Preliminary California Education Specialist: Mild/Moderate Disabilities Teacher Preparation Program

The Education Specialist Teacher Preparation Program at Mount Saint Mary’s University has been approved by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing The program prepares teachers to work with K-12 students with mild/moderate disabilities including students with learning disabilities, mental retardation, serious emotional disturbance, autism, and health impairments. These teachers may be employed in their own classroom, in a resource specialist position, or in an inclusion specialist position serving special education students in general education settings. The Preliminary Education Specialist program is open to graduate students only.

Students begin their preparation in the Preliminary program with general and special education coursework and field experiences and conclude the program with supervised teaching. For the general education requirements, students select an elementary or a secondary emphasis. Courses include fieldwork experiences in general and special education classrooms. The fieldwork requirements may be completed in the student’s own classroom (interns) or in exemplary teachers’ classrooms in Mount Saint Mary’s University associated schools (pre-service graduate students). Additional requirements for a teaching credential include passing scores on the appropriate CSET examinations and the Reading Instruction Competence Assessment (RICA), the U.S. Constitution requirement (verified by coursework or exam) and a Certificate of Clearance. Students are urged to maintain regular contact with their program advisor as the CCTC credential requirements are subject to change. Students may complete a Master of Science degree in Education in conjunction with the preliminary teacher preparation coursework.