Degrees and Requirements
PreK-12 Special Education
A major in PreK-12 Special Education is meant to prepare students for a career as a highly qualified Special Education teacher in Pennsylvania. To earn state teaching certification, students must meet all of the teaching competencies and certification requirements set by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
To successfully complete the Special Education major, the following coursework is required:
- 81 credits of Required Coursework
- 37 CORE Credits
- 2 General Elective Credits
- A minimum number of 120 credits are required for degree, the last 30 of which, and 50% of the major must be earned at La Roche University. Developmental course work does not count toward the minimum number of required credits for graduation.
NOTE: Education majors enter La Roche as a candidate for the teaching certification programs. In order to become an Official Education Major, students must complete the following requirements by the time they earn 60 total credits (including transferable credits):
- Overall GPA of at least 3.0
- Security Clearances within the past six months
- PA Child Abuse History Clearance
- PA State Police Criminal Record Check
- FBI Fingerprinting Check
- Basic Skills Requirement
- Passing scores for Reading, Writing, and Math exams (could include eligible scores from SAT, ACT, PAPA, and CORE)
Summary of Requirements
Education Requirements: 38 credits
EDSP2015INTRO TO HIGH INCIDENCE
Credits (Min/Max): 3/3
This course provides students an opportunity to explore foundations of special education in the United States including: characteristics of each disability category, legislation, over-representation of diverse students, academic and functional needs of students with disabilities, individual learning differences, least restrictive environment, implications for a Standards Aligned System, collaboration and transition. Students will develop an understanding of Accommodations and Adaptations for inclusive environments.
EDSP2025LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS AND
Credits (Min/Max): 3/3
PREREQUISITE: EDSP2015, GRADE OF C OR BETTER This course will introduce students to behavior and misbehaviors of students in the school setting, types of misbehavior roles, establish a classroom management plan that will reflect their consideration of students with disabilities, problem solving, conflict resolution, assessing appropriate and problematic behaviors while establishing opportunities for students with diverse backgrounds to interact and share in cooperative learning groups, problem solving to achieve common goals. "Application Models" will be the framework used to demonstrate the approaches used by pioneers as well as 21st century researchers and educators.
EDSP3015INTRO TO LOW INCIDENCE
Credits (Min/Max): 3/3
This course is designed to prepare students with the skills necessary to effectively teach individuals with severe disabilities, identify the relationships of organizations to school systems, laws and policies that are related to the implementation of specialized health care in the educational setting, and demonstrate the knowledge and understanding of individuals so as to develop effective instructional plans that will contribute to effective programs.
EDUC1010INTRO TO EDUCATION AND FIELD
Credits (Min/Max): 3/3
This course is designed to deepen understanding of the professional world of education and recognize the responsibilities of an effective and ethical educator. Students will become familiar with the teacher expectations outlined in the PA Code of Professional Practice and Conduct for Educators and the PA Educator Discipline Act. Completing observations in diverse classrooms and school settings will provide students the opportunity to connect course topics to real-world teaching. Throughout the course, students will be encouraged to reflect upon their decision to become a teacher by explaining how their learning will impact their future pedagogy
EDUC2000
Credits (Min/Max): /
EDUC2010INITIAL FIELD EXPERIENCE
Credits (Min/Max): 2/2
PREREQUISITE: EDUC1010, GRADE OF C OR BETTER This initial field experience course will provide students with the opportunity to observe and reflect on elements within various classroom environments. This experience will allow the student to interact with the learners in a variety of ways, develop knowledge of effective educational practices, and demonstrate professionalism in an educational setting. Seminars will be included with this course in which students will assess, evaluate, and discuss the field experience.
EDUC2020TEACHING SOCIAL STUDIES
Credits (Min/Max): 3/3
PREREQUISITE: EDUC1010, GRADE OF C OR BETTER This class focuses on effective instructional strategies for teaching social studies in an inclusive classroom. Students will become familiar with the learning standards and thematic strands of social studies identified by the National Council for the Social Studies, which include the disciplines of geography, history, economics, and civics and government. Emphasis will be on organizing subject matter and translating it to children through a variety of instructional methods. An integral part of the course will be a field experience placement, which will allow the student to connect theory to practice.
