Beginning fall 2014, there will be a special education master’s program added to Elizabethtown College. This will be the College’s second master’s program. “It furthers our departmental mission, allowing us to offer a wide range of degrees and experiences. That range is actually unusual for an institution of our size,” said Associate Professor of Education and Department Chair Dr. Rachel Finley-Bowman.
The Education Department’s graduate program sub-committee designed the program in the fall of 2012. It was then evaluated through the entire education department for changes, suggestions and approval. Finley-Bowman applied in January to the department’s accrediting agency, the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE). It was then approved by the PDE with special commendation in March this year.
The program mirrors trends and expectations in the field of education while aligning the current strategies of the department and College. The program will ensure the preparation of highly qualified teaching candidates for any present day classroom.
“The department is continuing to develop further programs and opportunities around the curricular and research specialties of its faculty, particularly in the area of inclusion and peace education,” said Finley-Bowman. Students will complete their bachelor’s degree in a general education certification area in four years. Eligible students will then be able to finish the special education requirements by completing a research project in their graduate seminar as well as another semester of student teaching. The courses fulfilled in the fifth year program will be a mix of traditional, online, and accelerated formats. The key program designer, Dr. Shannon Haley-Mize, as well as Dr. Elizabeth Coyle and Associate Professor of Education Dr. Carroll Tyminski, will be the main professors teaching the special education master’s program. There is the potential to hire a new professor to teach at the graduate level as well.
In comparison to the four-year undergraduate education program, the 4+1 graduate program has some additions. The four-year undergraduate program certifies pre-kindergarten through eighth grade in special education only. It is a four-credit model, meaning it is only open to pre-kindergarten through fourth grade and elementary and middle level language arts majors. The semester of student teaching is divided in half to two placements, and it is a minimalist approach to Chapter 49 competencies. The 4+1 Graduate Program certifies pre-kindergarten through eighth grade and seventh through 12th grade special education. The program is open to all general education-certified students. There are two semesters of student teaching, each being 16 weeks long. There are varying instruction modalities, an applied research focus, and a constructivist curriculum. The program is also open to outside candidates.
The department is transitioning from its current four-year program to the new 4+1 model program. The first-years at the College will be the first group who will be eligible to apply for the special education master’s program. Students interested in the program will be able to apply during their junior year. This application can be made after the student is provisionally and formally accepted into the undergraduate education program. All certificate candidates (kindergarten through 12th grade, pre-kindergarten through fourth grade, fourth through eighth grade and seventh through 12th grade) are able to apply to the master’s program.
The new program will allow students to acquire a certification in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade special education or seventh through twelfth grade special education. “This is an exciting new addition to our program, opening opportunities for our secondary education candidates to consider special education in addition to the general certification they will already receive in the fourth year,” said Finley-Bowman.
