Special Education

The mission of the Education Department is to prepare lifelong reflective educators who exhibit flexibility, compassion, collaboration, and student-centered pedagogy knowledge and skills. The Education Department offers strong experiential, student-centered, and responsive program preparing students to develop:

• Knowledge of content and instructional practice
• Professional dispositions
• Pedagogical skills

Our vision is to prepare future educators to have an exponential impact on the lives of their students and the broader community. The core values that drive the Education Department and guide our ethos, principles, and standards are:

• Knowledgeable Professionals
• Collaborative Practitioners
• Inclusive and Culturally Competent Educators
• Reflective Life-Long Learners

The Bachelor of Science in Special Education program will lead to special education certification in the state of Maine. Completers of this program will graduate, along with having a breadth and depth in general education outcomes, with the skills, knowledge, and dispositions to educate a wide variety of students with disabilities in K-12 school settings. Additionally, this major has been designed using existing education courses as a foundation, enabling students to double major in general education and special education.

At the completion of their bachelor's degree in Special Education, students will be able to:

• Demonstrate mastery of the Maine Common Core Teaching Standards
• Demonstrate professionalism through accountability and engagement
• Demonstrate ability to communicate effectively in both written and oral formats
• Demonstrate appropriate dispositions as defined by professional expectations

The Special Education minor will help prepare students to support individuals of all abilities through hands on experiences and up to date knowledge and instruction from the field of special education. Students will gain information on a wide variety of disabilities including high and low incidence disabilities. Students will be required to complete field work hours in a classroom or other relevant setting in some courses and will be expected to apply the knowledge and skills they have learned to their real world settings. Courses cover a wide breadth of knowledge including disabilities in the general education classroom, psychology, disability studies, and hands on strategies to teach skills.

Field Experience

The faculty in the Education programs are committed to ongoing and frequent observation and involvement in schools. The teacher education programs at UNE have a specific competency-based focus to meet the Maine standards for teacher certification. All students engaged in teacher preparation will spend time in a field setting in each of the semesters for which they are registered for professional education courses. Involvement in the schools will be connected to specific, course-related tasks (e.g., observation, teaching lessons, conducting experiments, administering assessments, etc.). Transportation to and from schools is the responsibility of the student.

Internship

Without specific permission from the Education Chair, courses may not be taken during the internship semester, so all required coursework must be completed the semester prior to the internship. Admission to the internship is not guaranteed and students must have reached Advanced Standing to apply.

In addition, the student should have:

• Sufficient knowledge regarding the components of effective instruction.
• Sufficient knowledge of appropriate grade-level content and teaching methods.
• Sufficient knowledge of the developmental needs of students.
• Sufficient knowledge of how to establish and maintain effective cooperative relationships with school personnel, students, and parents.
• Understanding of and empathy for working with students.
• No serious reservations identified on the Student Assessment of Professional Attributes (SAPA) instrument.

The selection of individual internship sites will be made by the Certification and Placement Officer. Geographical location relative to UNE is a consideration. UNE has a collaborative relationship with many districts and selects both schools and teachers based on their interest in and ability to assist interns in demonstrating mastery of the Maine Common Core Teaching Standards. Placement in an internship is not guaranteed. The Education programs, through its Certification and Placement Officer, will make a good faith effort to negotiate an appropriate placement. Schools have the right to refuse placement requests. The 15-week student teaching internship experience must be done in a local Maine Public School that is in an established internship protocol with the University of New England.

Professional Educator Review Board (PERB)

All students enrolled in the internship must demonstrate their teaching competence with respect to Maine Common Core Teaching Standards before the Professional Educator Review Board (PERB). The Board is comprised of professional educators from area schools as well as UNE faculty. Students are required to develop a presentation reflecting their proficiency in meeting these state standards and present and defend the presentation in front of the Board. Passing PERB is a requirement for completion of the certification program and subsequently is recommended to the Maine State Department of Education for teacher licensure.

Advanced Standing

All students in education certification programs must apply for admission to advanced standing when they have completed approximately 60 credit hours. To apply for advanced standing, students must develop a portfolio demonstrating how they have met proficiency in the following areas: a) teaching skills, knowledge, and disposition aligned with the Maine Common Core Teaching Standards; b) basic academic skills and c) professional skills. This portfolio is evaluated by a committee of education faculty and a pass/fail determination is made based on a holistic rubric.

Students not meeting these criteria do not remain enrolled in a certification program; however, students have the option of changing their major to a non-certification major such as Educational Studies. Students can reapply for advanced standing upon completion of each additional semester up until their second to last semester (i.e., students graduating in Spring must meet advanced standing by the beginning of the previous Fall semester.

Courses completed at another accredited college can be transferred to this degree program. Transferred courses must be reasonably close in scope and content to the required courses offered at UNE in order to count as exact equivalents. Otherwise, they may transfer as general electives. All courses completed must be no older than five years.

Other restrictions apply. See Undergraduate Admissions for more information.

See Undergraduate Admissions for more information.

TUITION AND FEES

Tuition and fees for subsequent years may vary. Other expenses include books and housing. For more information regarding tuition and fees, please consult the Financial Information section of this catalog.