Dr. Karen Feathers, Graduate Program Director
434.395.2837, featherskh@longwood.edu
This program is designed for individuals with a Baccalaureate degree who wish to meet eligibility requirements for the Virginia Postgraduate Professional License with an endorsement to teach students with special needs in the general education classroom.
PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS
Prerequisites:
Foundations in Special Education - Can be satisfied by completion of SPED 202 Or 389 or 489 or SPED/PSPE 515 or a program agreed upon course substitution.
Human Growth and Development - Can be satisfied by completion of EDUC 245 or Educ 521 or COUN 507 or a program agreed upon course substitution.
Passing scores on Praxis Core Academic Skills for Educators, or an equivalent SAT or ACT score, or passing VCLA scores plus SAT or ACT or Praxis equivalent math scores are required for admission to the program. Passing scores on Praxis II-Special Education, the Reading for Virginia Educators (RVE), and the Virginia Communication and Literacy Assessment (VCLA) are required for licensure and are a program completion requirement.
In addition, the teacher licensure candidate must complete at least 350 clock hours of graduate professional exprience through residency at an approved school/classroom.
Once admitted to the graduate program, the candidates will select one of two specialization tracks:
1) English language Learners
2) Middle School Pedagogy
NOTE: Though many courses overlap, this is a different program from the Special Education: General Curriculum Plus One K-12 and the Special Education: General Curriculum Fifth Year K-12 programs.
Admission
Applicants to this program must possess a bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited college or university, must have a 2.75 cumulative GPA (on a 4.0 scale), provide a minimum of two recommendations, a 500-word personal essay, a résumé, and official transcripts of the bachelor’s degree as well as any for course work completed after that degree. In addition to the above, applicants must submit a copy of one of the qualifying test scores listed below
- SAT taken after March 1, 2016: SAT composite score of 1170 with no less than 580 on Evidence-based Reading & Writing section and 560 on the Math Section;
SAT taken after April 1, 1995 & Prior to March 1, 2016: SAT composite score of 1100 with, no less than 530 on both the math and verbal sections of the test;
SAT taken prior to April 1, 1995: SAT composite score of 1000 with no less than 450 verbal and 510 math OR
- ACT composite score of 24, math minimum 22, English plus Reading total 46;
ACT taken prior to April 1, 1995: ACT composite score of 21, with the ACT mathematics score no less than 21, and an ACT English plus Reading score no less than 37 OR
- Praxis Core Academic Skills for Educators: Reading Score of 156; Writing Score of 162, and Mathematics Score of 150;
Praxis prior to January 1, 2014 Praxis 1: composite score of 532 OR
- Virginia Communication and Literacy Assessment (VCLA) Reading and Writing subtest scores of 235 or composite score of 470 AND SAT Mathematics score 560 OR
- VCLA Reading and Writing subtest scores of 235 or composite score of 470 AND ACT Mathematics score 22 OR
- VCLA Reading and Writing subtest scores of 235 or composite score of 470 AND Praxis Core Academic Skills for Educators: Mathematics score 150
Residency
The completion of residency is mandatory in the Special Education program. 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) / 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.
Graduate Initial Licensure Process
Students in the Initial Licensure concentration, must complete a professional semester to meet state licensing requirements. This professional semester is the residency requirement in the special education program. For those students who are already teaching under a Provisional or Special Education Conditional License, enrollment in the professional semester is still a requirement, but will be a mentorship of their current teaching position.
Upon acceptance to the graduate program, Initial Licensure Candidates will apply to the Teacher Preparation Program by the end of the first semester of enrollment after acceptance.
To be admitted to the Teacher Prep Program, the teacher candidate must:
- Complete the Teacher Preparation Program application in myLongwood.
- Enroll in the OPS Teacher Prep Canvas Course.
- Apply to the Teacher Prep Program by the deadline date listed in the chart in the OPS Teacher Prep Canvas Course.
