The Faculty View

Special Education Degree at LEC

By: Dr. Catherine Krammer

In late July 2009, Lake Erie College’s Education Department was approved to offer a degree in Special Education for students wishing to seek licensure as Mild to Moderate Intervention Specialists (K-12). Similar to other professional fields, each education major has a professional association connected to it which sets the professional standards for the field. In Special Education the organization is the Council for Exceptional Children or CEC.

CEC is the largest international professional organization dedicated to improving the educational success of individuals with disabilities and/or gifts and talents. CEC advocates for appropriate governmental policies, sets professional standards, provides professional development, advocates for individuals with exceptionalities and helps professionals obtain conditions and resources necessary for effective professional practice. This November I will be presenting at the national convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, on two topics pertinent to the field. One of these topics has a direct impact on students in this major.

One of the initiatives of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) is that all teachers be highly qualified (HQT) in the subject area that they teach. For most licensure areas (Early Childhood, Middle Childhood, Adolescent and Young Adult) by virtue of obtaining the degree and licensure they are highly qualified. For special education this is a little more complicated as the license spans grades kindergarten clear through twelfth grade. Obviously that is a wide range of content and teaching strategies to be expected to have mastered. Thus, NCLB requires Intervention Specialists to demonstrate their competency with additional measures. If you are in a K-6 assignment you must still pass PRAXIS II for Special Education and the Principles of Learning and Teaching (PLT), but you also may need to then pass an additional PRAXIS II content test appropriate to your teaching assignment (K-3, 4-6, or content tests such as reading or math).

If you are an Intervention Specialist teaching grades 7-12, again you must still pass PRAXIS II for Special Education and the PLT, but you must also have one of the following things: (1) passed the PRAXIS II content test for whatever subject you are being asked to be the teacher of record for, (2) have a major in that content area you are being asked to be the teacher of record for, or (3) have a master’s degree in that content area you are being asked to be the teacher of record for. It is important to note that if you are in a co-teaching situation with a general education teacher who is acting as the primary teacher of record, then there is not a problem; it is when you are the teacher primarily responsible for teaching the content and assigning grades that you must demonstrate this competency.

The implication for our graduates is that they need to be aware of these requirements and plan accordingly in terms of seeking an additional major or taking the appropriate tests depending on what grade levels they plan on teaching. The presentation that I am giving at CEC discusses other possible strategies for addressing this initiative including even more collaboration between the general education and special education department, modeling co-teaching for our students, and a closer partnership between the Arts and Sciences faculty who offer the content majors such as history, math and science. 

If you have any questions about this or other matters pertaining to special education, you can visit the CEC website at cec.sped.org or obtain information on Highly Qualified Teachers through the Ohio State Department at (www.ode.state.oh.us). Also don’t hesitate to contact me at (ckrammer@lec.edu).