Special Education

The mission of the School of Education is to prepare lifelong reflective educators who exhibit flexibility, compassion, collaboration, and student-centered pedagogy knowledge and skills.

The School of Education offers strong experiential, student-centered, and responsive program preparing students to develop:

• Knowledge of content and instructional practice
• Professional dispositions
• Pedagogical skills

Our vision is to prepare future educators to have an exponential impact on the lives of their students and the broader community.

The core values that drive the School of Education and guide our ethos, principles, and standards are:

• Knowledgeable Professionals
• Collaborative Practitioners
• Inclusive and Culturally Competent Educators
• Reflective Life-Long Learners

The Bachelor of Science with a major in Special Education program will lead to special education certification in the state of Maine. Completers of this program will graduate, along with having a breadth and depth in general education outcomes, with the skills, knowledge, and dispositions to educate a wide variety of students with disabilities in K-12 school settings. Additionally, this major has been designed using existing education courses as a foundation, enabling students to double major in Special Education and one (1) of the other Education programs.

This program requires an overall minimum 2.5 GPA in the major.

At the completion of their bachelor's degree with a major in Special Education, students will be able to:

• Demonstrate mastery of the Maine Common Core Teaching Standards
• Demonstrate professionalism through accountability and engagement
• Demonstrate ability to communicate effectively in both written and oral formats
• Demonstrate appropriate dispositions as defined by professional expectations

FIELD EXPERIENCE

The faculty in the School of Education is committed to ongoing and frequent observation and involvement in schools. The teacher education programs at UNE have a specific competency-based focus to meet the Maine standards for teacher certification. All students engaged in teacher preparation will spend time in a field setting in each of the semesters for which they are registered for professional education courses. Involvement in the schools will be connected to specific, course-related tasks (e.g., observation, teaching lessons, conducting experiments, administering assessments, etc.). Transportation to and from schools is the responsibility of the student.

ADVANCED STANDING

All students in education certification programs must apply for admission to advanced standing when they have completed approximately sixty (60) credit hours and completed at least three (3) Education courses. To apply for advanced standing, students must develop a portfolio demonstrating how they have met proficiency in the following areas: a) teaching skills, knowledge, and disposition aligned with the Maine Common Core Teaching Standards; b) basic academic skills and c) professional skills. This portfolio is evaluated by a committee of education faculty and a pass/fail determination is made based on a holistic rubric.

Students not meeting the Advanced Standing criteria do not remain enrolled in a certification program and must change their major to a non-certification major. Students can reapply for advanced standing upon completion of each additional semester up until their second to last semester (i.e., students graduating in Spring must meet advanced standing by the beginning of the previous Fall semester).

STUDENT TEACHING

Without specific permission from the School of Education Academic Director, courses may not be taken during the internship semester, so all required coursework must be completed the semester prior to the internship. Admission to the internship is not guaranteed and students must have reached Advanced Standing to apply.

The selection of individual internship sites will be made by the Certification and Placement Officer. Geographical location relative to UNE is a consideration. UNE has a collaborative relationship with many districts and selects both schools and teachers based on their interest in and ability to assist interns in demonstrating mastery of the Maine Common Core Teaching Standards. Placement in an internship is not guaranteed. The School of Education reserves the right to deny requests for courtesy internship placement for reasons it deems appropriate or necessary. The University, at its discretion, will not place students in internship settings (1) where an intern's children or relatives are enrolled, or (2) where a spouse or relative of an intern is currently employed. The School of Education, through its Certification and Placement Officer, will make a good-faith effort to negotiate an appropriate placement. Schools have the right to refuse placement requests. The fifteen (15)-week student teaching experience must be done in a local Maine Public School that is in an established internship protocol with the University of New England. Students may not be permitted to accept a contracted teaching position (e.g., long-term substituting, yearlong internship) before completing at least half a semester of student teaching internship. However, student teaching interns may be permitted to sub on a day-to-day basis for their classroom teacher.

PROFESSIONAL EDUCATOR REVIEW BOARD

All students enrolled in the internship must demonstrate their teaching competence with respect to Maine Common Core Teaching Standards before the Professional Educator Review Board (PERB). The Board is comprised of professional educators from area schools as well as UNE faculty. Students are required to develop a presentation reflecting their proficiency in meeting these state standards and present and defend the presentation in front of the Board. Passing PERB is a requirement for completion of the certification program and subsequently being recommended to the Maine State Department of Education for teacher licensure.

The Special Education minor will help prepare students to support individuals of all abilities through hands-on experiences and up-to-date knowledge and instruction from the field of special education. Students will gain information on a wide variety of disabilities including high and low incidence disabilities. Students will be required to complete fieldwork hours in a classroom or other relevant setting in some courses and will be expected to apply the knowledge and skills they have learned to their real-world settings. Courses cover a wide breadth of knowledge including disabilities in the general education classroom, psychology, disability studies, and hands-on strategies to teach skills.

Courses completed at another accredited college can be transferred to this degree program. Transferred courses must be reasonably close in scope and content to the required courses offered at UNE in order to count as exact equivalents. Otherwise, they may transfer as general electives. All courses completed must be no older than five (5) years.

Other restrictions apply. See Undergraduate Admissions for more information.

See Undergraduate Admissions for more information.

TUITION AND FEES

Tuition and fees for subsequent years may vary. Other expenses include books and housing. For more information regarding tuition and fees, please consult the Financial Information section of this catalog.