Course variations

Course summary

The M.Ed. in Special Education is designed for individuals who desire advanced professional preparation in Special Education. The program encompasses theory, research, and practice relating to individuals who experience disabilities. Our mission is to prepare graduate students for teaching roles that support the educational growth and? development of children experiencing disabilities. This mission is consistent with the mission of the College of Education and emphasizes innovation, excellence, and collaboration. There are three major goals of the Special Education program. The primary goal of the program is to prepare teachers to work with people who have disabilities. The second goal of the program is to provide services to people who experience disabilities, their families, and school districts. These services are provided through graduate students during their internship experiences. Students gain the experience they require to become competent special educators and the community benefits from their service. The third goal of the program is to actively pursue an ongoing program of research related to our profession. The special education faculty feels that all three professional activities; i.e., teaching, service, and research, are important to the advancement of our profession. The general special education masters (mild disabilities) requires 36 credits and is offered on the web by distance delivery. For details on course length, entry requirements, previous experience required, and endorsement as a special educator in Alaska, please contact one of the Special Education team. Type A Regular Teacher Certificate is required to enroll in the endorsement course work. Candidates who do not have a Type A certification may be permitted to take the Master’s degree without the endorsement coursework but are not eligible for the endorsement. For Elementary or Secondary teachers, we are able to recommend that a Special Education endorsement be added to their current teaching certificate after successful completion of the endorsement courses (currently 24 credits). We are authorized to make the recommendation for the endorsement ONLY for the current Type A developmental level held by the candidate. To be more specific, if an applicant has a K-6 endorsement, the special education endorsement will be for K-6 only. Similarly, if the applicant is endorsed for 7-12, that is the only developmental level we can provide for the added special education endorsement. It should also be noted that the candidate has to take a substantial Internship in the area for which the endorsement applies (K-6, K-8, or 7-12 etc). We are not able to offer a recommendation for a P-12 or K-12 endorsement unless the type A certificate held is P-12 or K-12.

Entry requirement for international students

The following are the minimum prerequisite requirements into the Master of Education in Counselor Education program: Must have a Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university; Minimum undergraduate GPA of 3.0 (on 4.0 scale). Graduate Records Examination (GRE) or Miller Analogy Test (MAT) with minimum scores as follows: GRE: Verbal 400+, quantitative 400+, writing 3.5+ and MAT: 40th percentile, minimum.

Qualification

Masters

Awarding body

UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA ANCHORAGE

Department name

College of Education, Department of Counseling and Special Education