• EXED DEPARTMENT
  • WHO WE ARE
  • Mission Statement
  • Faculty & Staff
  • Other Useful Contact Information
  • Graduate Assistantship Program
  • CEC Calendar
• SPED - 5 YR PROGRAMS (Minor + 1 Grad Yr)
  • Inclusive Early Childhood M.A.T.
  • K-12 SPED 5-year M.A.T.
• EXED 4 YR PROGRAMS
  • EXED Non-Teaching Minor
  • Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) Licensure
  • TESL Non-Licensure
• SPED GRADUATE PROGRAMS
  • K-12 SPED Post Bacc. M.A.T.
  • Early Childhood-SPED Post Bacc. M.A.T.
  • M.Ed. in Exceptional Education
• GIFTED EDUCATION ADD-ON ENDORSEMENTS
  • JMU Students
  • Practicing Teachers
• CERTIFICATES
  • Teacher Preparation in Vision Impairment
  • Autism Certificate
• OTHER PROGRAMS
  • JMU's Project CUSP
  • EXED Teacher Candidate Action Research Projects

Special Education

The Special Education Program offers coursework options at the graduate and undergraduate levels for individuals interested in pursuing licensure in either Early Childhood Special Education (birth to five years) or SPED K-12, students with disabilities accessing the general curriculum.  In addition to our licensure programs, options exist for persons interested in learning more about individuals with disabilities and their educational needs. 

Licensure Programs 

The Special Education Program offers two routes to initial licensure:

     ♦   Five year M.A.T. initial licensure programs  in which coursework is
          integrated throughout a student's undergraduate and graduate experience
               ο   K-12th Grade Special Education (5 year program)
               ο   Inclusive Early Childhood Education (5 Year Program)

     ♦   Post-baccalaureate M.A.T. programs  in which students begin 
          coursework towards licensure after they have earned a bachelor's degree
               ο   K-12th Grade Special Education post-baccalaureate program
               ο   Early Childhood Special Education post-baccalaureate program

     ♦   The Special Education Program offers courses through the Virginia Consortium
          for Teacher Preparation in Visual Impairments.  All courses specific
          to vision impairments are offered in a distance education format.  Course work
          leads to intial licensure.   

Non-Licensure Programs

The undergraduate Exceptional Education Minor  is designed for students who desire to learn more about persons with exceptionalities but do not want to pursue a teaching license in special education.

A certificate program in Autism is offered at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.  These courses were designed for individuals desiring to increase their knowledge and understanding of students with a disability in the autism spectrum, including those with Asperger syndrome.  All graduate level courses are offered on-line.

Contact Information

Department Head

Dr. Laura Desportes
desporlx@jmu.edu

If a child can’t learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn.

-Ignacio ‘Nacho’ Estrada