ESP 525: Inclusion, Collaboration and Advocacy. This course addresses inclusion, collaboration, and advocacy approaches to working with children and youth with disabilities. Approaches for differentiating instruction in an inclusive classroom are presented. Procedures for working with parents and educators in collaborative settings are addressed. Related and transitional services are discussed, field hours required. CREDIT: THREE SEMESTER HOURS.

ESP 526: Prescriptive Teaching. This course will explore strategies for teaching skills and content areas, such as reading, mathematics, oral and written language, and social and study skills, to students with learning and behavior disorders. The course will provide participants with the opportunity to incorporate previous course knowledge and various approaches to learning and teaching to design IEPs that meet the needs of their students. This course will require a 10-hour field experience component, field hours required. CREDIT: THREE SEMESTER HOURS.

ESP 574: MASPE Supervised Teaching. This course provides culminating clinical practice designed for the master-level candidate who has completed all coursework and required standardized exams and currently is employed full-time as a certified, general education teacher of record. The candidate seeks a second, “advanced” level certification. The candidate is mentored and evaluated by a certified, master-level, special education teacher (mentor teacher), in each setting, as well as by a professional educator assigned by the university (university supervisor). To successfully complete this clinical practice, the supervised teacher must demonstrate all four domains of Kentucky Framework for Teaching at the “accomplished” level (3) by the end of the term. CREDIT: SIX SEMESTER HOURS.

ESP 575: MASPE Student Teaching. This course provides culminating clinical practice designed for the master-level teacher candidate who has completed all coursework and required standardized exams, does not hold teacher certification, and is not currently employed full-time as a teacher of record. The candidate seeks an initial teacher certification in Exceptional Children. The individual completes a full semester (minimum 70 days) of student teaching, with one half-semester in a special education elementary placement and the other half in a special education setting in a middle or high school. He or she is supervised, mentored, and evaluated by two certified, master-level, special education teachers (cooperating teachers), one in each setting, as well as by a professional educator assigned by the university (university supervisor). Student teachers co-teach with their cooperating teachers and engage fully in educational activities before, during, and after the school day. By Kentucky regulation, student teachers may not be employed by their schools in any way in any role, although they may be employed by a different school in a manner that does not interfere with fulfillment of student teaching responsibilities. To successfully complete this clinical practice, the student teacher must demonstrate all four domains of Kentucky Framework for Teaching at the “developing” level (2) by the end of the semester. CREDIT: 12 SEMESTER