Promote inclusive education.

Rooted in the philosophy of integrated learning and inclusion, our special education concentration within the elementary teacher certificate empowers you to teach children of all abilities. Our differentiated instruction ensures that you will be equipped with the skills necessary to educate and work with children that have different physical and mental disabilities. By understanding their unique developmental needs you can create a curriculum that works best for them, and give them a true opportunity for education.

This degree is offered by AU New England.

Program Overview

The program’s purpose is to provide a holistic and integrated experience for students. The best teacher can meet a wide range of needs, so AUNE’s elementary teacher certification program is already rooted in the philosophy of teaching children of all abilities and challenges. The AUNE faculty has long experience in teaching differentiated instruction. Those strategies and approaches are interwoven through all of the education courses.

This concentration is for Elementary Teacher Certification students who wish to also earn General Special Education certification. This concentration will prepare teachers to work effectively as either general or special education teachers, or both and to be leaders in educational environments that are in various stages of moving towards inclusion. Students in this concentration take the same core courses leading towards elementary certification as the students in the Arts and Humanities concentration and the Science and Environmental Education concentration. Additionally, they are required to take a set of courses specific to Special Education.

Graduates who successfully complete this concentration are eligible for Elementary Teacher certification in the State of New Hampshire and General Special Education certification in the State of New Hampshire.

Degree Requirements

Students will be required to take 42 credits to earn their Master’s in Education plus the following courses specific to the concentration:

Leading Inclusion
Teaching Exceptional Children
Special Education: Families and Supportive Networks
Special Education Law
Special Education: Assessment and Instructional Strategies
Special Education Internship

For course descriptions, please see the current course catalog.

Learning Outcomes

Graduates master the knowledge, skills, and competencies listed in the standards for general special education certification. In particular, they are expected to know and to be able to explain:

how children think and learn, and why fluency in multiple instructional strategies can be effective when teaching in classrooms whose children have diverse academic and social learning abilities;
how to design curriculum that takes into account the developmental needs of the whole child, and how the child is influenced by family, cultural background, socioeconomic class, language, and social groups; and
how and why collaborative practices between general and special education educators are important and are beneficial to all learners.