Special Education: Transition Skills, M.S.

The M.S. in special education program of studies allows both general and special education instructors to improve their individual instructional skills to meet the new demands of the 21st century classroom. In today’s inclusive educational arena, regular education teachers must be prepared to provide instruction and accommodations for special needs students in regular classroom settings, while special education teachers must acquire advanced skills to work with regular education instructors in co-teaching classroom models. The program develops talents in teaching which will allow all students to learn from content experts in their field of expertise, while receiving the assistance needed from the instructors trained in the area of special education.

Transition services are a current necessity of the Individualized Education Program (IEP) for students services under IDEA outlining transition goals and services for all students exiting K-12 education. This specialty area allows graduate students to gain the required knowledge, skills and competencies to assist youth and young adults with disabilities as they transition to postsecondary opportunities. Graduate students will learn to design and implement transition and career assessment strategies to help ensure the success of youth as they transition to adult life, as well as gain expertise necessary to guide families, schools and districts through this process.