EDUC2025CHILDREN'S LITERATURE
Credits (Min/Max): 3/3
MATH2000
Credits (Min/Max): /
PSYC1021INTRO TO PSYCHOLOGY
Credits (Min/Max): 3/3
This survey course introduces students to several critical areas of psychology. Throughout the course, there is an emphasis on the scientific method, its application to psychology, and the insights gained from scientific research. The interactions among biological processes, cognitive and emotional responses, sociocultural forces, and behavior are examined. Included are such diverse topics as: health, stress, and coping; consciousness, sleep and dreams; effects of psychoactive drugs on behavior and health; psychological disorders; social psychology; types of learning and behavior management, information processing approaches including memory, encoding and retrieval; and the relationship of the nervous system to thought, feelings, and behaviors.
PSYC2022CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Credits (Min/Max): 3/3
PREREQUISITE: PSYC1021 OR PSYC1021H This course provides students with a comprehensive introduction to the field of developmental science with emphasis on the period from conception through middle childhood. The course approaches development by making use of both historical and contemporary scientific theory and investigates the major domains of development--biological, cognitive, social and emotional-from a chronological perspective.
PREREQUISITES:
PSYC1021 or PSYC1021H
PSYC2061EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
Credits (Min/Max): 3/3
PREREQUISITE: PSYC1021 OR PSYC1021H This course provides an introduction to educational psychology, the science of learning and teaching. Students will be exposed to the research methods used in psychological science, theoretical approaches to cognitive development and learning, and applications of those theories to understanding student behavior in the context of the school environment.
PREREQUISITES:
PSYC1021 or PSYC1021H
PSYC3152APPLIED BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS
Credits (Min/Max): 3/3
PREREQUISITE: PSYC1021 OR PSYC1021H This course will address basic principles of learning and conditioning as well as their usefulness in behavior modification. Applications to normal and abnormal behavior in the home, school, work and other environments will be emphasized.
PREREQUISITES:
PSYC1021 or PSYC1021H
Education Requirements: Official Major Status Required: 43 credits
EDSP3010LITERACY INSTRUCTION AND
Credits (Min/Max): 3/3
This course provides the foundation for teaching reading according to PA learning standards for students with a broad range of abilities and diverse cultural backgrounds. The course emphasizes research-based instructional approaches and interventions for Middle and Secondary level students including word level instruction, text level comprehension, reading-writing connection, and assessment. A field experience is a required component of this course.
EDSP3025EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTIONAL
Credits (Min/Max): 3/3
PREREQUISITE: EDSP2015, GRADE OF C OR BETTER The Instructional Strategies Course identifies and implements instructional strategies for all individuals with disabilities by evidenced-based methods, specialized resources, multiple instructional approaches, appropriate adaptations and technology, integrating student initiated learning opportunities and experiences into ongoing instruction. Teach learning strategies and modify the pace of instruction within and across curricula, demonstrate efficient differentiated instruction, efficient planning, coordination, and delivery for effective instruction required for inclusive settings.
EDSP3035SPECIAL EDUCATION PRACTICUM
Credits (Min/Max): 2/2
PREREQUISITE: EDSP2015, GRADE OF C OR BETTER This course provides a special education field experience placement and seminar based on the Effective Instructional Strategies course. The student will be assigned a class or a small group of students where he/she will create and implement lessons weekly according to the students’ IEP, learning needs, and PA learning standards. The student will demonstrate and promote effective strategies for teaching children of all ability ranges in his/her lessons plans and teaching. The student will spend one period a week teaching in a classroom. This will be accompanied with a seminar focusing on the plans and teaching that is implemented weekly.
EDSP3040EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT
Credits (Min/Max): 3/3
PREREQUISITE: EDUC1010, GRADE OF C OR BETTER This required course for all education majors will explore the instructional purposes for a variety of assessment strategies, such as: authentic, screening, diagnostic, formative, benchmark, and summative assessments. Future teachers will learn how to interpret assessment data, such as standardized test scores and norms, and will practice how to communicate assessment results to educational stakeholders, while considering legal and ethical issues related to assessment data, such as maintaining confidentiality. Future teachers will also create sample assessments that target academic standards and assessment anchors within subject areas, in order to measure mastery of the curriculum in more than one way.
