Special education majors study the unique learning needs of students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. They learn to assess, diagnose, and develop learning plans for kids with special needs.
You want a school that will help you get the career you really want: one that makes a difference in students’ lives, but also lets you follow your passion beyond the classroom—whether it’s coming up with new ways to teach, or simply taking care of yourself so you can keep doing this job as long as possible.
You want an institution that cares about its students and gives them what they need to succeed. You want to be able to do research, travel, and otherwise contribute to your field of study—and we’ll make sure you have plenty of opportunities to do just that.
College students who are interested in teaching special education classes need to earn a bachelor’s degree and a state-issued license to teach. Many states also require prospective special education teachers to pass a background check, complete student teaching experience and pass a licensing exam before they can be hired.
Colleges for Special Education offers courses that prepare you to work with children and adults with disabilities. In addition, they have counselors who can help you find a job in your field after graduation. The professors are very experienced and dedicated to helping their students succeed academically as well as professionally.
Colleges for Special Education has several different programs that can prepare students for working with students who have learning disabilities or other needs such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD). They offer courses such as Developmental Psychology, Child Development and Developmental Disabilities Assessment & Treatment Planning, which will give you the knowledge needed when working with these types of individuals on campus or out in the world at large.
Colleges for Special Education offers some great programs for those looking into becoming teachers specializing in special education needs areas like autism spectrum disorders (ASD) or developmental disabilities assessment & treatment planning (dDATP).
No matter what your preference is, there’s likely a special education program out there that will meet your needs. To help you find the right program for you, we’ve put together a list of schools that offer strong special education majors. Keep reading to learn more about these schools and their special education programs.
Special education is a field that’s all about helping students with special needs learn, grow, and thrive. If you’ve got a passion for teaching, special education might be the career path for you.
To become a special education teacher, you’ll need to earn a bachelor’s or master’s degree in the field, along with appropriate licensure for your state. Some post-secondary programs offer an option to gain licensure through their curriculum, while others offer licensure training as part of their program or through continuing education courses.
Special education refers to instruction and support that addresses the needs of students with disabilities. Special education teachers tailor lessons to meet each student’s needs, based on their particular disability or combination of disabilities. They also collaborate with other teachers and professionals who work with their students to create individualized education plans (or IEPs). These plans outline the goals for each student as well as the strategies that will be used to achieve those goals.
In general, special education teachers focus on developing students’ academic and social skills—as well as helping them learn how to manage their disabilities. Depending on their students’ ages and abilities, they may teach basic reading and writing skills (such as how to recognize letters and sounds), or more advanced concepts, like math or history. They may also help students develop life skills such as dressing themselves or preparing meals.
As an aspiring special education teacher looking to further your education and career options in this field, you will likely want to attend a school that offers the right programs—including at least one bachelor’s degree program—and that has the resources to support your success as a student and future educator.
Although there may be many schools that offer one or more special education-focused degrees in your area, it is important to remember that each school is unique in its offerings and environment. For this reason, it may be essential that you spend some time researching and comparing schools to find the one that best suits your personal needs and preferences before committing to apply. The schools on our list were selected based on their academic quality (the number of other programs they offer for students interested in working with children with special needs
In order to identify the best schools for special education majors, we looked at the most important factors prospective students, mainly common predictors of future success and a school’s commitment to online programs. This boils down to admissions rate, student loan default rate, retention rate, graduation rate, and the percent of students enrolled in online classes. All data points are taken from information provided by colleges and universities to the National Center for Education Statistics.