Special Education

Help students learn and grow

Are you passionate about ensuring all students receive an education that meets their diverse needs? Our licensable special education minor for undergraduate students will prepare you with the knowledge, skills and versatility to teach in K-12 settings.

Through a five-course sequence, you’ll discover how to create and advocate for inclusive learning environments that will best serve students’ academic, emotional and behavioral needs. You’ll learn about special education history and law, characteristics of specific disabilities and the IEP, literacy techniques, planning lessons for specific disabilities, and creating environments that support positive classroom behaviors.

The Alverno difference

For this minor, we offer accelerated night classes with small groups in order to accommodate working professionals and to help you foster relationships with your faculty and peers.

At Alverno, our faculty are current or former K-12 teachers with extensive classroom experience. We know that students have different styles of learning; as a result, you’ll explore how you learn best and learn how to lead and engage a classroom of students with different learning styles.

Hands-on experience is an essential component of an Alverno education. You’ll participate in intensive field work placements in K-12 classrooms (can be completed on-the-job). This ensures that when the time comes to begin student teaching, you’re ready to step up to the front of the classroom with confidence.

Alverno education graduates are in high demand at schools across the region, because school leaders recognize that our graduates are ready to make a difference on day one.

As an Alverno special education minor, you will achieve these outcomes:

• Coordination: You will discover how to make the best use of materials, time, technology, the classroom setting, and timing to create learning experiences.
• Conceptualization: You will learn to integrate content knowledge with best teaching practices in order to plan and implement lessons in the field.
• Interaction: You will be able to make professional decisions and adapt to the changing needs in the field classroom and school environment.
• Diagnosis: You will learn how to determine learning needs of K-12 students and how to design learning experiences to meet those needs.
• Communication: You will practice explaining concepts to children of all ages, and you will learn how to communicate effectively with colleagues, administrators and families.

Students enrolled in Alverno’s paraprofessional to teacher licensure program can also add special education licensure. Learn more.