mte512 | Graduate

Teaching The Exceptional Learner

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This course provides an overview of the categories of exceptionality for school-aged learners with special needs. The teacher candidate will focus on expressive and receptive communication skills and the recognition of individual learning patterns to utilize for the planning, instruction, and assessment strategies of diverse populations. Historical perspectives and information related to special education law and current policies and practices are examined.

This graduate-level course is 6 weeks To enroll, speak with an Enrollment Representative.

Course details:

Credits: 3
Continuing education units: XX
Professional development units: XX
Duration: 6 weeks

topic title goes here

    Foundations and Legal Perspectives of Special Education

    • Define terminology, acronyms, and language used in the field of special education.
    • Analyze federal and state legal structures governing programs for students with exceptional learning needs.
    • Examine public policy and its effect on educational issues regarding students with exceptional learning needs.
    • Explore the IDEA eligibility categories for special education.
    • Discuss major laws and principles that address student and parent rights pertaining to student placements.
    • Compare and contrast personal and societal attitudes toward learners with exceptional needs.

    Characteristics of Exceptional Learners

    • Examine the social, personality, and learning characteristics of students with exceptionalities.
    • Discuss the history of learning disabilities and the federal definition of specific learning disability.
    • Demonstrate knowledge of the special needs of gifted learners.
    • Explain the assets that a student brings to learning through cultural and family values, experiences, and social interactions.
    • Explore the cognitive and language characteristics of students with exceptionalities.

    Response to Intervention, Assessment, and IEP Process

    • Examine the response to intervention (RTI) process used to determine a student’s abilities and functioning levels.
    • Analyze different models used for pre-referral, referral, and multidisciplinary evaluation processes.
    • Evaluate various types of assessment instruments used for determining special education eligibility.
    • Discuss assessment practices and current trends in administering, scoring, and interpreting test results.
    • Examine the individualized education program (IEP) process.

    The Diverse Classroom; Managing the Teaching and Learning Environment

    • Describe inclusion and ways to create a diverse classroom that is both supportive and emotionally safe.
    • Identify strategies that support engagement in learning for all students in the diverse classroom.
    • Explain service delivery options for students with an IEP.
    • Define related services for special education students.
    • Identify options for students who need assistive technology in the classroom.
    • Explore discipline procedures required by IDEA.

    Planning Instruction and Accommodations

    • Analyze instructional strategies used in adapting learning activities to individual students’ needs.
    • Evaluate instructional decision-making processes based on learner developmental levels.
    • Critique methods for student self-assessment and reflection.
    • Construct appropriate strategies to differentiate instruction while holding students accountable for complex thinking.
    • Evaluate the importance of understanding IEP goals and objectives when planning for instruction in a diverse classroom with exceptional learners.
    • Identify common testing and instructional accommodations or modifications for students with exceptionalities.

    Collaborative Practices

    • Examine ways general education teachers can support the special education teacher to facilitate learner growth and development.
    • Design ways to collaborate with other school professionals that facilitate student learning through various co-teaching strategies.
    • Identify support services, personnel, agencies, and community resources available to families of students with exceptionalities.
    • Discuss the importance of school-to-family collaboration and communication for exceptional learners.
    Tuition for individual courses varies. For more information, please call or chat live with an Enrollment Representative.

    Please ask about these special rates:

    Teacher Rate: For some courses, special tuition rates are available for current, certified P-12 teachers and administrators. Please speak with an Enrollment Representative today for more details.

    Military Rate: For some courses, special tuition rates are available for active duty military members and their spouses. Please speak with an Enrollment Representative today for more details.

    The University of Phoenix reserves the right to modify courses.

    While widely available, not all programs are available in all locations or in both online and on-campus formats. Please check with a University Enrollment Representative.

    Transferability of credit is at the discretion of the receiving institution. It is the student’s responsibility to confirm whether or not credits earned at University of Phoenix will be accepted by another institution of the student’s choice.