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Program Requirements — Special Education

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Master’s in Special Education for Certified Teachers
Master’s Degree with Initial Certification for Individuals with Previous School Experience or a Related Degree
For Certified Teachers Seeking an Endorsement

Special Education is listed as one of the highest need areas for Illinois schools.  Local school districts enlisted help in stemming this shortage by asking the College of Education at Aurora University to design and seek state approval for Special Education endorsement and/or certification programs.  To this end, three interrelated program strands have been developed. These strands meet the unique needs of the three different types of candidates described below: 

1. Those teachers who are already certified and wish to earn a Master's in Special Education that will lead to the Type 10, Learning Behavior Specialist I certification.
2. Those teachers who are already certified and wish to earn only an Endorsement in Special Education.
3. Those individuals who wish to earn a Master's in Special Education with Initial Certification and who qualify as candidates because they have earned an undergraduate degree in a field related to special education and/or have experience in schools.   

Certification requires teachers to build a knowledge base to identify and intervene with students who exhibit a wide range of disabilities, including learning disabilities, cognitive impairments (mental retardation and traumatic brain injury), autism, social/emotional disabilities, and physical disabilities/other health impaired. Moreover, although the certificate will cover grades K-12, candidates will have a working knowledge of issues and strategies appropriate for the P-21 ages. The coursework is designed to allow the candidate both to evaluate research and conduct action research in the classroom.

In addition to the coursework, students will need to complete the following state tests to receive LBS I certification: Basic Skills; Assess­ment of Professional Teaching K-12; Learning Behavior Specialist I (content area); and Special Education Curriculum Test (content). Please note that the state now requires two content area tests due to the K-12 span of curriculum cov­ered by the certificate.

• a course in human development, spanning the P-12 grade years
• a course in educational psychology

Please note that if a deficiency exists, completion of the course will not be counted toward the M.A.S.E. degree.

Program Requirements

Master’s in Special Education for Certified Teachers
For candidates who have an existing teaching certificate and wish to earn a Master’s in Special Education that will lead to the Learning Behavior Specialist I certification, candidates will complete certification courses plus a two course cognate:

Course requirements for certification in Special Education are as follows:

Cognate requirements:  Candidates will receive a Master’s in Special Education if they complete all requirements for certification as a Learning Behavior Specialist I and a two-course cognate in an area jointly agreed upon by the candidate and his or her advisor.  Suggested areas include:

• Bilingual Education
• Reading Specialist
• Educational Leadership
• Regular education pedagogy

With these two additional courses, the minimum number of hours required for the Master’s in Special Education is 48 hours.

Transcript Evaluation:
Candidates may request that their transcripts of previous coursework be reviewed for advanced standing in the program.

Master’s Degree with Initial Certification for Individuals with Previous School Experience or a Related Degree
For individuals who wish to earn a Masters in Special Education with Initial Certification and who qualify as candidates because they have earned an undergraduate degree in a field related to special education and/or have experience in schools. 

Course requirements for the Masters in Special Education are as follows:

Candidates will receive a Master’s in Special Education with Initial Certification if they complete all requirements for certification as a Learning Behavior Specialist I and two courses from regular education methods classes.  The curriculum for the Master’s in Special Education with Initial Certification consists of completing a minimum of 54 credit hours and passing all required state certification exams.   

For Certified Teachers Seeking an Endorsement
For candidates who have an existing teaching certificate and wish to earn an Endorsement in Special Education

This avenue requires that the candidate take courses that constitute, essentially, the first one half of the certification curriculum.  These courses are based on four broad areas of knowledge required by the Illinois State Board of Education, which are then specifically defined by Aurora University.  The University strongly recommends endorsement candidates consider completing the Master’s program as this provides teachers with the best foundation to become a highly qualified, master teacher.  Courses for the endorsement are as follows:

Total for endorsement:  19 hours

Important note to candidate:  Completing the hours necessary for an endorsement may enable you to secure employment as a special educator.  However, completing the certification, and ideally the complete Master’s, will not only make you a better educator, but it may also become necessary for you to retain your position in special education.