EDUC 320 - Elementary Special Education Methods (Grades P-5)

1.0

The purpose of this course is to prepare preschool and elementary special education teacher candidates to teach young children with exceptional learning needs. Candidates will examine types of assessments, explore purposes and uses of assessment, and will interpret and communicate results of assessments. Candidates will discuss the role of assessment in special education eligibility, Individualized Family Service Plan development, and placement decisions for young children with exceptionalities. Candidates will conduct assessments and use data to determine instructional decisions, create appropriate instructional goals, and monitor progress toward meeting goals and objectives. Candidates will examine factors that affect student learning, use specialized curricula and differentiation strategies, and leverage multi-modal instructional strategies that are developmentally appropriate. Candidates will use content standards and assessment data to inform instructional planning for a variety of instructional settings including 1:1 instruction, small group, and whole-class inclusion. There is a 50-hour field experience candidates will complete during the same semester as this course. Prerequisites: B- or better in EDUC 251; Admission to the Teacher Education Program. Spring.