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SPE 209. Introduction to Exceptional Individuals
3 credits
This course is designed to introduce pre-service candidates to the philosophical, legal, historical foundations of the education of exceptional students. Exceptional is used by educators to describe any individual whose physical, mental, or behavioral performance deviates substantially from the norm, either higher or lower. In this course, exceptional students will include individuals with disabilities and/or giftedness. A study of the models and theories of typical/atypical growth, behaviors and the current identification criteria used to describe the characteristics of exceptional learners will be emphasized. This course requires a field experience.
SPE 305. Teaching Young Children with Severe Disabilities
3 credits
Students will learn and become familiar with a wide range of instructional strategies to facilitate the academic success of children with low incidence or severe disabilities. They will learn to use multiple instructional strategies for all students to integrate social, behavioral and academic learning into daily routines and activities, including individual, small group, and whole group instruction based on levels of need. Students will also learn to identify and use specialized resources in order to implement specially designed instruction for individuals with severe disabilities, including adaptations and technology. This course requires a field experience.
SPE 306. Teaching Young Children with EBD
3 credits
SPE 307. Teaching Young Children with Learning Disabilities
3 credits
The purpose of this class is to provide pre-service candidates with a variety of research that looks at the developmental indicators that are early signs of problems (or learning disabilities) in young children. Accumulating research shows the importance of early identification of young children who show signs of learning difficulties and the value of providing early interventions. This course requires a field experience.
SPE 308. Teaching Young Children with Developmental Disabilities
3 credits
The purpose of this course is to provide an overview of the knowledge and skills needed to be effective in teaching young children with developmental disabilities and autism spectrum disorders (PDD or autism). The course focuses on physical and health impairments that impede learning in early childhood. It also reviews secondary conditions that often accompany physical or health disabilities including hearing loss, vision loss, learning disabilities and attention deficits. The course will also review evidence-based practice for young children who have significant cognitive limitations and/or autism. This course requires a field experience
SPE 309. Intensive Instructional Interventions in Reading, Writing, and Math
3 credits
This course is designed to prepare pre-service students to plan, organize, and adapt instruction in the curricula areas of reading, writing and mathematics. The use of a 2009-2010
Education
The purpose of this class is to provide pre-service teachers with a variety of researchbased practices for managing a range of challenging behaviors in early childhood settings while providing them with strategies for instructing children who have emotional/ behavioral difficulties. The course emphasizes the premise that caring relationships provide a powerful tool when used in conjunction with evidencebased practices when formal behavioral interventions plans are needed. Students will learn to implement behavioral interventions based on functional analyses of behaviors. Teaching social skills within the context of peer interactions and play will be discussed. The importance of collaborating with families and other professional to address children’s learning needs will also be emphasized. This course requires a field experience.