1-12 hours. Repeatable for maximum 24 hours credit.
Internship in Special Education
Course Description
Supervised culminating field experience related to teaching individuals with disabilities.
Athena Title
Internship in Special Ed
Equivalent Courses
Not open to students with credit in EDSE 7460E
Non-Traditional Format
Field based internship.
Prerequisite
(EDSE 7440 or EDSE 7440E or EDSE 7440S) and permission of department
Semester Course Offered
Offered every year.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this internship, the student will be able to prepare accurate formal social assessment reports on students with E/BD based on behavioral-ecological information.
Upon completion of this internship, the student will be able to implement procedures for assessing both appropriate and problematic social behaviors of students with E/BD.
Upon completion of this internship, the student will be able to use exceptionality-specific assessment instruments appropriately for assessing students with E/BD.
Upon completion of this internship, the student will be able to identify and use prevention and intervention strategies as early as appropriate for use with students with E/BD.
Upon completion of this internship, the student will be able to delineate and apply the goals and intervention strategies and procedures related to a variety of theoretical approaches to students with E/BD.
Upon completion of this internship, the student will be able to use technology applicable to students with E/BD.
Upon completion of this internship, the student will be able to plan, organize, and implement individualized student programs appropriate to the cognitive and affective needs of the student with E/BD with special consideration to use of reinforcement systems and environmental conditions.
Upon completion of this internship, the student will be able to select, develop, adopt, and evaluate curriculum materials and technology applicable to students with E/BD.
Upon completion of this internship, the student will be able to establish a consistent classroom routine for students with E/BD.
Upon completion of this internship, the student will be able to delineate and apply appropriate management procedures when presented with spontaneous management problems applicable to students with E/BD.
Upon completion of this internship, the student will be able to stablish classroom rules, as well as a means for enforcing these rules, that are applicable to students with E/BD.
Upon completion of this internship, the student will be able to integrate academic instruction, affective education, and behavior management for individual students and groups of students with E/BD.
Upon completion of this internship, the student will be able to use student-initiated learning experiences and integrate them into ongoing instruction for students with E/BD.
Upon completion of this internship, the student will be able to monitor intragroup behavior changes from subject to subject and activity to activity applicable to students with E/BD.
Upon completion of this internship, the student will be able to select a functional classroom design (e.g., functional seating, work area, storage) that is effective for students with E/BD.
Upon completion of this internship, the student will be able to use a variety of nonaversive techniques (including voice modulation, facial expressions, planned to ignore, proximity control, and tension release) for the purpose of controlling targeted behavior and maintaining attention of students with E/BD.
Upon completion of this internship, the student will be able to develop and implement a systematic behavior management plan for students with E/BD using a variety of behavioral principles (including observation, recording, charting establishment of timelines, intervention technique hierarchies, and schedules of reinforcement).
Upon completion of this internship, the student will be able to select target behaviors to be changed and identify the critical variables affecting the target behavior (such is subsequent events and antecedent events).
Upon completion of this internship, the student will be able to designate certain pupil behaviors as either appropriate or inappropriate for a specific age group based on observation and social validation.
Upon completion of this internship, the student will be able to define and use skills in problem solving and conflict resolution.
Topical Outline
Internship Activities and Evaluation
Policies and Procedures Notebook
Activities: This notebook is to be compiled by the intern within the first two weeks of the first day of the internship, and shall include sections for the written policies and procedures (with accompanying forms) in the categories of prereferral, parental and student notifications, referral, assessment, IEP, placement, evaluation, and discipline.
Evaluation: The presence of written policies, procedures and accompanying forms for each area above.
Student Profiles and Assessment
Activities: The intern will read the files of all students served in the classroom, and conduct assessments on at least three students. Standardized, informal, criterion-referenced, curriculum-based, and functional assessments will be administered to help determine present levels of functioning. Decisions about specific assessment tools to be administered will be made by the student intern and supervisor(s). This information is to be compiled into a student profile (using a pseudonym) for each student assessed.
Demographic information including a pseudonym, grade level, chronological age, parental information
¨ Relevant medical information
¨ Services received through special education, general education, and related services
¨ Levels of functioning in math, language arts, speech, all other academics, vocational skills
¨ Social skills, excessive behaviors
¨ Motivational factors, reinforcement survey
¨ Familial issues
Evaluation: The presence of complete information on each of the above elements
IEP Development
Activities: Student interns will develop Individualized Education Plans for two students with learning disabilities during the semester. Each IEP should include: Present level of performance, annual goals and short-term objectives, the special education and related services that will be provided and the extent to which the child will participate in general education programs, plans for starting the services and the anticipated duration of the services, plans for evaluating whether the goals and objectives are being achieved, and, if appropriate, a transition plan.
Informal and/or formal assessments should be administered to complete each IEP and, if possible, feedback from the parents or guardians of the student the semester. Lesson plans are to be developed for each observation, including the criteria below.
Evaluation of Lesson Plans: Lesson plans will be evaluated within the following format.
Activities: Students will develop a leadership project in either advocacy or inclusion. For either area, the intern is to prepare an outline of the proposed activities, including (a) rationale, (b) the goal(s) of the project, (c) a detailed description of the planned activities to meet the goal(s), (d) the method for evaluating the outcomes with respect to the goal(s), and (e) implications for future. The intern should design this project with the assistance of the supervisor and cooperating teacher. Examples of projects include: Developing and implementing an in-service for teachers to enhance their understanding of behavioral disorders; initiating a co-teaching approach that involves general education teachers and students and students with behavioral disorders in a joint project (e.g., service learning, mentoring); and developing an in-service for general education teachers in the area of strategies to improve academic success.
Evaluation: The project outline will be evaluated by the supervisor and supervising teacher. The final write up of the project shall be 10-15 pages, including references and APA style. The written project shall be evaluated with respect to a-e above.
