The Special Education Program combines regular elementary teaching certification and K-12 endorsement in one of two areas in special education:  learning disabilities or deaf education.  Both certification and endorsement are awarded only after completion of a fifth-year internship experience.

This unique Bachelor of Arts/endorsement program in special education is designed to prepare students to be effective general and special educators.  It places a high priority on helping students build connections between theory and practice in the mainstream classroom teaching situation, as well as the more traditional "self-contained" type of special education classroom.  The internship experience, in particular, is designed to be an occasion where special education teacher candidates can benefit from continued instruction and mentoring from university and school faculty while working to refine and hone skills developed earlier in the program.

The goals of the MSU Special Education Program are to prepare prospective teachers who have:

1. thorough knowledge of the subjects they will teach.
   
   

2. knowledge of the unique methods, analyses, and examples which will promote maximum understanding and social and emotional growth in special needs populations.
   
   

3. understanding of the cultural and social contexts in which students live and learn.
   
   

4. practical skills needed to manage the complexities of teaching for understanding in mainstream and self-contained contexts.
   
   

5. commitment to high standards of professional practice and conduct.
   
   

6. understanding of the changing relationships among schools, the communities in which they reside, and the world of work.

As these goals demonstrate, the special education faculty at MSU has developed a special education teacher preparation program that addresses teaching for higher levels of understanding and provides teacher candidates with opportunities to gain the critical knowledge and skills needed to teach all children effectively, especially those who come to school less well prepared than others for what the school traditionally offers.