About the Program
Program Description
The special education programs at Teachers College build upon a more than 80-year tradition of leading the field of special education in policy, practice, and research for individuals with disabilities across the age span.
Students who earn M.A., Ed.M., Ed.D., and Ph.D. degrees in special education from Teachers College assume leadership and scholarly positions at all levels of professional activity including public and private schools, community and national service agencies, hospital and rehabilita-tion programs, colleges and universities, research centers, and local, state, and federal education agencies.
The graduate coursework, independent studies, research projects, and dissertations draw from the following five areas:
* Special education foundations. Includes coursework on theories of process and models of practice, cognitive structure and process, behavioral selectionism and complex behavior, disability constructs, equity and excellence in public policy, psycholinguistics and verbal behavior, and family studies and child development.
* Service delivery systems. Includes administration and supervision, pedagogy, enrichment and acceleration, interdisciplinary programming, community-based systems change, infancy/early childhood intervention, elementary education, transition and rehabilitation, urban education, and technology.
* Exceptionality areas. Provides coursework in behavioral disorders (e.g., autism, emotional disturbance), blindness and visual impairment, deafness and hearing impairment, intellectual disability/autism, physical disabilities, and multiple handicapping conditions including intellectual disability/autism coupled with sensory and/or physical disabilities.
* Assessment and intervention strategies. Includes management of social and unsocial behavior, communication and language, mobility, mathematics, reading, problem solving, visual skills and visual perceptual processing, and self-regulation.
* Research and evaluation. Includes applied behavior analysis, experimental research with individuals, group experimental design, program evaluation, ethnography, and post-positivistic inquiry.
In addition to lectures and seminars in the preceding five areas of study, students participate in special projects and complete practicum assignments in a variety of settings, which include the following:
The Dean Hope Center provides learner-centered demonstrations of assessments and evaluations, instructional practices, and follow-up evaluations that promote student-directed learning and performance across settings and time. Special education students work in collaboration with students from school psychology, speech pathology, health, and nutrition, as well as clinical and counseling psychology programs. The Center provides opportunities for practicum experience and research-based demonstrations of effective practice. The Center has an extensive remediation and testing library, testing rooms, observation rooms, and audio and video recording capabilities available for graduate student use.
The Center for Opportunities and Outcomes for People with Disabilities confronts the challenges facing special education today through its commitment to the production of knowledge and professional expertise aimed at supporting the full inclusion of people with disabilities in society. The broad-based research, evaluation, and demonstration activities of the Center reflect an emphasis on empowering people with disabilities by increasing their capacity and opportunities for self-determination, reducing their vulnerability to victimization and abuse, and addressing the disability related issues of culturally and ethically diverse groups, including women and minorities. The Center encourages national and international partnerships aimed at strengthening the connection between research and policy.
Students enrolled in the Program in Applied Behavior Analysis complete their M.A. and Ph.D. internships in schools that meet the research-based and professional accreditation standards for the designation of CABAS® Professional Teaching Schools (e.g., The Fred S. Keller School, Rockland Middle School, Link Elementary CABAS® Program, CABAS® Classes for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders, Rockland BOCES, Cork CABAS® School, Dublin CABAS® School, CABAS® Integrated Classrooms, CABAS® Classrooms for non-categorized students).
See www.CABAS.com.
Applied Behavior Analysis students do internships simultaneously with their coursework at the university. They spend their days in our professional teaching schools and the evenings in classes at the university. The internships are coordinated closely with the university coursework in behavior analysis.
The Association for Behavior Analysis recognizes our Applied Behavior Analyisis program as one whose M.A. graduates are eligible to sit for the Behavior Analyst Certification Exam-ination. Students in the M.A. program also complete requirements for and are eligible to apply for CABAS® Board Certification for Teacher I, Teacher II, and Master Teacher Ranks. The latter is an advanced certification recognizing criterion-referenced expertise in applied behavior analysis and applications with children and youth. Doctoral students who hold the CABAS® Master Teacher Rank complete requirements for and are eligible to submit for CABAS® Board Certification as Assistant, Associate, and Senior Behavior Analyst Ranks.
Doctoral and post-doctoral students with Behavior Analyst Ranks are eligible for CABAS® Board Certification based on their research publication record (i.e., Assistant, Associate, and Senior Research Scientist).
Financial assistance is available to students admitted to the Applied Behavior Analysis program in the form of paid internships at the CABAS® Professional Teaching Schools. Some international internships and training opportunities are available at our CABAS® sites in Europe. Faculty members, students, and CABAS® school professionals associated with the Program in Applied Behavior Analysis are published in numerous journals.
The Department maintains close working relationships with a wide network of public and private schools, agencies, and clinical facilities. Students may participate in field-based activities ranging from the Very Special Arts Festival hosted by the New York City Department of Education and Teachers College to school-based practica in a variety of settings.
Financial Aid
In addition to College-wide financial aid, instructional, research, and administrative internships may be available through the Program in Special Education. The Department collaborates with schools and agencies in the metropolitan area to provide internships. When funds are available, federal traineeships and assistantships are awarded by the program to qualified students. In order to be eligible for a federal traineeship, an applicant must be a United States citizen and be fully admitted to a degree program.
Students are encouraged to apply for all types of financial aid for which they are eligible. Paid internships are available for some students who have been admitted to the Program in Applied Behavior Analysis. The New York City Department of Education has, for a number of years, provided full scholarships for anyone interested in becoming a teacher for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing or who have a visual impairment or are blind. Endowed fellowships and research assistantships are available to students who are preparing for careers in the education of people with intellectual disability/autism. The State of New York also provides full scholarships for people interested in careers in the field of Blindness and Visual Impairment in New York.
