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St. Cloud State University

St. Cloud State University

Graduate Bulletin Table of Contents

Special Education Graduate Programs (SPED) Education Building

Offered through the Department of Special Education
in the College of Education
A211 Education Building
Phone: 320.308.2041
Fax: 320.308.3475
E-mail: mbnoll@stcloudstate.edu
Department Web site: www.stcloudstate.edu/sped
Graduate Handbook: http://www.stcloudstate.edu/sped/handbooks/graduate/default.asp

Department Coordinator: Dr. Mary Beth Noll
Department Secretary: Ms. Kathy Meyer

Graduate Coordinator: Dr. Adory Beutel
Graduate Faculty: Ankeny, K. Johnson, Kaffar, Markell, Noll, Pickle, D. Rogers, Salk,Seo, Wellik, Wilkins

Accreditations and Memberships

  • Council for Exceptional Children

Program Overview

Special education options

  • Master of Science in Special Education
  • Special Education Certificate Program
    • Learning disabilities
    • Emotional/behavioral disorders
    • Developmental disabilities
    • Physical/health disabilities

Special Education, Master of Science Program

  • Most master's degree candidates take a minimum of 18 licensure credits to secure and add a special education licensure degree to their M.S.
  • It is possible, though, for students to earn a master's degree in special education that does not lead to teacher licensure if that is the student's preference.

Admission Requirements Specific to the Programs

  • For admission to the Master of Science in Special Education a student must have earned at least a 2.75 GPA over the last two years of their undergraduate education.
  • M.S. applicants are required to take the GRE for admission.

Length of Program — Measured by Semesters

  • Part-time students seeking licensure who already possess a Minnesota teaching license may complete all but one or two courses during two summer semesters.
  • Full-time Master of Science in Special Education students may complete course work requirements in day or evening classes and will be given priority registration.

Graduate Assistantship Overview

  • Six graduate assistantship positions are offered for the academic year to students admitted to the master of science program.
  • GAs assist in supervision of undergraduate field experiences or with assessment/assistive technology labs.

Degrees and Plans Offered

  • Master of Science: Special Education, Plan A (Thesis) 30 credits
  • Master of Science: Special Education, Plan B (One Starred Paper) 33 credits
  • Certificate Program: Students who complete the program will receive a certificate.

Practicum Experience

  • All students seeking licensure must complete a practicum in their chosen area(s).
  • For candidates with a teaching license, a minimum of one on-the-job and one summer practicum are required in order to earn licensure endorsement.
  • In order to be eligible for a summer practicum, students must have a minimum of one year of contractual teaching experience.
  • Students are allowed to add no more than one license during one summer practicum.
  • Prior to summer practicum, students are expected to complete all other program requirements.

Master of Science — Special Education

Research courses
Plan A, 15 credit minimum; Plan B, 9 credit minimum

  • CEEP 678. Graduate Statistics, 3 credits
  • SPED 601. Trends and Problems in SPED, 3 credits
  • SPED 602. Research in SPED, 3 credits
  • SPED 699. Thesis (Plan A only), 6 credits

Core courses
Plan A, 9 credit minimum; Plan B, 18 credit minimum

  • SPED 503. Special Education Foundations, 3 credits
  • SPED 505. Behavior Theories and Practices in Special Education, 3 credits
  • SPED 511. Special Education Procedural Safeguards, 3 credits
  • SPED 513. Mathematics and Technology for Students with Special Needs, 3 credits
  • SPED 516. Individualized Assessment in Special Education, 3 credits
  • SPED 518. General Education Reading and Language Arts for Special Education, 2 credits
  • SPED 519. Teaching Methods in Special Education, 4 credits
  • SPED 520. Characteristics of Students with Physical, Health and Developmental Disabilities, 3 credits
  • SPED 521. Characteristics of Students with Learning and Behavior Disorders, 3 credits
  • SPED 531. Collaboration Skills and Transitional Planning in Diverse Settings, 3 credits
  • SPED 545. Content Area Instruction for Students with Mild Disabilities, 3 credits
  • SPED 622. Emotional/Behavioral Disorders Methods, 3 credits
  • SPED 646. Learning Disabilities Methods, 3 credits
  • SPED 647. Developmental Disabilities Methods: Moderate/Severe, 3 credits
  • SPED 650. Practicum in Physical/Health Disabilities, 3 credits
  • SPED 660. Practicum in Developmental Disabilities: Mild/Moderate, 3 credits
  • SPED 670. Practicum in Emotional/Behavioral Disorders I, 3 credits
  • SPED 680. Practicum in Learning Disabilities I, 3 credits
  • SPED 651. Practicum in Physical/Health Disabilities I, 3 credits
  • SPED 661. Practicum in Developmental Disabilities: Moderate/Severe, 3 credits
  • SPED 671. Practicum in Emotional/Behavioral Disorders II, 3 credits
  • SPED 681. Practicum in Learning Disabilities II, 3 credits

Professional education courses
Plan A or B, 3 credit minimum

  • For electives from outside the Department of Special Education, please discuss choices with the adviser.

