Special Education for Moderate and Severe Disabilities, Master of Arts in Education (0438)
Department website: http://www.wku.edu/ste/
Program Coordinator
Janet L. Tassell, janet.tassell@wku.edu, (270) 745-5306
Program Contact
Christina Heady, christina.heady@wku.edu, (270) 745-2082
The MAE Special Education program in Moderate and Severe Disabilities offers courses and experiences for the advanced preparation of special education teachers who teach students with low incidence disabilities.
Program Admission
Applicants must have or be eligible for a teaching certificate and must submit a copy of the certificate or statement of eligibility with their applications.
Graduate Studies Admission
Please refer to the admission section of this catalog for Graduate Studies admission requirements.
Program Requirements (33 hours)
This program will focus on the assessment, instructional strategies, and/or areas of professional growth consistent with serving students with Moderate and Severe Disabilities.
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| EDU 502 | Positive Learning Environment | 3 |
| SPED 517 | Transition Services and Programs for Individuals with Disabilities | 3 |
| SPED 630 | Special Education Law and Finance | 3 |
| SPED 618 | Social Skills Instruction & Behavioral Programming for Students with Disabilities | 3 |
| SPED 590 | Advanced Internship in Special Education | 3 |
| SPED 501 | Introduction to Applied Behavior Analysis | 3 |
| SPED 535 | Curriculum for Individuals with Moderate and Severe Disabilities | 3 |
| SPED 529 | Assessment of Students with Moderate to Severe Disabilities | 3 |
| SPED 615 | Instructional Strategies for Students with Moderate and Severe Disabilities | 3 |
| SPED 610 | Characteristics of Low Incidence Disorders | 3 |
| SPED 612 | Collaboration between Schools and Stakeholders for Individuals with Disabilities | 3 |
Joint Undergraduate Master's Program (JUMP)
The Interdisciplinary Early Childhood Education Program offers a Joint Undergraduate Master's Program (JUMP) which provides academically outstanding students the opportunity to complete both an undergraduate Bachelor of Science degree and partially complete a graduate Master of Arts in Education degree in an accelerated timeframe. The MAE in Special Education Moderate to Severe Disabilities (MSD) prepares students to demonstrate competence when providing instructional practices for young children with moderate to severe disabilities in the early childhood classroom. Contact the graduate program coordinator for additional information, see https://catalog.wku.edu/graduate/education-behavioral-sciences/teacher-education/special-moderate-severe-disabilities-mae/
This JUMP program allows students to start working toward their MAE in Special Education Moderate to Severe Disabilities (Ref: 0438) while completing their Bachelor of Science degree in Interdisciplinary Early Childhood Education (Ref: 526). Undergraduate students admitted into JUMP may take graduate courses that count toward both undergraduate and graduate degrees. Up to 12 credit hours can be double-counted toward both degrees, and up to 15 hours of graduate courses can be taken while a student is completing the undergraduate degree. The key benefit of the JUMP program is that it allows students to earn a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in an accelerated timeframe.
To be considered for admission to the JUMP program to earn a BS in IECE and a MAE in Special Education in Moderate to Severe Disabilities in an accelerated timeframe, a student must meet the following requirements:
- Be an undergraduate student in the major of Interdisciplinary Early Childhood Education (IECE) in the School of Teacher education;
- Have completed a minimum of 60 hours, with at least 24 hours earned at WKU;
- Have at least 15 or more credit hours remaining to complete the undergraduate degree;
- Have completed or be enrolled in 15 credit hours in IECE;
- Have a minimum cumulative undergraduate GPA of 3.25;
All applicants to IECE JUMP must submit to a Graduate Coordinator the following documents for consideration: two letters of recommendation from WKU IECE OR SPED faculty members and a statement of purpose outlining academic goals and motivation for pursuing the JUMP program for MAE in Special Education in Moderate to Severe Disabilities (MSD).
Courses to be completed in this JUMP program are: SPED 529, SPED 535, SPED 610, and SPED 615.
Program Completion Requirements
Prior to earning certification, candidates must complete program requirements and meet praxis exam scores (see www.ets.org).