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  • Degrees Available:
    • M.S.Ed.
  • Locations:
    • Quad Cities
  • Required GPA:
    • Cumulative: 2.75
    • Last 2 years: 3.0
  • Admission Requirements:
    • Goals Statement
    • Transcripts
    • Letters of Recommendation
  • Interesting Facts: Fall 2009
    • Currently enrolled: 35
    • International: 0
    • Minority: 2
    • Male: 6
    • Female: 29
    • Students with Assistantships: 0

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Graduate Programs of Study

Academic College: Education and Human Services

Program: Special Education

Tracks

Program Overview

The Department of Special Education provides comprehensive graduate programs for students desiring professional careers in special education. Students completing their master’s degrees usually assume positions as classroom, consultant, or inclusion teachers of children and adolescents with varying disabilities in schools, clinics, and residential facilities. The Special Education graduate program provides opportunities for two groups of students: (1) those with general education certification who wish to also earn special education certification and (2) those with special education certification who wish to increase their skills through advanced study. The program integrates the needs of Illinois and Iowa certification requirements in order to serve students from both sides of the river in the Quad Cities. Degree candidates must complete an action research project that demonstrates their ability to impact their classroom or their school.

Additional application materials for the Special Education program can be found at wiu.edu/sped/gradapmat.html.

Special Education

Why Special Education at WIU?

The Special Education program at Western makes every attempt to accommodate both Iowa and Illinois certification issues. We offer course work that leads to special education certification for those with other teaching certificates who wish to re-focus their teaching goals. In addition, the department provides advanced study for those who already possess special education certification and experience. The program requires students to learn how to design and implement action research in their own classes. That structured experience provides students with the skills needed to better use evidence based practices in their own classrooms.

Our Faculty

Faculty from both the QC campus and the Macomb campus teach graduate courses. Each of those professors has real life experience with special populations.

Extracurricular Opportunities

There are no department sponsored extra-curricular activities but there are many opportunities in the community to interact with and serve individuals with disabilities. Several faculty are involved in community based activities and provide students with information about opportunities outside of the classroom.