 21-22 credits

Application for Initial Admission to PTEP

Application for Full Admission to PTEP

Successfully Pass Program Specific PRAXIS Test

Sucessfully complete Application for Student Teaching

EDSE 170Introduction to Field Based Experience

1-3

EDSE 370Advanced Field-Based Experience

1-3

EDSE 371Action Research Project

1

EDSE 444Student Teaching in Special Education

1-15

EDSE 170: Must be taken for 3 credits: Take for 3 semesters, 1 credit each semester.

EDSE 370: Must be taken for 3 credits: Take for 3 semesters, 1 credit each semester.

EDSE 444: Must be taken for 6 credits.

Choose one of the following courses:

EDF 366Conceptions of Schooling: Context and Process

3

EDF 370Social Foundations of Education

3

Complete both:

ET 247Technology in Education for Elementary Teaching

1

ET 347Educational Technology Applications for Elementary Teaching

1

or complete:

ET 449Integrating Technologies into Secondary Education Pedagogy

3

Choose one of the following courses:

PSY 347Educational Psychology for Elementary Teachers

3

PSY 349Educational Psychology for Secondary Teachers

3

Program Notes:

All courses must be successfully completed prior to enrolling in EDSE 444; All major/content courses (EDSE) must be completed at a B- or better. Prior to Student Teaching, candidates must pass both an Elementary Content Test (either the Praxis or Place test) and the Special Education Generalist Place test.

Students must have a 2.75 GPA at UNC by the time 30 semester hours are completed. A 2.75 GPA is required for Application for Initial Admission to PTEP and Application for Full Admission to PTEP. 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 444.

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. 

Special Education majors do not take EDRD 340, EDSE 433, and EDFE 444; required major courses will meet these requirements (EDSE 201, EDRD 410 and EDSE 444).

This major allows K-12 special education teachers to learn and apply the roles and responsibilities they must perform on a daily basis:

  • assess and identify students with disabilities;
  • plan an Individualized Education program in collaboration with other professionals and parents under the rules and regulations of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the Colorado Exceptional Children Education Act;
  • provide direct individualized instruction and interventions in learning and behavior to meet the unique needs of students with disabilities; provide support to students with disabilities in the Liberal Arts Core (LAC) curriculum through consultation and collaboration with Liberal Arts Core teachers; and provide adaptations and support systems in collaboration and consultation with LAC teachers; thereby providing an advantage to the student attaining this degree over those preparing to teach with a Liberal Arts Degree.