Dr. Kathryn Alves, Graduate Program Director
434.395.2340, alveskd@longwood.edu
The concentration in Special Education: General Curriculum provides strategies for effective teaching of students with special needs in the general education classroom. Graduate students learn assessment and diagnosis of students, effective instructional procedures, collaborative and transitional techniques, and behavior management strategies. The program offers three tracks with each track designed to meet the specific needs of either Longwood undergraduate students, licensed teachers seeking a master’s degree with the special education endorsement, or individuals seeking an initial teaching license in special education.
5th Year Track
This track is open only to Longwood students who have successfully completed all requirements for the Longwood Liberal Studies/Special Education undergraduate degree program as described in the Longwood University undergraduate catalog. Successful completion of this graduate program leads to the Master of Science degree and meets current eligibility requirements for the Virginia Postgraduate Professional License in Special Education: General Curriculum K-12.
Licensed Teacher Track
This track is designed for individuals (new bachelors degree graduates or practicing teachers) who have completed a teacher licensure program in an area other than special education. Successful completion of this program leads to the Master of Science degree and meets current eligibility requirements for the Virginia Postgraduate Professional License in Special Education: General Curriculum K-12.
Initial Licensure Track
This track is designed for individuals with a bachelor’s degree who do not hold a valid teaching license and wish to meet eligibility requirements for a Virginia teaching license with an endorsement in special education. Successful completion of this program leads to the Master of Science degree and meets current eligibility requirements for the Virginia Postgraduate Professional License in Special Education: General Curriculum K-12.
Admission
General Admission Requirements
All applicants to this concentration must have:
- a bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited college or university;
- a 2.75 cumulative GPA (on a 4.0 scale);
- a 500-word personal essay;
- a résumé
Additional Admission Requirements by Track
5th Year Track
Applicants must complete their undergraduate degree from Longwood University in Liberal Studies concentrating in Special Education.
Licensed Teacher Track
Applicants must have:
- a valid Virginia Collegiate Professional License or equivalent from another state at the tme of admission to the program;
- a minimum of two recommendations;
- official transcripts sent of the bachelor’s degree and any course work completed after that degree; (Longwood undergraduates will have the transcript provided in-house)
- Course Prerequisite -
*Foundations in Special Education - can be satisfied by completion of SPED 202 or 389 or 489 or SPED 515 or a program agreed upon course.
Initial Licensure Track
Applicants must have:
- a minimum of two recommendations;
- official transcripts sent of the bachelor’s degree and any course work completed after that degree; (Longwood undergraduates will have the transcript provided in-house)
- test results for the Virginia Communication and Literacy Assessment (VCLA) with Reading and Writing subtest scores of 235 OR a composite score of 470.
- Course Prerequisites -
Foundations in Special Education - can be satisfied by completion of SPED 202 or 389 or 489 or SPED 515 or a program agreed upon course.
Human Growth and Development - can be satisfied by completion of EDUC 245 or EDUC 521 or COUN 507 or a program agreed upon course.
Teacher Preparation Program Requirements
Completion of the Special Education: General Curriculum program leads to the initial teaching license for the 5th Year Track and Initial Licensure Track, and to the special education endorsement to an existing teaching license for theLicensed Teacher Track. Completers of all three tracks meet eligibility requirements for the Postgraduate Professional license indicating completion of a master’s degree. All students must be admitted to teacher preparation in order to enroll in the spring semester 600-level education residency semester. Track A students complete this process while undergraduates. Licensed Teacher and Initial Licensure Tracks must be admitted no later than the end of their first semester of enrollment after admission to the graduate program. The residency requirement is used to meet the supervised clinical experience required by the Virginia Department of Education and includes use of teaching under a Provisional or Special Education Conditional License.
To be admitted to the Teacher Preparation Program, the teacher candidate must:
- Complete the Admission Application to Teacher Preparation in Tk20 Watermark observing all deadlines. Components of the application that require additional steps before submission include:
* a criminal background check;
* a negative TB test;
* automobile insurance information on the required form;
* Child Abuse and Neglect Recognition and Intervention Training module - certificate of completion;
* Dyslexia Awareness Training module - certificate of completion
* Restraint and Seclusion module - certificate of completion.
- Qualifying VCLA test scores used for admission to the graduate program must be submitted with the Admission Application to Teacher Preparation.
- Meet teacher prep GPA requirement with no GPA below 2.50.
- Two faculty recommendations; teacher candidates request the recommendations through myLongwood.
Once admitted to teacher preparation, the teacher candidate must complete the Student Teaching and Professional Semester Initial Placement Request and the Student Teaching and Professional Semester Final Requirements forms in Tk20. Requirements for these forms include:
- maintaining an overall GPA of 3.0;
- passing RVE scores;
- Emergency First Aid & CPR with AED for adults & children, card or certificate of completion;
- if any changes since the original submission to OTP, updates to criminal background check; TB test; or automobile insurance information.
Residency
The completion of residency is mandatory in the Special Education program. All special education graduate students must be admitted to teacher preparation PRIOR to enrolling in the spring semester 600-level education residency courses. The residency is 6 one credit hour courses requiring 100 field clock hours for each credit hour. SPED 507 , SPED 508 , and SPED 509 are taken in the fall and EDUC 607 , EDUC 608 , and EDUC 609 are taken in the spring. Grading is pass (P) / satisfactory progress (SP) / not pass (NP). Only the grade of ‘P’ will meet degree requirements. A grade of incomplete (I) may be assigned at the discretion of the instructor ONLY if all field clock hours have been successfully completed. All students must be enrolled in a minimum of one (1) credit hour of the applicable field experience to be completing any clock hours of placement in the field in order to be in compliance with insurance regulations per the Attorney General’s office. Students cannot begin a placement prior to registering for the required course in the semester they wish to begin observing all applicable deadlines.
Comprehensive Examination
The Special Education program requires a comprehensive examination as the culmination of the program. Students take the Praxis II - Special Education: Core Knowledge and Applications (5354). Students must be enrolled to allow for completion of 30 semester hours of course work, must have a B average (3.0 GPA) in all courses completed, and must have already filed the Application for Graduate Degree to be eligible to enroll in the comprehensive examination.
Students must register for the comprehensive examination (EDUC 699 ) no later than the last day to add a course in the semester in which they wish to take the examination. Registration must be done by submission of the Graduate Course Enrollment Request form to the Registrar’s Office when all of the above criteria have been met. The course does not carry any credit hours.
The Praxis II (5354) is a multiple choice test administered by Educational Testing Service (ETS) at testing centers. Immediately upon completion of the exam at the testing center, examinees must print a copy of their results and deliver them to the Special Education program by the date required.
The grading system for the evaluation of the examination will be pass (P)/not pass (NP). Students who do not pass the examination shall be allowed one re-examination. The re-examination will be administered at a time set by the Director of the Special Education Graduate Program within the same semester. The re-examination will test the same material as the original sections of the Praxis II, but will be a subjective question on each section designed and graded by the Special Education faculty. Students will only be required to retake the subjective question on the section(s) they did not pass. Failure of the examination for a second time will be final, and students will be dismissed from the graduate program.