- Submit a copy of one of the qualifying test scores listed below to OPS via the Teacher Prep course in Canvas
- SAT taken after March 1, 2016: SAT composite score of 1170 with no less than 580 on Evidence-based Reading & Writing section and 560 on the Math Section; SAT taken after April 1, 1995 & Prior to March 1, 2016: SAT composite score of 1100 with, no less than 530 on both the math and verbal sections of the test; SAT taken prior to April 1, 1995: SAT composite score of 1000 with no less than 450 verbal and 510 math OR
- ACT composite score of 24, math minimum 22, English plus Reading total 46, ACT taken prior to April 1, 1995: ACT composite score of 21, with the ACT mathematics score no less than 21, and an ACT English plus Reading score no less than 37) OR
- Praxis Core Academic Skills for Educators: Reading Score of 156; Writing Score of 162, and Mathematics Score of 150 (prior to January 1, 2014 Praxis 1: composite score of 532) OR
- Virginia Communication and Literacy Assessment (VCLA) Reading and Writing subtest scores of 235 or composite score of 470 AND SAT Mathematics score 560 OR
- VCLA Reading and Writing subtest scores of 235 or composite score of 470 AND ACT Mathematics score 22 OR
- VCLA Reading and Writing subtest scores of 235 or composite score of 470 AND Praxis Core Academic Skills for Educators: Mathematics score 150
- Meet the GPA requirement via admission to the graduate program.
- Submit a copy of all official undergraduate transcripts via the Teacher Prep course in Canvas.
- Complete the online Child Abuse Recognition and Intervention Training Module and the Dyslexia Awareness Training Module. Submit a copy of the completion certificate to OPS via the Teacher Preparation course in Canvas.
- Inform OPS via email when all requirements have been met so your application will be processed.
Graduate Studies Professional Semester
Students who wish to graduate in a timely manner must complete the Graduate Studies Professional Semester application and meet all requirements at the properly established time. Failure to meet any requirement by the deadline will delay your admission to complete the Professional Semester and may delay graduation.
Apply for the Graduate Professional Semester one semester in advance (February 1 for a Fall placement or September 1 for a Spring placement) by:
- Completing the Student Teaching placements application.
- Access via myLongwood and select the appropriate graduate program area.
- Detailed instructions are posted on the OPS website, if needed.
- Requesting positive faculty recommendation(s) via myLongwood as specified by the program area.
- Faculty complete the recommendations online, using the faculty tab of myLongwood.
- Faculty will need your request in myLongwood in order to generate the recommendation.
- Submissions can be viewed in myLongwood once completed (follow up with faculty).
- Maintaining an overall GPA of 3.0.
- Submitting to OPS the following documents via the Teacher Prep course in Canvas:
- Criminal background check results
- Record of Negative TB Test results.
- Card or certificate proof of hands-on training in Emergency First Aid & CPR with AED for adults & children
- Covenant Agreement Test
NOTE: Teacher candidates bear any costs associated with meeting placement requirements. All documents must be current within one year of actual placement in the professional semester. In addition to these Longwood requirements, school divisions may have other forms to complete and procedures to follow. The latest known information is posted on the OPS Canvas course. It is the teacher candidate’s responsibility to access the information and comply by the appropriate deadline.
Meet remaining program area requirements by the deadline established by the program area, which in most instances is prior to starting the professional semester (Seminar Day). This includes:
- Submitting to OPS a copy of all licensure assessment score reports required for your program area.
- Virginia Communication and Literacy Assessment (VCLA).
- Praxis II - if applicable.
- Reading for Virginia Educators (RVE) - if applicable.
- Completing all course work. Consult your graduate catalog for specific program requirements.
Other Important Information:
- Monitor the OPS Canvas course for important dates, deadlines, meetings, etc.
- Attend all required meetings prior to the professional semester (Orientation, Seminar Day, etc.)
- The OPS will obtain professional semester placements for the initial licensure candidates who are not employed as full time teachers. If employed with a provisional license, please call the OPS for additional information.
Comprehensive Examination
The Special Education program requires a comprehensive examination as the culmination of their program. Students take the Praxis II - Special Education: Core Knowledge and Mild to Moderate Applications. 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 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.
