Program of Study

The Graduate Special Education Program offers a learning environment that is flexible and accommodating for working professionals. Though designed for individuals licensed to teach in the state of Ohio, individuals with a Bachelor's degree who do not currently hold an Ohio teaching license are also eligible to enroll in one of the four program's curriculum tracks. Licensure tracks include the coursework required by Ohio to apply for a K-12 Mild-Moderate Intervention Specialist license:

1. Licensure Only – For candidates holding teaching credentials in any other discipline, and who only wish to add intervention specialist license. It requires 25 credit hours and may be completed within a year. Any licensure student wanting to subsequently apply to the M.Ed. program should do so prior to enrolling in her or his 12th credit hour.
2. Licensure + M.Ed. – For candidates holding teaching credentials in any other discipline. It requires 37 credit hours and a graduate research project. It may be completed in fewer than 2 years.
3. Initial License + M.Ed. – For candidates seeking their first teaching credential. It requires 49 credit hours, a 16-week supervised field experience and graduate research project. It may be completed in 2 years.
4. M.Ed. in Special Education Only – For candidates holding teaching credentials as intervention specialists, Bermudian Partnership students, or candidates seeking alternative licensure. It requires 30 credit hours and a graduate research project. It may be completed in fewer than 2 years. 

Program Courses

Intervention Specialist Licensure

*Twelve hour student teaching course required of students without completed, prior student teaching coursework.

Master of Education

EDP 601: Advanced Educational Psychology
EDP 651: Educational Research
EDP 667: Behavioral Statistics I
EDP 652: Educational Research Practicum*

*Course taken the semester in which a student intends to graduate and complete the research project requirements.

Course Format

The program’s online coursework is primarily asynchronous. Courses are offered in approximately 8 to 12-week sprint terms. Courses generally include three live web-streamed meetings held on scheduled Saturdays throughout each semester. Attendance is required.

Some of the Graduate Special Education Program courses that are part of the M.Ed. study plan are also available in a traditional, full-term course format. Students may enroll in either course to satisfy the program requirements, provided the course is the same course number and title, OR, a course substitution has been approved by the student’s academic advisor.

Transfer of Credit

Special Education adheres to Miami University’s Graduate School’s policy regarding credit transfer. Section 1.2J specifically states that if a student earned credit for graduate-level courses at another accredited graduate school, he or she may be able to apply that credit toward the degree. All transfer of credit requests are subject to review and approval by the Department of Educational Psychology. To apply credits to the degree, a student must have achieved the following:

• Received an “A” or “B” for the credits to be transferred.
• Taken the courses within five (5) years of the projected graduation date for the M.Ed.

Students who received “pass” or “credit” evaluations for coursework can make a request to the Petitions Committee of their academic division that those courses be applied to their degree. No extension or correspondence work can be applied toward a graduate degree.

Master’s degree candidates may transfer a maximum of one-third of the number of credit hours required for the degree. For example, if a program requires thirty (30) credit hours for the degree, students can transfer a maximum of ten (10) hours.