MSEd, Special Education
Ignite your teaching career by earning a master’s degree in special education at St. Thomas Aquinas College. Our comprehensive program will prepare you to teach students with special needs and help them progress and prepare for adult life. Learn to collaborate meaningfully with parents and other educators, provide positive behavioral support, identify learning needs, and measure academic progress.
Our faculty of nationally recognized scholars will inspire you to learn research-based practices and implement them in your teaching. These supportive mentors will guide you through your academic journey to realize your potential as a skilled special educator capable of meeting the diverse needs of all students.
Choose from one of two program options: grades 1-6 or grades 7-12. The grades 7-12 track provides the foundation for educators to serve as co-teachers in inclusive classrooms and to earn two New York State grades 7-12 certifications: Students with Disabilities generalist and a content area extension, Students with Disabilities.
At a glance
- 36 Credit Graduate program
CONTACT
- Joy Gallagher, Assistant Director, Transfer & Graduate Coordinator jgallagh@stac.edu | 845-398-4101
Featured Courses
Explore the special educator’s role and interrelationships with students, parents, professionals, and paraprofessionals in the inclusion of students with disabilities. Students work in a team to prepare an Individualized Education Program (IEP) for a student and simulate a full IEP meeting.
Examine the cognitive processes of perception, attention, memory, metacognition, and affective factors that influence learning in diverse learners, including students with disabilities, and English language learners. Learn how to apply the principles of cognitive psychology to motivate students and teach beginning reading skills, reading comprehension, writing, mathematics, and problem-solving in your classroom.
Study research validated instructional approaches for students with high incidence disabilities. Examine the principles of curriculum design, differentiated instruction, cognitive learning strategies, and study skills, to support student learning across content areas. Acquire strategies for monitoring progress and assessing students’ academic skills.