EDSP4010TRANSITION PLANNING FOR
Credits (Min/Max): 2/2
The focus of this course is to prepare the Special Education Teacher Candidate with an authentic overview of the transition process for secondary students with disabilities through field experience, informational sessions, and interactive online coursework. The course emphasizes evidence-based best practices with a focus on self-determination and self-advocacy to help students plan and prepare for life after high school in the areas of post-secondary education, employment and independent living.
EDSP4015DEVELOPMENT OF THE IEP AND
Credits (Min/Max): 3/3
PREREQUISITE: EDSP2015, GRADE OF C OR BETTER The focus of this culminating course is to prepare the student teacher with a realistic overview of teaching special education in Pennsylvania. The student will create an IEP, become familiar with Inclusion and collaboration, write reflections based on current issues/trends in special education, participate in discussions, create useful artifacts, discuss significant court cases, and understand Transition. The student will also comprehend the special education continuum of services available to the identified student.
EDSP4070SPECIAL EDUCATION STUDENT
Credits (Min/Max): 6/6
PREREQUISITE: EDSP4015, GRADE OF C OR BETTER The Special Education Student Teaching Course is designed to allow teacher candidates an opportunity to apply skills learned in professional practice, human development, learning environments, instructional strategies, instructional planning, diversity, adaptations and accommodations, collaboration, behavior management, assessment, and transition in a 7-12 grade special education placement. Under the supervision of a school district cooperating teacher(s) and a La Roche University supervisor, the teacher candidate will design, implement and evaluate lessons that appropriately address the IEP goals and meet the PA Academic Standards and Assessment Anchors. Student teachers will demonstrate skills that include, but are not be limited to: differentiated instruction, universal design, collaborative teaching, transition planning and research based data driven instruction to meet the needs of all students.
EDUC3005PRIMARY LITERACY METHODS AND
Credits (Min/Max): 3/3
This course provides the foundation for teaching literacy aligned with the Pennsylvania Standards for students in the primary grades with a broad range of abilities and cultural backgrounds. The focus is on evidence-based literacy instruction around the essential components of literacy: oral language, phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, and writing. An integral part of this course will include a practicum in a primary grade (PreK-2nd grade) classroom.
EDUC3010PRIMARY MATH METHODS AND
Credits (Min/Max): 3/3
This course provides an exploration of the principles for teaching primary math concepts according to guidelines provided in the Pennsylvania Standards and by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Teacher candidates will become proficient in using math manipulatives to help students learn mathematical concepts. An integral part of this course will be a practicum, where teacher candidates will be placed in a primary classroom (PreK-2nd grade) in order to connect theory with practice.
EDUC3020INTERMEDIATE LITERACY METHODS
Credits (Min/Max): 3/3
This course provides the foundation for teaching literacy aligned with the Pennsylvania Core Standards for students in the intermediate grades with a broad range of abilities and cultural backgrounds. The focus is on evidence-based literacy instruction around the following essential components of literacy: phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, and writing. An integral part of this course will be a practicum, where teacher candidates will be placed in an intermediate classroom (3rd-6th grade) in order to connect theory with practice.
EDUC3025INTERMEDIATE MATH METHODS AND
Credits (Min/Max): 3/3
This course provides an exploration of the principles for teaching intermediate math concepts according to guidelines provided in the Pennsylvania Math Standards and Assessment Anchors and by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Teacher candidates will become proficient in using math manipulatives to help students learn mathematical concepts. An integral part of this course will be a practicum, where teacher candidates will be placed in an intermediate classroom (3rd-6th grade) in order to connect theory with practice.
EDUC4005EDUCATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS AND
Credits (Min/Max): 3/3
This course is designed to prepare teacher candidates for student teaching and employment in the field of education. Teacher candidates will finalize professional documents, engage in professional development,identify school, district, and community resources, participate in service learning, and research best practices to set professional goals. Assignments will provide an opportunity to share information with multiple stakeholders to support families and children in meaningful and culturally responsive ways. Teacher candidates will demonstrate aspects as outlined in the PA Code of Professional Practice and Conduct for Educators, the PA Educator Discipline Act and the MCEE Code of Ethics.