Students interested in majoring in Special Education – Learning Disabilities can declare this major when applying for university admission. Students also must apply to the College of Education and be formally admitted in order to complete their program. Typically, the application to the College of Education is submitted during their sophomore year.
After admission to the Teacher Preparation Program in Special Education-LD, students become more familiar with the procedures, people and policies of the program. Students in the Special Education program take classes alongside students in Elementary Education program, in addition to Special Education courses. The Special Education courses are in the Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology and Special Education and are CEP 301, CEP 302, CEP 339, CEP 345, CEP 349, CEP 351, CEP 401, CEP 402, CEP 403, CEP 404, CEP 405.
Along with the professional education courses, students continue to take their other university and program requirements. Most of the professional education courses have an important field component through which students spend a certain number of hours a week in classrooms.
At the beginning of their program, students must select an elementary grade band: PK-3 or 3-6. Please speak with your advisor for more information.
Spartans graduating from this program will leave with both an Elementary Education certification (within their grade band) and a Learning Disabilities (K-12) endorsement.
During the last year of the program, students begin a one-year teaching internship.
One semester is spent in a general elementary setting and the other semester is spent in a special education setting.
After all undergraduate, internship and state of Michigan certification requirements are met, students are eligible to apply for a Michigan provisional teaching certificate.
Teacher candidates in the program are held to high academic and professional standards and are encouraged to fully participate in their classes and field placements as well as activities and organizations related to the field of education.