Contact:

Christine Ashby, 150 Huntington Hall, 315-443-8689, ceashby@syr.edu

This master’s degree program in inclusive special education is designed to prepare students to work with individuals with disabilities in grades 1-6. It meets the academic requirements for initial/professional New York State teacher certification in Students with Disabilities (1-6). Students may complete the 32-credit program either full (in 15 months) or part-time (although daytime availability for field experience and student teaching is required). Applicants must hold or be expected to have met requriements for the New York State initial childhood 1-6 teaching certificate, with all requirements met before beginning the program.

The program builds on the long and distinguished traditions of inclusive education and disability studies at Syracuse University. The philosophies of the program expand on these traditions to examine disability as a social, cultural, and political construct inextricably linked to issues of race, class, and gender. A grounding assumption of the program is that students with disabilities must have access to academic instruction and social learning available to students without disabilities. To this end, students in this program explore innovative approaches to modifying and adapting instruction, curriculum, and classroom structures to maximize each student’s strengths and encourage meaningful participation in inclusive classrooms..