School of Special Education and Literacy
Teacher of Students with Disabilities
Coordinator: Dr. Barbara Lee
Hennings Hall 317, (908) 737-3860
Candidates in the ‘Teacher of Students with Disabilities’ program will prepare to be dually certified in one of the eight options: P-3 (preschool - grade 3); K-6 (Kindergarten - grade 6); K-6 & K-6, 5-8 (Kindergarten - grade 6 & 5-8 middle school); and dual certification in special education and P-12 History, English, Mathematics, Earth Science and Biology. Admission to the university does not guarantee admission into the College of Education. Candidates must take and earn the New Jersey Qualifying score on all the three parts of Praxis I (Core Academic Skills Test (Reading, Writing and Math) and have a minimum GPA of 3.0 for admission to the program. The admission requirements also include candidates achieving a B- or better in ENG 1030, MATH 1000, COMM 1402 (Speech Communication), ID 2052 (Human Exceptionality), SPED 2120 (Introductory Field), SPED 2200 (Multicultural Learner in Diverse Settings), and filing an application with the department. Candidates must also apply to their academic major department for admission to the major.
Teacher certification requirements include the satisfactory completion of field experiences in the sophomore, junior and senior years. For Elementary Education candidates, the Elementary Education Multiple Subject Praxis II #5001 must be passed. For Middle School candidates, the Elementary Education Multiple Subject Praxis II exam is required and must be passed along with the Middle School Subject Specialty Area Praxis II #5001 prior to enrolling in the senior field experience. P-3 candidates must take and pass the Early Childhood Content Knowledge Praxis II prior to the senior field experience. Those pursuing P-12 certification must take and pass the appropriate P-12 Subject Area Praxis II prior to senior field. A grade of C or better is required in all Education and Interdisciplinary courses (except where B- or better is specified). Due to the dual nature of the certification, candidates will be required to complete their PreProfessional placement in a general education setting and their Professional placement in a special education setting.
Students may be interested in pursuing positions in public and private school teaching, extended employment settings, group homes, programs for adults with disabilities, and with private agencies serving the developmentally disabled.
For information regarding College/program mission and student learning outcomes please see http://www.kean.edu/academics/college-education/collegeprogram-mission-and-slos