Inclusive and Special Education
Become an inclusive leader.
This certificate prepares educators to be leaders in Inclusive and Special Education in their schools and districts by humanizing students with dis/abilities and the systems designed to support them, by gaining valuable knowledge about legal, historical and social precedents in special education, and by expanding their instructional toolkit.
You will examine federal, state and local policies and will also learn practical strategies you can use to plan instruction and to support students in general education and intervention settings. Each course will draw upon culturally and linguistically appropriate practices that attend to the needs and strengths of all students, with an emphasis on creating equitable learning environments. Course content and assignments consider dis/ability to be one of multiple identities that makes each of us human, rather than a defect or problem in need of a cure. We use the term dis/ability, choosing purposefully to place a slash between dis and ability.
At the end of this certificate, you should:
- build an understanding of the historical, political and social influences on the education of students with dis/abilities;
- plan for and engage with creative, flexible and supportive inclusive learning environments for students with and without dis/abilities; and
- learn instructional strategies for including students with learning dis/abilities and those with a range of learning strengths and challenges in curriculum and school structures.
We strongly encourage students to take the core courses in sequence.
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Course Descriptions
Visit the University Catalog for a complete summary of the program as well as its requirements, course descriptions and learning outcomes.