Special Education (Specialist and EC-6 Certification), Bachelor of Science
Program Overview
The Bachelor of Special Education - Specialist and EC-6 Certification program prepares applicants for the Texas State Board of Educator Certification (SBEC) issued Special Education Specialist: Early Childhood-Grade 12 certificate and the Core Subjects with Science of Teaching Reading: Early Childhood-6 certificate.
Admission requirements for this program beyond university admission requirements.
- For teacher certification, students must apply for admission and be accepted to the teacher preparation program prior to enrolling in teacher certification courses,
Progression requirements for this program.
- Students must apply and be accepted into clinical teaching prior to their last semester in the program.
- Teacher Education Program progression requirements include GPA, course grades, certification courses, benchmarks/key assessments and testing.
Note: This program leads to a profession which requires an occupational license as defined under Texas Occupations Code 58.001. This requires that all applicants seeking to become licensed must undergo a criminal background check prior to licensure. Students in this program should check with the College of Education and P-16 Integration on the requirements for a criminal background check prior to student teaching.
Core Curriculum - 42 hours
The Core Curriculum serves as a broad foundation for the undergraduate degree. All candidates for a bachelor’s degree must achieve core student learning outcomes, including communication, critical thinking, empirical and quantitative skills, teamwork, personal responsibility and social responsibility, by completing courses within each category or component area of the Core Curriculum as outlined below.
The University has approved specific courses that satisfy Core Curriculum Requirements. Approved courses can be found on the Core Curriculum Page. Students seeking the most efficient way to complete the core curriculum and major or minor requirements are advised to take approved courses that can fulfill both requirements. Although core curriculum courses can also be used to fulfill major or minor requirements, earned credits hours are only applied once.
The courses listed below fulfill core curriculum and major requirements. Students who have completed a core curriculum category with courses other than those listed below will still be required to take the listed course(s) to meet major requirements.
020 Mathematics - 3 hours
Choose one:
050 Creative Arts - 3 hours
Major Requirements - 78 hours
Required Courses - 78 hours
Prerequisite to Teacher Education Admission Coursework - 6 hours
Academic Content Coursework - 15 hours
| SPED 1390 | Introduction to Exceptional Children | 3 |
| HIST 3309 | History Foundations for Elementary Social Studies Educators | 3 |
| READ 3320 | Early Literacy Development | 3 |
| SCIE 3301 | Science for Elementary Teachers I | 3 |
| SCIE 3302 | Science for Elementary Teachers II | 3 |
Post-Admission to Teacher Preparation Program Pedagogical Coursework - 33 hours
| SPED 3300 | Universal Design for Learning and Special Education Technology | 3 |
| SPED 3333 | Learning Strategies in Special Education | 3 |
| SPED 3350 | Collaborative Models and Legal Issues in Special Education | 3 |
| SPED 4310 | Inclusion and Differentiated Instruction in Special Education | 3 |
| SPED 4330 | Language and Literacy Development of Diverse Exceptional Learners | 3 |
| SPED 4350 | Assessment and Data Interpretation in Special Education | 3 |
| SPED 4370 | Instructional Methods for Students with Low Incidence Disabilities | 3 |
| SPED 4380 | Instructional Methods for Students with Learning Disabilities | 3 |
| SPED 4395 | Social Emotional Learning | 3 |
| EDSL 3310 | Emergent Bilingual Students in Schools | 3 |
| READ 3324 | Reading Comprehension and Assessment | 3 |
Pedagogy Core Coursework - 24 hours
| EDCI 3331 | Human Development and Student Learning | 3 |
| EDCI 3332 | Designing and Implementing Instruction and Assessment | 3 |
| EDCI 3333 | Teaching Science to Elementary Students | 3 |
| EDCI 3334 | Teaching Mathematics to Elementary Students | 3 |
| EDCI 3335 | Teaching Social Studies to Elementary Students | 3 |
| EDCI 4320 | Professional Development in Teaching | 3 |
| EDCI 4637 | Student Teaching for Elementary Teachers (EC-6) | 6 |
| Or | |
| EDCI 4331 | Clinical Teaching Residency I for Elementary Teachers (EC-6) | 3 |
| And | |
| EDCI 4332 | Clinical Teaching Residency II for Elementary Teachers (EC-6) | 3 |
Students will complete a 6-credit hour clinical teaching experience through EDCI 4637 or EDCI 4331 and EDCI 4332.
The EDCI 4331 and EDCI 4332 course sequence is only for students completing the Clinical Teaching Residency Pathway. The two courses are to be taken the last year of the program.
Advanced Minimum Credit Hours: 42
Total Credit Hours: 120
View this program’s recommended roadmap to graduation.
UTRGV Roadmaps are a suggested sequence of courses designed to assist students in completing their undergraduate degree requirements. This is a term-by-term sample roadmap of courses required to complete the degree. Students must satisfy all requirements in their catalog including, but not limited to course prerequisites, grade point average and course grade benchmarks, progression requirements, and graduation requirements.
Students should meet with their academic advisor every semester to discuss their individualized path toward completion. Degree progress within this roadmap depends upon such factors as course availability, individual student academic preparation and readiness, student time management, work and personal responsibilities, and financial considerations. Students may choose to take courses during summer terms to reduce course loads during long semesters.