Course Description
Students with special needs in grades 6 through 12, including causes and characteristics. Topics include legal requirements, co-teaching, supporting students with disabilities in middle and high school classes, response to intervention, evidence-based instructional strategies, IEP process, family partnerships, current issues, and providing students with disabilities access to state standards through accommodations.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Graduate students will complete all requirements assigned to
undergraduates. In addition, they will read a book and complete
a written review. They will have differentiated examinations
requiring more rigor and more synthesis than the undergraduates.
They will also complete an in-depth review of a specific method
and determine how it addresses students with special needs in
the middle or high school classroom.
Athena Title
Students Special Needs Gr 6-12
Equivalent Courses
Not open to students with credit in EDSE 4020, EDSE 4020E, EDSE 4030 or EDSE 6020, EDSE 6020E, EDSE 6030
Non-Traditional Format
This course will be taught 95% or more online.
Semester Course Offered
Offered fall, spring and summer
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
The following standards that provide a structure for this course are identified by the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) and also Georgia House Bill 671 as critical content knowledge and skills for pre-service teachers Grades 6-12. Foundations - Know the models, theories, and philosophies that form the basis for special education practice. - Know and apply the laws, policies, and ethical principles regarding behavior management. - Understand the relationship of special education to the organization and function of educational agencies. - Know the rights and responsibilities of students, parents, teachers, and other professionals, and schools related to exceptional learning needs. - Familiar with the issues in definition and identification of individuals with exceptional learning needs, including those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. - Knowledgeable about the issues, assurances, and due process rights related to assessment, eligibility, and placement within a continuum of services. - Understand family systems and the role of families in the educational process. Development and Characteristics of Learners - Understand typical and atypical human growth and development. - Understand the educational implications of characteristics of various exceptionalities. - Understand the characteristics and effects of the cultural and environmental milieu of the individual with exceptional learning needs and the family. - Aware of similarities and differences among individuals with and without exceptional learning needs. - Aware of similarities and differences among individuals with exceptional learning needs. - Understand the effects of various medications on individuals with exceptional learning needs. Individual Learning Differences - Understand the effects an exceptional condition(s) can have on an individual’s life. - Understand the impact of learners’ academic and social abilities, attitudes, interests, and values on instruction. - Understand differing ways of learning of individuals with exceptional learning needs, including those from culturally diverse backgrounds and strategies for addressing these differences. Instructional Strategies - Use strategies to facilitate inclusion into various settings. - Teach individuals to use self-assessment, problem solving, and other cognitive strategies to meet their needs. - Select, adapt, and use instructional strategies and materials according to the characteristics of the individual with exceptional learning needs. - Use procedures to increase the individual’s self-awareness, self-management, self-control, self-reliance, and self-esteem. Learning Environments and Social Interactions - Know and apply basic classroom management theories and strategies for individuals with exceptional learning needs. - Know principles of effective management of teaching and learning. - Aware of teacher attitudes and behaviors that influence behavior of individuals with exceptional learning needs. - Identify realistic expectations for personal and social behavior in various settings. - Design learning environments that encourage active participation in individual and group activities. - Modify the learning environment to manage behaviors. - Use performance data and information from all stakeholders to make or suggest modification in learning environments. Instructional Planning - Identify and prioritize areas of the general curriculum and accommodations for individuals with exceptional learning needs. - Involve the individual and family in setting instructional goals and monitoring progress. - Make responsive adjustments to instruction based on continual observations. Assessment - Know basic terminology used in assessment. - Know screening, pre-referral, referral, and classification procedures. - Administer nonbiased formal and informal assessments. - Modify individualized assessment strategies. - Evaluate instruction and monitor progress of individuals with exceptional learning needs. Collaboration - Know models and strategies of consultation and collaboration. - Understand the concerns of families of individuals with exceptional learning needs and strategies to help address these concerns. - Maintain confidential communication about individuals with exceptional learning needs. - Use group problem solving skills to develop, implement, and evaluate collaborative activities. - Understand what the Georgia Alternative Assessment is and who participates.
Topical Outline
History of Special Education • Special education law • Families as partners • Characteristics of high-incidence disabilities • Characteristics of low-incidence disabilities • Response to Intervention (RTI) • The IEP process • Collaboration and co-teaching • Positive behavior support • Adapting instruction based on evidence-based practices • Georgia Alternative Assessment • Providing students with developmental disabilities access to state and national standards • Accommodations for students in middle and high school classes
Syllabus