Dr. Kathryn Alves, Graduate Program Director
434.395.2340, alveskd@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 PSPE/SPED 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.
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;
- 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;
- taken prior to April 1, 1995: SAT composite score of 1000 with no less than 450 verbal and 510 math
- ACT
- taken after April 1, 1995 - composite score of 24, math minimum 22, English plus Reading total 46;
- 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
- Praxis Core Academic Skills for Educators
- taken afeter January 1, 2014 - Reading Score of 156; Writing Score of 162, and Mathematics Score of 150;
- taken prior to January 1, 2014 - Praxis 1: composite score of 532
- Virginia Communication and Literacy Assessment (VCLA) Reading and Writing subtest scores of 235 or composite score of 470 PLUS a qualifying Math score from:
- SAT Mathematics score
- ACT Mathematics score
- Praxis Core Academic Skills for Educators Mathematics score
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 meet state licensure requirements upon successful completion of this degree program. The residency requirement is used to meet the supervised clinical experience required by the Virginia Department of Education. This residency allows use of teaching under a Provisional or Special Education Conditional License.
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 Admission Application to Teacher Preparation in Tk20 Watermark observing all deadlines.
- Submit with the Admission Application to Teacher Preparation in Tk20 a copy of the qualifying test scores used for admission to the graduate program.
- Meet the GPA requirement via admission to the graduate program.
- Two faculty recommendations are required. Faculty complete the recommendations using the faculty tab on myLongwood and need the student to generate the request in myLongwood.
- The Admission Application to Teacher Preparation in Tk20 includes submission of the covenant agreement, a criminal background check, a negative TB test, automobile insurance information, and completion of the online Child Abuse and Neglect Recognition and Intervention Training Module and Dyslexia Awareness Training Module. Upon complete of modules, a certificate of completion is submitted in Tk20.
Graduate Studies Special Education Residency
All initial licensure special education graduate students must be admissted to teacher preparation and submit in Tk20 Watermark the Student Teaching and Professional Semester Initial Placement and Final Requirements forms PRIOR to enrolling in residency courses.
- Maintaining an overall GPA of 3.0.
- The initial placement request and final requirements forms include submission of:
- Card or certificate proof of hands-on training in Emergency First Aid & CPR with AED for adults & children
- Passing VCLA scores if not submitted with the Admission Application for Teacher Preparation, and passing RVE scores.
NOTE: Teacher candidates bear any costs associated with meeting placement requirements. All documents must be current within one year of actual placement in residency. In addition to these Longwood requirements, school divisions may have other forms to complete and procedures to follow. It is the teacher candidate’s responsibility to access the information and comply by the appropriate deadline.
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 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.
