Early 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 a framework for developing curriculum that engages all children in authentic meaning making about themselves and their wider world. Participants use principles of child development and inclusive practice as a foundation for planning experiences that support deep learning. The course focuses on curriculum as the core vehicle for affirming children’s developing identities, including cultural and linguistic identity. Using social studies as the core of an integrated curriculum, participants plan using diverse materials, modalities, content, and perspectives to help children examine big questions. Participants use universal design principles to create learning experiences that are inclusive of a broadly diverse range of learners.

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.

This course is designed to prepare students to respond to the needs of diverse learners in early childhood classrooms by using current augmentative and assistive technology to promote communication, improve classroom organization and management, and expand literacy opportunities. Students will have hands-on experiences using different technologies to create a variety of multimodal tools that they can incorporate into their teaching practices to support all children.

This course will explore autism from historical, cultural, political, and developmental lenses. It will support graduate students in thinking deeply and from multiple perspectives about the evolution of our understandings about and interventions with the broad range of characteristics of learning and development attributed autistic people. This course considers the significance of home and/or school as the primary sources of educational intervention and direct services for autistic children. Participants will consider the importance of providing young autistic children with an educational program that is responsive to each child’s unique pattern of strengths and areas of growth, and will learn ways to partner in this work with a diverse range of families. Participants will explore the use of assistive technology as a tool for supporting student learning, communication, and independence.

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 explores play as central to supporting the social, emotional, and cognitive development of children with varying developmental and learning variations. Participants will learn a variety of therapeutic play techniques that promote self-regulation, self-esteem, and emotional expression, and development across domains. This course is appropriate for general and special education teachers, parents, caregivers, child life specialists, social workers, therapists and counselors. Participants are required to have prior coursework focused on child development and on developmental variations. Prerequisite: EDUC 803 or with permission of instructor.

This course examines communication, language, and literacy as they emerge in monolingual and multilingual children from infancy through early childhood. Participants examine how language, socialization, communicative competence, and literacy develop within, and are impacted by, children’s sociocultural contexts. Participants are introduced to communication disorders and other learning disabilities of the early years that affect language and literacy learning. Specific practices are identified to enhance the experience of young children who are receiving services in school as English language learners. Modifications and adaptations to support children with disabilities are explored. Prerequisite: EDUC 500; pre- or corequisite: EDUC 505.

This course introduces and explores informal and formal assessment practices for young children. Students will learn about various ways of observing, collecting, documenting, and analyzing children’s work and learning experiences in a variety of settings. Students will also become familiar with formal and informal assessment procedures and terminology, standardized testing, and strategies for test selection, to ensure results that are valid and unbiased. Students will also examine legal, ethical, culturally responsive, and professional considerations of assessment. Students will be given practical experience in the preparation and administration of different forms of assessment, including the construction of simple performance assessments. Critical attention will be given to careful interpretation and utilization of assessment data in developing meaningful curriculum and educational plans for individual children. Culturally responsive approaches to assessment and involving the family with the assessment process will also be addressed. Prerequisite: EDUC 803 or EDUC 894.

Early Childhood Practicum I and II is a year-long course that provides graduate students the opportunity to integrate theory and practice as they work with a child and family. Practicum I focuses on: 1) observation as the foundation of early childhood assessment and 2) culturally sustaining, family-based practice. Participants learn to observe and record children’s behavior in home, school, and community settings. Through regular observations, participants construct a respectful and increasingly complex understanding of the child within his/her sociocultural context. Special emphasis is placed on recognizing the strengths of the child and family. Participants develop greater awareness of their own perspectives and the ways their personal experiences affect what they notice and how they interpret their observations. Participants begin to integrate adult development, family systems theory, and cultural/linguistic diversity as a basis for developing relationships with the child’s family. This work provides a foundation for Practicum II. Prerequisite: EDUC 803.

This course completes a year-long sequence of work with a child and the child’s family. The focus in the second semester is two-fold: 1) developing a responsive collaboration with the family and 2) developing and analyzing the use of a range of instructional strategies. Through conversations, participants learn about the family’s perspectives and goals. To gather further data, participants select, develop, and use a variety of informal assessments. Participants apply their developing knowledge of the child’s interests and developmental needs as they design and implement instructional strategies. The course engages participants in a deep understanding of the assessment, planning and instruction cycle as they collect data and reflect on their instruction and apply their learnings in their ongoing work with the child and family. Participants will work with families to jointly plan goals as they develop their understanding of the IEP/IFSP. Prerequisite: EDUC 894.

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.