Our special education credential program is one of the most well-respected in the educational community, and our students emerge as highly-qualified educators with the ability to teach in public and private schools throughout California from Kindergarten through 12th grade. Our programs combine current research and theory with real-life classroom experience to round out your education. Coupled with Saint Mary’s Lasallian pedagogy and a commitment to social justice, students are prepared to be reflective teachers and leaders in their school and community.
Our Education Specialist Mild-to-Moderate Credential program provides candidates with learning opportunities in a wide range of settings and service options for students with disabilities. This credential will prepare you with the knowledge and skills necessary for a successful and rewarding career teaching and providing services to students in grades K-12 in California with:
Autism spectrum disorder
Specific learning disabilities
Emotional disturbances
Mild-to-moderate intellectual disabilities
Other health impairments (including ADD and ADHD)
The Education Specialist Credential consists of 37 units of in-person coursework. Students start in the summer term and typically take 1 year (Summer, Fall, Janterm, Spring) to complete the program.
Program Director
Jill Rathjen, M.Ed., jar2@stmarys-ca.edu
Student Learning Outcomes
- Design lessons and deliver instruction that is linguistically, culturally and developmentally appropriate to students.
- Learn and develop effective methods for cultivating a caring, supportive, nurturing, and rigorous classroom community (within our teacher education classrooms and at school sites).
- Use a variety of formative and summative assessments to meet the needs of different learners, including student self-assessment and self-reflection as partners in teaching and learning.
- Ensure that all students have full opportunities for academic success, without regard to ethnicity, race, gender, culture, social class, language or disability.
- Demonstrate professional practice growth in partnership with school sites, communities, families, and students.
- Demonstrate that you have met all of the Teacher Performance Expectations set by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing.
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