Master of Science in Special Education-Emphasis in the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing with Preliminary Level 1 Credential Option

Lead Faculty: Dr. Joan Sebastian

The Master of Science in Special Education with an emphasis in the deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) is designed for educators and other professionals who want to become knowledgeable about educational learning challenges and teaching strategies to enhance performance of students who are deaf and hard of hearing. Students enrolled in the joint degree credentials program are not awarded the master’s degree until they have completed all graduate and credential coursework, including student teaching. Course equivalence cannot be granted for life experience.

Admission to the Program
Online Admissions: onlineadmissions@nu.edu

Application items:

• Application for Admission to the Education of the Deaf graduate program
• Personal and professional goals essay (1 full single-spaced page maximum)
• CD or DVD portfolio of ASL Fluency (video samples of self, 8 to 10 minutes maximum in length) including the following content:

1. Introduction of self and description of your sign and written language acquisition experience
2. Narration of a selected work of ASL literature or personal narrative
3. Narration of a selected work of children’s English literature

• Intermediate proficiency or better in American Sign Language competencies as assessed by the Proficiency Interview (ASLPI). Note: an ASLPI will be scheduled after submission of the three application items delineated above.

Send all above application items in one complete packet to:

National University
DHH Program - Admissions
3031 Tisch Way, 100 Plaza East
San Jose, Ca. 95128-2530

Note: Students must have access to a broadband Internet connection, Microsoft Office Word, and digital Video recording devices, including a webcam (1.3 megapixel or better at 30 frames per second) and a digital video camera.

Please see additional Credential admission requirements under Education Specialist in the School of Education’s Credential Programs section of the website.

Program Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this program, students will be able to:

• Utilize knowledge of research to critique and synthesize learning theories as they relate to cognitive, language, and social development of ASL-English learners as well as those with special needs throughout their lifespan.
• Demonstrate understanding and practice of cultural-historical perspectives, educational theories and models, legal and ethical practices, and technological innovations for instructing ASL-English Bilingual Multicultural learners including those with special needs.
• Demonstrate academic discourse competency and language proficiency in both ASL and English, and utilize interpretation and translation skills between ASL and written English.
• Implement developmentally appropriate strategies supporting first and second language acquisition as well as cognitive development engaging each student in the learning process.
• Demonstrate the ability to select, adapt, administer, and interpret and explain formative and summative assessment results, making appropriate dual language and content based recommendations.
• Implement and evaluate differentiated instructional pedagogies addressing state content standards and core curriculum in a culturally relevant manner.
• Demonstrate collaboration skills working with the multi-disciplinary educational team, including families and other stakeholders, to interpret assessment tools and implementing developmentally appropriate dual language (i.e. expressive and receptive), cognitive, and social goals for children from birth to age five.
• Demonstrate knowledge of the etiologies and identify the learning characteristics of students who are DHH and those who are DHH with special needs.
• Implement appropriate classroom management with cultural sensitivity so that behavior challenges diminish and more positive attitudes toward school are developed.
• Demonstrate knowledge of developmental milestones from infancy to adulthood and advocacy skills meeting the communication and academic needs of d/Deaf learners during key transitional stages.
• Collaborate effectively with diverse families, support providers (i.e. ASL-English bilingual specialist, audiologists, interpreters, paraprofessionals, and speech language pathologist), general education professionals, community agencies, and the ­Deaf communities.

Requirements

(26 courses; 112.5-114 quarter units)

To receive a Master of Science in Special Education with an emphasis on deaf and hard of hearing, students must complete at least 81 quarter units of graduate work. A total of 13.5 quarter units of graduate credit may be granted for equivalent graduate work completed at another institution, as it applies to this degree and if the units were not used in earning another advanced degree. Course equivalence cannot be granted for life experience. Students must complete all coursework with a GPA of 3.0 or better within seven years. Any courses taken more than seven years ago must be repeated.

Prerequisites (10 courses; 43.5 quarter units)
PSY 100 - Introduction to Psychology
PSY 301 - Child Development
   Prerequisite: ENG 100, ENG 101
PSY 427 - Biological Psychology
   Prerequisite: ENG 100, ENG 101, and PSY 100
PSY 431 - Psychological Testing
   Prerequisite: ENG 100, ENG 101, and PSY 100
HED 602 - Introductory Health Ed: K-12
EDT 608 - Technology in the Classroom
EXC 603 - Typical/Atypical Dev Spec Need
EXC 604 - Excep & Diversity in Clsrm
EXC 602B - Fld Exper: Inclusive Settings (3 quarter units)
CLD 627 - Meth. Crosscult. Instr.

Interdisciplinary Core Courses (3 courses; 13.5 quarter units)
TED 615 - The Foundations of Education
EXC 620 - Positive Behavior Support
TED 621A - Lang. Dev. Methods: Elem. Sch.
   Prerequisite: TED 615

Core Courses for the Education Specialist: Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing
(8 courses; 36 quarter units)
DHH 600 - ASL-English Bilingual Educatio
DHH 601 - ASL Acquisition & Development
DHH 602 - English Acquisition & Dev
DHH 603 - Assessment for DHH Learners
DHH 604 - Biliteracy Education
DHH 605 - Ed of Deaf Special Needs
DHH 606 - Curriculum and Instruction
DHH 607 - Bilingual-Multicultural Ed

Research Coursework (2 courses; 9 quarter units)
ILD 625 - Educational Research
EXC 636 - Prof Ethics in Juv Justice Sys
or
EXC 694 - Thesis
   Prerequisite: ILD 625, and Successful completion of either an undergraduate or graduate statistics course. Must have written permission of lead faculty. and

Student Teaching (3 courses; 12 quarter units)
Please see clinical practice requirements under Education Specialist in the School of Education’s Credential Programs section of the catalog.

DHH 609 - Student Teaching Seminar (3 quarter units)
DHH 608A - Student Teaching I
DHH 608B - Student Teaching II

or

Internship Requirements
(for those in a DHH Internship program only)
(3 courses; 10.5 quarter units)

Please see internship specific requirements under Education Specialist in the School of Education’s Credential Programs section of the website.

EXC 655I - Internship Induction Seminar (3 quarter units)
DHH 608I - Student Teaching for Interns
DHH 609 - Student Teaching Seminar (3 quarter units)

Please see additional Credential completion requirements under Education Specialist in the School of Education’s Credential Programs section of the catalog.

DHH608A,B,608I may not be used to fulfill graduate unit requirements for a Masters degree.

Program Information

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Online Education

This program is available online.

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