Special Education (grades K-12)

The Elementary/Middle Education (grades K-9) and Special Education (grades K-12) major provides a pathway for future teachers to be dual-licensed in both regular education (english and language arts, math, science, social studies in grades K-9) and cross-categorical special education (grades K-12).

Both federal and state law includes provisions for supporting students with disabilities in K-12 classrooms. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 2004) was adopted and modified in WI in Act 258 in 2006. These laws require schools/districts to assess and provide services for children with disabilities. For decades, schools’ predominant model was a “pull-out” model, where students with disabilities were pulled out of general classrooms and supported by Special Education professionals in a separate setting. However, the pull-out model is most often not the "Least Restrictive Environment" (LRE) for students. (LRE, as established in IDEA regulations, must be offered to students who require special education services.) For more than 80% of students requiring special education services, the LRE is the general education setting. The inclusive model, in which all children are included in the general classroom and instruction is differentiated, requires that educators be equipped with the skills to understand, assess, and support the needs of students with disabilities in general education classrooms. The EME/SPE program will prepare future teachers with the skills and dispositions to better understand learner development, explore critically important special education topics such as the intersectionalities between disabilities, race, and other markers of difference, and employ research-based strategies both in inclusive classrooms and in specialized settings.

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EME - SPE Advising Sheet

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Educational Studies

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