Special Education (EDUCST-PH, SPE)

Special Education (EDUCST-PH, SPE) Specialization leading to Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Studies

Prerequisites (10 hours)

The following courses are pre-requisites for the specialization. Students who have taken these courses in previous educational work will need to demonstrate completion documented through an advising report or transcript. If students have not taken these courses, they can take them as part of their program requiring up to a minimum of 63-66 credit hours for graduation.

• ESSPED 5650 Introduction to Exceptional Children (3)
• ESSPED 5742 Applied Behavior Analysis for Teachers (3)
• ESQREM 6641 Introduction to Educational Statistics (4)

Program Requirements (21 hours)

Doctoral Core Courses (6 hours)

• EDUCST 6891 Proseminar in Educational Studies (3)
• EDUCST 6892 Educational Policy and Inequality in Social and Cultural Context: Integrating Research Traditions (3)

Research Requirement (choose five, minimum 15 hours)

Required Research Courses

• ESSPED 8861 Single Case Research Design (3)
• ESQUAL 8280 Qualitative Research in Education: Paradigms, Theories, and Exemplars (3) - OR - ESQREM 7648 GLM I: Introduction to Regression and ANOVA (4)

Additional Research Courses (choose a minimum of 3 courses, minimum 9 credit hours from courses listed below in consultation with your advisor)

Qualitative Sequence

• ESQUAL 8280 Qualitative Research in Education (3) (if not chosen above)
• EDUTL 7431 The Ethnography of Literacy and Language I (4)
• EDUTL 7432 The Ethnography of Literacy and Language II (4)
• EDUTL 8001 Discourse Analysis and Educational Research I (4)
• EDUTL 8002 Discourse Analysis and Educational Research II (4)
• ESQUAL 8290 Qualitative Research in Education: Methods and Analysis (3)

Basic Quantitative Analysis

• ESQREM 6641 Introduction to Educational Statistics (4) (if not chosen above)
• ESQREM 7627 Sampling Designs and Survey Research Methods (3)
• ESQREM 7648 GLM I: Introduction to Regression and ANOVA (4) - OR -
• EDUTL 8890 Advanced Seminar (3)

Advanced Quantitative Analysis Sequence

• ESQREM 8648 Multivariate Analysis (3)
• ESQREM 7643 Categorical Data Analysis (3)
• ESQREM 8658 Applied Multilevel Data Analysis (3)
• ESQREM 8659 Structural Equation Modeling (3)
• ESQREM 8895 Seminars: Quantitative Research, Evaluation and Measurement (3)

Single Subject

• ESSPED 8874 Behavioral Research in Education (3)

Specialization Requirements (minimum 15 hours)

• EDUCST 5765 Grant Writing (3)
• ESEPSY 7404 College Teaching (3)
• ESSPED 8875 Professional Writing/Publishing in Special Education (3)
• ESSPED 8891 Contemporary Issues in Special Education (3)
• ESEADM 8317 Legal Aspects of Special Education (3)

Field Experience Requirements (minimum 6 hours)

• ESSPED 8193 Advanced Independent Study: Special Education (1-12)
• ESSPED 8189 Field Experience (3-6)
• ESSPED 8998 Research: Special Education (1-15)

Track Requirement (21 hours)

In consultation with your faculty advisor, students will choose one track in Applied Behavior Analysis, Teaching and Learning (d/Deaf and Hard of Hearing), Intellectual/Developmental disabilities, or High Incidence Disabilities.

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) (minimum of 21 hours)

• ESSPED 7830 Urban Education & Precision Teaching (3)
• ESSPED 8921 Ethics (3)
• ESSPED 8832 Advanced Applied Behavior Analysis (3)
• ESSPED 8871 Translational Research (3)
• ESSPED 8200 Basic Behavior Analysis (3)
• ESSPED 8916 Behaviorism: Application and Implications of Skinner’s Work (1.5)
• ESSPED 8917 Verbal Behavior (1.5)
• ESSPED 8191 Board Certified Behavior Analyst Supervision (3 repeatable to 12)

Teaching and Learning: d/Deaf and Hard of Hearing Education (minimum of 15 hours)

Complete a minimum of 15 credit hours by completing the required course and completing one content area from the list below

Required for all content areas (3 semester hours)

• ESSPED 7550 Advanced Studies in Deafness (3)

Select ONE Content Area within the d/Deaf and Hard of Hearing Education Track:

Content Area One: Reading/ Literacy (12 hours)

Students must have some background in reading/literacy; if not, additional courses will be required.

Required Course

• ESSPED 6556 Reading for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students (3)
• Choose at least 9 additional semester hours in consultation with your advisor
  • EDUTL 8311 Research in Emergent Literacy (3)
  • ESSPED 8998 Research in Special Education (1-15)
  • ESSPED 8193 Advanced Individual Studies (1-12)
  • ESSPED XXXX (3)

Content Area Two: Second Language Learning (courses in Foreign, Second and Multilingual Education (choose 12 credit hours of content area coursework in consultation with your advisor)

• EDUTL 7344 Bilingualism and Biliteracy (3)
• ESSPED 8998 Research in Special Education (1-15)
• ESSPED 8193 Advanced Individual Studies (1-12)
• Choice (3)

Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities (IDD) (12 credit hours)

• Required Courses (6 credit hours)
  • ESSPED 8832 Advanced Applied Behavior Analysis (3)
  • ESSPED 7833 Seminar in Severe Disabilities (3)
• Choose at least two of the following courses:
  • PSYCH 7717 Developmental Disabilities: An Interdisciplinary Perspective (3)
  • ESSPED 7830 Urban Education & Precision Teaching (3)
  • PSYCH 7858 Seminar in the Assessment of Developmental Disabilities (3)
  • PSYCH 7859 Psychopharmacology of the Developmental Disabilities (3)
  • PSYCH 7899 IDD Seminar: Topics in Developmental Disabilities (3)
  • EDUCST 7718 Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Autism Spectrum Disorders (3)
  • EDUCST 8191 Research Apprenticeship (1-12)

High Incident Disabilities (HID) (12 credit hours)

• Required Courses (6 credit hours)
  • ESSPED 8832 Advanced Applied Behavior Analysis (3)
  • ESSPED 7831 Seminar in High Incidence Disabilities (3)
• Choose at least two of the following courses:
  • ESSPED 5734 Methods of Instruction: Elementary Children with Mild/Moderate Disabilities (3)
  • ESSPED 5735 Methods of Instruction: Secondary Students with Mild/Moderate Disabilities (3)
  • ESSPED 5743 Educational Assessment of Students with Mild/Moderate Disabilities (3)
  • ESSPED 7830 Urban Education & Precision Teaching (3)
  • ESSPSY 8060 Linking Academic Assessment to Intervention (3)
  • PSYCH 5600 Psychobiology of Learning and Memory (3)
  • PSYCH 3313 Introduction to Behavioral Neuroscience (3)*
  • PSYCH 3513 Introduction to Cognitive Neuroscience (3)*
  • PSYCH 5614 Cognitive Neuroscience (3)
  • ESSPED 5738 Reading Instruction for Children with Disabilities and Severe Reading Deficits (3)
  • EDUTL 7430 Phonics, World Study, and the Complexities of English Orthography (3)

*undergraduate course not applied to doctoral degree

Minimum hours post-MA/MS: 60