Program Overview

The College of Education offers the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) in Special Education for individuals without teaching credentials who have earned baccalaureate degrees in specific content areas and want to become special education teachers in an expeditious fashion. The Special Education MAT is a 36-hour program designed to prepare collaborative special education teachers skilled in providing quality instruction to students representing a broad scope of abilities. Candidates in the program will demonstrate competencies in the following areas: learner development and individual learning differences, learning environments, curricular content knowledge, assessment, instructional planning and strategies, professional learning and ethical practice, and collaboration. The program recognizes the changing and complex role of the special educator and as such prepares the graduate candidates to

1. provide support and instruction to students with cognitive, physical, behavior, multiple, and/or health disabilities from kindergarten through 12th grade;
2. work in different educational settings such as self-contained, resource, and regular classrooms;
3. access the general education curriculum demonstrating a strong knowledge and skill set in academic content areas; and
4. effectively collaborate and work closely with general education teachers, related service personnel, administrators, and families to ensure all students are given every opportunity to reach their full potential.

The program is designed to provide knowledge and skills in the discipline of special education while also meeting Arkansas Teaching Standards (ATS/InTASC), Arkansas Teacher Excellence and Support System (TESS), Arkansas Science of Reading Competencies, and the standards of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC). In addition, the MAT curriculum is aligned to Arkansas Competencies for Special Education Teachers K–12 First Time Standard License (2015) and International Society of Technology in Education (ISTE) standards.

Graduates of the MAT will be eligible to pursue an Arkansas standard teaching license in Special Education K–12.

Program delivery is distance education with courses offered in an asynchronous and/or synchronous online setting which will include compressed video, access to online videos and trainings, and Blackboard.