Childhood Special Education – MSEd, EdM

Based on the belief that language is an essential foundation for learning, this course addresses the typical processes of language acquisition in mono- and multilingual learners. Participants will examine theories of language acquisition and the role that caregivers and educators play in the development of language. In addition, participants will analyze historical, political, educational, social, and emotional factors that influence the socially constructed hierarchies of language varieties. A significant part of the course will be devoted to students who learn English as an additional language. Participants will learn how to use assessment of mono- and multilingual learners to identify appropriate instructional practices for social and academic language use in a range of educational settings. Course participants will also learn about ways of collaborating with families, colleagues, specialists, administrators, and interpreters.

This course provides the opportunity for participants to analyze and develop integrated curricula in social studies using a sociopolitical lens. Participants integrate knowledge from the six disciplines of social studies: history, anthropology, sociology, political science, geography and economics into the design of a constructivist, inquiry-based social studies curriculum. The course explores ways children come to learn and care about themselves and others through social studies. There is an emphasis on differentiating curriculum, including attention to diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds, and supporting students with disabilities.

This course examines how technology can create opportunities for access and expression for learners, including children with disabilities in learning, sensory, communication, and physical development. Through readings, discussion, and experimenting with a variety of actual technologies, participants will strengthen their capacities to match such tools to learner needs in diverse learning environments and activities. Participants will reflect on classroom experiences to ascertain how accessibility for learners can be enhanced. They will consider broader issues of access and equity, as they deepen their understandings of how technology can assist in creating more inclusive learning environments.

This course has been designed to convey the process of clinical teaching. Through focus on an individual child, students will be concerned with the practical and theoretical aspects of learning style, language as a learning tool, perceptual abilities and disabilities, dyscalculia, and specific arithmetic disability. Students will learn to analyze children’s strengths and weaknesses and to describe and clearly communicate specific recommendations for the child’s parents and classroom teacher.

In this course, participants examine the theories and practices of teaching writing, both as writers and as teachers. The goal of this dual focus is to develop meta-cognitive awareness of one’s own writing process to inform one’s teaching practice. Participants do this through discussing course texts, children’s literature, videos and children’s writing. The course explores: teaching children to select topics, draft, revise, edit and publish their own writing; designing writing curriculum that is inclusive and culturally responsive; using children’s literature to teach writing through concrete observation and inquiry; using writing conferences and assessments to guide curricular decisions; teaching writing mechanics using a constructivist approach; exploring a range of teaching methods and literature to accommodate diverse learners.

This course explores varied approaches to teaching decoding and word study to children who have learning variations with reading and spelling. Participants examine the theory and research that inform our current understandings of the reading process and explore how these understandings have changed over time. Participants study language processes and apply this linguistic knowledge when assessing children’s reading strengths and challenges. The course examines how the use of language systems varies for readers across different languages to better understand how language-based disabilities differ from the developmental patterns of learning a new language. Participants learn about varied assessment tools, methods, and intervention programs used in supporting children’s decoding. They apply this learning as they develop differentiated decoding instruction for a diverse population of learners, including those who are learning English and those who have developmental variations. This course is for students in the Childhood Special Education/ Dual Degree with Columbia University SSW and Dual Language/Bilingual Childhood Special Education Programs. Prerequisite: EDUC 860.

This course is designed to help participants create classroom environments that will meet the needs of all children, including those with disabilities. Addressing the concerns of both general and special education teachers, it incorporates presentations, role-playing, discussions, analyses of multimedia content, and informal diagnostic procedures. Participants examine the complexities of teachers’ day-to-day responsibilities and concerns, including classroom design, varied approaches to behavioral intervention, and the interplay among curricula, rules, expectations, routines, procedures, and children’s behavior.

This course is designed to increase participants’ awareness and understanding of the educational, social, cultural, linguistic and developmental implications of disability from historical, legal, and socio-political perspectives. The course will critically examine state and federal special education and disability laws and regulations and their implementation across a range of settings including their intersection with issues of race, class, language and gender. There is an emphasis on understanding how disability is socially constructed at the levels of family, community, school, and the larger society. Participants apply an understanding of disabilities to analyze and create accessible learning experiences for children. Prerequisite: EDUC 500 or permission of instructor.

This course focuses on understanding, teaching, and meeting the needs of children in emotional, social and behavioral development. Participants will critically examine the construct of children’s emotional and behavioral disabilities and approaches to intervention from historical, socio-political, mental health, and legal perspectives. There is an emphasis on understanding the intersection of these issues with the race, class, language, and gender of teachers and children. Participants will develop an in-depth case study of a child applying an inquiry orientation to the Functional Behavior Assessment-Behavior Intervention Plan. Participants will collect and analyze data from observations, interviews and other sources, and make recommendations to support ongoing social and behavioral development. Prerequisites: EDUC 803.

Building on theories of language development and learning, this course is designed to deepen graduate students’ understanding of language and communication disabilities in monolingual and bilingual children. There is an exploration of the reciprocal relationship between children’s diverse communication abilities and styles and academic, social and emotional development. The importance of teacher collaboration with other service providers is highlighted. Graduate students will reflect on their own communication styles as a means of more effectively meeting the communication needs of their students. The concept of social construction of disability will help to frame issues of equity that can guide teachers in their roles as advocates for all children. Prerequisite: EDUC 505 or EDUC 561.

This course integrates research, theory, and practice as participants learn about supporting literacy development for children with reading, writing, and language disabilities within a developmental framework. The course explores the iterative relationship between assessment and intervention and critically examines a range of evidence-based methods and materials in use in the field. Participants apply their learning as they work over multiple sessions with a child. Prerequisite: EDUC 563 or EDUC 568.

This course is designed to explore a variety of approaches used for the diagnosis, planning, and evaluation of students with disabilities. Participants will develop a critical understanding of the historical, legal and ethical considerations, appropriate use, mis-use, value, and limitations of standardized assessments including their intersection with issues of race, class, language, and gender. Participants will administer and interpret various psycho-educational tests and develop instructional plans to meet the unique needs of children with oral language, reading, writing, and math challenges. Participants will broaden their abilities to incorporate information from diagnostic reports into their teaching.

This course combines theory and practice through work with children from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds who have learning disabilities. Using assessment data gathered through formal and informal measures, students will devise educational plans for children. Participants will be exposed to a repertoire of evidence-based practices and instructional strategies in oral language, reading, written language, and math in order to promote positive learning outcomes. The course will also provide opportunities to develop and apply strategies for working with families and collaborating with other educators. Utilizing their knowledge of individual learning differences, participants will become skilled at differentiating instruction for a class of students with diverse learning needs. Prerequisite: EDUC 803.

Fieldwork in appropriate settings with supervision and advisement. Candidates in advisement participate in small-group conferences with their advisor. These seminars include the exchange and analysis of ongoing professional experiences and provide a forum for integrating theory with practice. Participants will develop their capacity to construct learning environments and communities that support the development of infants, children, and/or adolescents, depending on the focus of their program. Opportunities to collaborate and co-teach with cooperating teachers and other school personnel are an integral part of the course. This course is for one semester only, either in the fall or spring.

This one-credit course provides working teachers, interns, and assistant teachers the opportunity to meet the mandated New York State regulations for certification. The State regulations require teacher candidates to work in an additional grade band level in a high needs public setting, according to the age band of their certification. In addition, there may be an expectation of direct work with English language learners (ELLs) and/or students with IEPs. Graduate students will be placed in appropriate educational programs for at least 50 hours. In addition, graduate students will participate in a series of seminars focused on these classroom experiences.