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Saturday November 7, 2009
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Education Specialist Program Masters Degree ProgramProgram overviewThe Master of Science in Special Education Degree program is an advanced academic program. The program is aimed at developing advanced skills and knowledge of current research in special education and demonstration of the ability to engage in reflective inquiry. As an academic program, we provide students with multiple opportunities to build upon their critical thinking and writing skills throughout their coursework with those skills being applied in the capstone experience of a comprehensive exam or a thesis. The Master of Science in Special Education Degree does not result in a credential for teaching individuals with disabilities. The faculty in the Master of Science in Special Education Degree program bring a wealth and variety of practical and research experience to the program. Faculty members have all had experience as teachers or support personnel in a variety of special education public school programs. Faculty members have experience in large scale longitudinal research as well as smaller scale qualitative research. Faculty members have published textbooks in a variety of areas including inclusive educational models, transition, and sheltered instruction. Faculty members also have published research in a variety of journals across the spectrum of special education. These papers address social aspects of inclusive educational models, the adaptations of families of children with disabilities, and issues of assistive technology. Faculty members bring these wide variety of interests and expertise into our broad and collaborative advanced academic program. The first major goal of the program is to provide students with the skills necessary for program review and development, and research analysis and utilization that will benefit individuals with disabilities and their families. Consistent with the CED mission, our goal is to nurture life long learners who engage in program development and evaluation reflective of best practices in special education as documented in the current research base. The second major goal is to expand the scope and depth of the student’s understanding about and experience with individuals with disabilities and the system of special education, which serves them. The majority of our students already have regular and specialist credentials for teaching school age children. Students also need to understand the demands that individuals with disabilities encounter prior to formal education and in their adult years as well as consideration of the life-span adjustments (birth through adulthood) of individuals with disabilities. Our students also need to understand a greater number of service delivery models and emerging research and practice which supports the knowledge base in special education. We build upon the understanding our students gained in their credential programs by continuing to emphasize our program themes: Collaboration, Diversity, Literacy, Technology, & Transition, in coursework, activities, and examinations. The third major goal of the degree program is to increase the student’s awareness and understanding of the multiple roles through which professionals meet the needs and interests of individuals with disabilities and their families. Our students are competent and caring teachers and service providers, who are partners with parents and others in the development of high quality intervention programs for individuals with disabilities. The degree program prepares students to look beyond their current positions as teachers and practitioners and to consider leadership roles in education, policymaking, and service delivery. The faculty of the Education Specialist program have aligned their Masters Degree course requirements with their Level II credential requirements. The Masters Degree and Level II credential programs have very different outcomes however. In the credential program, the focus is on effective reflective practice based upon an analysis of research on current best practices. The Masters Degree program extends that to require a strong background in research methods and statistics and to require a final synthesis of the research on current best practices in a comprehensive exam or thesis. In other words, though individual course requirements for the Level II and Masters degree are aligned, there are very different outcomes from the professional credential preparation and the advanced academic degree. Students should take this into account when they make the decision about applying to the Masters Degree program. Application processApplications for the Masters Degree program are due March 1st for students who plan to begin the program in the following Fall semester and October 1st for students who plan to begin the program in the following Spring semester. CSULB students hoping to be accepted in our Masters degree and Level II credential program after completing the Level I credential, should apply for the 2 programs concurrently. Required essays should clearly articulate the outcomes a student expects to gain from both the credential and the Masters degree program. Applications are available on our program website or from the Graduate Studies Office in the College of Education, ED1 Room 7. Students should review all program requirements in the current University Catalog prior to applying to the Masters Degree program. Students must apply to the University as well. Once students have been accepted, they will be invited to a mandatory orientation meeting. Masters Degree RequirementsAt the mandatory orientation meeting, students will complete a program planner with the Masters degree program coordinator. This program planner will assist students in taking courses in their appropriate sequence. Course offerings are somewhat limited at the Masters degree level so it is important that students take courses in the advised sequence. Students will therefore need to be available to take courses on whatever night, day, and semester they are offered. 1. Complete Prerequisites:
2. Degree RequirementsA minimum of 30 units of upper division and graduate courses with a minimum of 21 units at the 500/600-level taken at CSULB. Degree requirements include the following courses:
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