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 specific learning disabilities, intellectually delayed, emotional disturbance, neurodiversity, and health impairments. These teachers may serve students in a classroom setting as a resource specialist or an inclusion specialist. The Preliminary Education Specialist program is accessible to undergraduate and graduate students. 

Preparation for this credential includes general education and special education coursework, field experiences and supervised teaching. An elementary credential may be acquired at the simultaneously, with an additional five units of general education coursework and specifically designed supervision assignments. 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 acquiring appropriate examinations scores and a status of fitness: the California Basic Credentialing Educational Skills Test (CSET), the Teacher Performance Assessment (TPA), 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.