Career and Education Opportunities
This online program requires a completion of 150 hours of practicum in various settings, including self-contained, inclusive, and mainstreamed classrooms. Graduate students must have successfully completed all state mandated external exams, training modules, and teaching experiences.
Our school’s mission of “Preparing teachers, counselors, and administrators as transformational leaders who honor the dignity of all people” guides our programs and informs our practice each day. This can be seen in the multiple opportunities we offer for engagement in professional activities, academic service learning, and global education consistent with the University’s Catholic and Vincentian mission.
In addition to many online learning opportunities that allow for current and effective use of online resources for research and practice in special education, and preparation for careers in an increasingly global and digital world, our students complete 150 hours of supervised special education practicum in various settings including self-contained, inclusive, and mainstreamed classrooms. Students are exposed to instructors, current researchers, and leaders in the field of special education who have many years of experience and expertise working directly with children in diverse, multicultural, and high-needs urban and suburban school settings. Our students engage in several professional and networking events throughout their program, developing competencies to effectively communicate and interact with stakeholders in collaborative and inclusive ways.
Our graduates are successful and highly proficient teachers trained to meet the highest professional standards in special education set by the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC). We are excited to welcome you to join this cadre of effective teachers and global citizens effecting change in the lives of children and youth through education and service.
Top Outcomes for this particular program
The program is designed to foster the ability of teachers to develop the skills, attitudes, and abilities needed to identify and remediate major learning and behavior disorders, ranging from mild to profound, regardless of etiology. Attention is also paid to diagnosis, intervention, program planning and program evaluation.
The program prepares graduates to:
- Understand a wide range of disabilities, including those identified in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
- Collaborate effectively with parents, educators, and related service providers
- Identify students’ strengths and needs so as to individualize and modify instruction
- Create safe, nurturing and individualized learning environments for students with disabilities, mindful of how life experiences, culture, and ethnicity shape and strengthen students as learners
- Create and implement educational programs for children with disabilities, using the most current evidence-based practices and technological resources
- Use the basic principles and strategies of the science of applied behavior analysis with students who have disabilities
- Use, interpret and analyze various forms of assessment (formal, informal, formative, summative) to gather detailed information, from multiple sources, about student learning
- Understand research in the broader context of special and inclusive education
- Apply standards set by the Council of Exceptional Children (CEC) and the Interstate New Teachers Assessment and Support Consortium (inTASC)
Career Options
- Special Education Teacher, Gr 1-6
- General Education Teacher, Gr 1-6
- Inclusive Education Teacher, Gr 1-6
- Resource Room Teacher
- Coordinator
- Advocate
- Consultant
- Professional Development
- Special Education Itinerant Teacher
Success Stories
We succeed in graduating excellent teachers, who are caring and sensitive individuals. Our graduates are always sought after by both public and private schools, including a host of Catholic programs.
Our graduates attest to their academic preparation and growth as professionals in the field of special education and inclusive collaborative services
“I felt very confident going into my first year of teaching and practicum this year after completing many of my courses”
Early Childhood Special Education Teacher
“The special education courses provided me with a different lens and particularly allowed the facilitation and continuity of being mindful of each student’s particular needs and style of learning.”
Early Childhood Special Education Teacher
“St. John’s really prepared me to grow as an educator and it prepared me to go out to schools and maintain a close connection with the teachers”
Childhood Special Education Teacher
Program News
Programs in Special Education host a College Immersion Program for Youth and Young Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities to increase inclusive opportunities in Higher Education: Funded Grant Project with the Cooke Center for Learning and Development, New York City (2016- Present).