Help students realize their dreams.
The Master of Education in Moderate Disabilities online program at Worcester State enhances your ability to work with a diverse group of students with moderate disabilities in all grade levels and beyond. Taught by distinguished, engaged faculty who set high standards of academic rigor and care about your goals and achievements, this TEACH Grant–eligible program is designed for working professionals who are interested in special education.
You will learn to cultivate the literacy development and communication skills of those with exceptionalities, helping them to live enriched, successful lives. Your value as an educator will increase with your ability to integrate theoretical frameworks and develop special education services and outcomes for individuals with exceptionalities and their families.
With an initial teaching license in Massachusetts, you may use this online education degree in the field of special education to self-petition for professional licensure in Massachusetts. Neither a teaching degree nor teaching experience is required if you are not planning to petition for licensure. Students entering this program, however, should have some work experience in formal or informal learning environments. This master’s degree is also helpful for parents and community health workers engaged with special education.
In this program, you will learn how to:
- Articulate special education terminology and develop the progression of children with special needs
- Apply special education law and regulation
- Evaluate, design, and implement current assistive technologies and communication systems in the classroom, school, community, and system levels
- Create, modify, and integrate instructional strategies to enhance the learning experience of individuals with exceptionalities
- Build and distinguish strategies to enhance literacy development and communication skills of a diverse group of students
- Create an educational research design to evaluate professional practice and enhance continuous instructional improvement
- Evaluate the ethical practices and legal implications of the profession as related to current and emerging issues in the special education field
- Integrate theoretical frameworks regarding collaboration and conflict resolution models to enhance special education services and outcomes for individuals with exceptionalities and their families
Admissions Requirements
- Complete online application for admission
- Pay $50 application fee
- Bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited (or equivalent) institution with a minimum 2.75 overall GPA
- Submit official transcripts of all undergraduate and graduate coursework from regionally accredited institutions
- Some work experience in formal or informal learning environments (submit 2 academic or professional references)
- If applicants do not have an undergraduate degree or minor in education, it is recommended that students have the following coursework completed on the undergraduate level:
- a course in child growth and development (or a CLEP Human Growth and Development score of 50 or higher)
- a curriculum course in early childhood education or elementary childhood
- Education course in reading foundations
Official transcripts may be mailed or emailed directly from the granting institution(s) to:
Mailing Address:
Graduate Admissions Office
Worcester State University
486 Chandler Street
Worcester, MA 01602
Email: gradadmissions@worcester.edu