Special Education - Learning Disabilities
This program prepares students to be specialists in the creation and implementation of strategies to accommodate the needs of special education students identified with specific learning disabilities in PK-12 classrooms. Preparation emphasizes appropriate services, curricula, assessment and instruction required by students with special needs to support their participation in the general education curriculum. Applications of assistive and instructional technology permeate the program and collaborative skills, assessment procedures, applications of research and parent consultation skills are specific topics threaded throughout.
The following are in PDF Format 
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Goals and Student Learning Outcomes
1. Students demonstrate competence in content knowledge specific to the certification area. 1.1 Given two hours, LD Program candidates will answer 120 multiple-choice questions based largely on the Special Educator Professional Preparation Standards created by the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) to assess their knowledge of the basic principles of special education (of any degree varying from mild to profound) and the application of these principles to realistic situations in five major content areas: Development and Characteristics of Learners, Planning and the Learning Environment, Instruction, Assessment, and Foundations and Professional Responsibilities.
1.2 Given two hours, LD Program candidates will answer 120 multiple-choice questions based largely on the Special Educator Professional Preparation Standards created by the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) whether entry-level special educators of students with learning disabilities have the standards-relevant knowledge, skills, and abilities believed necessary for competent professional practice in five major content areas: Development and Characteristics of Students with Learning Disabilities, Planning and Managing the Learning Environment, Instruction, Identification, Eligibility, and Placement, and Foundations and Professional Responsibilities.
2. Students develop and plan curriculum and instruction addressing goals and learning outcomes using best practices for the certification area. 2.1 LD Program candidates will create a four-part teacher work sample to demonstrate how exceptionalities may interact with development and learning (I. Contextual Factors) and use this knowledge to provide at minimum a five-day unit of meaningful and challenging learning
experiences for individuals with exceptionalities (II. Instructional Planning) and create safe, inclusive, culturally responsive learning environments (III. Results) so that individuals with exceptionalities become active and effective learners and develop emotional well-being, positive social interactions, and self-determination (IV. Reflection) with a total score of 2.4 or better on a 3-point score (80% = More Than Satisfactory) for each section.3. Students effectively present instruction and manage diverse classroom environments, communicating effectively and professionally with adults and students. 3.1During a seven-week term of teaching in an elementary, middle or secondary-level classroom with students with learning disabilities, candidates will demonstrate a proficient level of teaching skill on the twenty-nine teaching behaviors evaluated by the candidates’ University Supervisor, and the Cooperating Teacher for the candidates’ summative progress reporting for each of the two placements.
4. Students demonstrate the ability to collect and analyze assessment data and engage in self-reflection to support student learning and growth. 4.1 Using the USC Upstate Assistance, Development, and Evaluation of Professional Teaching (ADEPT) System which is in compliance with the Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium Performance-based Standards and is aligned with the CEC (Special Education) Standards, LD Program candidates will describe how they selected, adapted, and used a repertoire of four (two per Domain) evidence-based instructional artifacts and argue how each artifact advanced the learning of individuals with exceptionalities to demonstrate how they use knowledge of general and specialized curricula to individualize learning for individuals with exceptionalities.