Elective courses
Plan A or B, 3 credits

  • SPED 690. Topical Seminar, 3 credits
  • SPED Non-licensure elective, 3 credits

Special Education Certificate Programs

SCSU offers course work for the following state of Minnesota licensures:

  • Learning Disabilities (LD)
  • Emotional/Behavioral Disorders (E/BD)
  • Developmental Disabilities (DD)
  • Physical/Health Disabilities (P/HD)

Certificate Program Overview

In order to obtain special education teacher licensure, students must document mastery of the Minnesota Board of Teaching Standards included in the 19-credit special education core.

  • To receive licensure, students in addition, must complete 12 credits of disability-specific course work and practica.
  • Students with a secondary or K-12 teaching license must take an additional six credits.
  • Students with a non-teaching degree must take an additional 20 to 21 credits.
  • The graduate certificate program is designed to prepare individuals to teach K-12 students with learning disabilities (LD), emotional/behavioral disorders (E/BD) developmental disabilities (DD), and physical/health disabilities (P/HD).
  • An elementary or secondary teaching license is not required to obtain special education teacher licensure at the graduate level. However, an additional 20 to 21 credits may be required in order to document mastery of core teaching standards.
  • Individuals seeking a Minnesota teaching license for the first time must take the Praxis I Pre-Professional Skills test (PPST) and two Praxis II tests (SPED Core #0353 and PLT #0522).
  • Individuals with a teaching license seeking special education licensure for the first time must take the Praxis II SPED Core #0353 test only.
  • Information regarding the tests may be obtained from the Office of Clinical Experiences by calling 320.308.4783 or contacting www.ets.org/praxis.
  • Students only completing licensure requirements will not receive a certificate from SCSU. Those completing the entire certificate program will take a minimum of 30 credits to receive the certificate.

Admission Requirements Specific to the Certificate Program

  • Certificate applicants are not required to take the GRE for admission.
  • Certificate applicants must have earned at least a 2.75 GPA over the last two years of their undergraduate education.

Licensure Special Education Core

19 credits

  • SPED 503. Special Education Foundations, 3 credits
  • SPED 505. Behavior Theories and Practices, 3 credits
  • SPED 511. SPED Procedural Safeguards, 3 credits
    SPED 515. Assistive Technology, 3 credits
  • SPED 516. Individualized Assessment SPED, 3 credits
  • SPED 519. Teaching Methods in SPED, 4 credits
  • SPED 531. Collaborative Skills and Transition Planning, 3 credits

Licensure courses

Learning Disabilities (LD)

  • SPED 521. Characteristics of Students with LD/EBD, 3 credits
  • SPED 646. LD Methods, 3 credits
  • SPED 680/681. Practicum in LD, 6 credits

Emotional/Behavioral Disorders (E/BD)

  • SPED 521. Characteristics of Students with LD/EBD, 3 credits
  • SPED 622. E/BD Methods, 3 credits
  • SPED 670/671. Practicum in E/BD, 6 credits

Developmental Disabilities (DD)

  • SPED 520. Characteristics of Students with DD/PHD, 3 credits
  • SPED 647. DD Methods, 3 credits
  • SPED 660/661. Practicum in LD, 6 credits

Physical/Health Disabilities (P/HD)

  • SPED 520. Characteristics of Students with DD/PHD, 3 credits
  • SPED 648. P/HDD Methods, 3 credits
  • SPED 650/651. Practicum in P/HD, 6 credits

Additional requirements for students with Secondary and K-12 Licenses

  • SPED 513. Mathematics for Special Needs, 3 credits
  • SPED 518. General Education Reading/Language Arts, 3 credits

Additional requirements for students with a non-teaching degree

  • SPED 513. Mathematics for Special Needs 3, credits
  • SPED 518. General Education Reading/Language Arts, 3 credits
  • SPED 545. Content Area Instruction Mild Disabilities, 3 credits
  • SPED 553. General Education Field Experience, 1-2 credits
  • CEEP 262. Human Growth and Development, 3 credits
  • CEEP 361. Educational Psychology, 3 credits
  • HLTH 505. Mood-Modifying Substances, 3 credits
  • HURL 597/598. Human Relations and the Teacher, 3/1 credit