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  • BA in Special Education
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  • Generalist Initial Licensure:
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  • Special Education Added Endorsement
  • Reading Specialist - Dyslexia Focus Endorsement
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Welcome to the Department of Special Education at UCCS.

About

Special Education is a unique and challenging profession. Candidates in our program learn to teach and advocate for students with disabilities from 5 to 21 years of age to become valued members of their school, community, and workplace. Our coursework is based on principles of inclusive education; it combines on-campus and field-based learning experiences to provide opportunities for making connections between readings and the lived experience, and to critically evaluate support services with current research.

Earning a degree and/or a teaching license in special education offers you a wide range of possibilities for meaningful and rewarding employment. According to the Department of Labor, there were nearly a half of a million Special Education teachers in the U.S. in 2010, and job prospects are “expected to grow by 17 percent from 2010 to 2020.” Teachers with special education licensure are employed to teach students with and without disabilities, to collaborate and co-teach with general education teachers, to supervise paraprofessionals, to work with families and other support personnel (e.g. speech language therapists), and to provide leadership with administration and community-based organizations.

Students in the Department of Special Education Initial Licensure and Added Endorsement Programs are provided the experiences and academic support to learn how to meet the needs of all students with disabilities in the general education classroom. Students will be taught to focus on student strengths in order to support academic and social progress in inclusive environments. Coursework and practicum placements will be linked by assignments. These carefully planned assignments will allow students to practice their skills and develop techniques and materials that will lead to their successful development at teachers.

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Accreditations

Department of Special Education programs are accredited by:

• National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE)
• Colorado Department of Education (CDE)
• Colorado Commission on Higher Education (CCHE)
• Council for Exceptional Children (CEC)