Special Education

Master of Arts in Special Education, 30 credits

Includes the following specializations: deaf and hard-of-hearing, mild interventions, intense interventions, early childhood special education, special education administration (Director of Exceptional Needs), emotional and behavioral disorders, multi-tier system of supports/response to intervention, disabilities in post-secondary settings with an emphasis in autism, applied behavior analysis, autism and general special education.
Completion of one or more of these specializations may lead to employment as master teachers in such situations as resource rooms, self-contained classrooms, and local, state, and private agencies or residential schools serving children, youths, and adults with disabilities. Graduates may also be prepared to serve as consultants in inclusionary settings.
It should be noted that completion of the Master of Arts in Special Education does not lead to initial teaching licensure. Students who hold an initial teaching license may be eligible for a license addition in an area of special education, provided they complete a license evaluation with Ball State’s Office of Teacher Education Services and Clinical Practice, complete all the coursework specified on the license evaluation, and pass requisite state licensing exams.

Degree requirements

The MA requires completion of 30 credits of graduate course work in special education, or equivalent as approved by the department chair, including a research course. Coursework can include classes taken for a departmental graduate certificate or add-on teaching license.

30 credits

Required course, 3 credits from

• Introduction to Students with Orthopedic, Sensory and Multiple Disabilities
• Education of Exceptional Children
• Introduction to Disability Services in the Post-Secondary Setting
• Multi-Tier System of Supports/Response to Intervention: Seminar
• Introduction to Applied Behavior Analysis
• Theory and Practice in Early Childhood Special Education
• Introduction to Emotional and Behavioral Disorders
• Special Education Administration and Organizational Behavior
• Introduction to Deaf Education
• Introduction: Mild Interventions

Research requirement

• Research Methods for Behavior Analysis
• Research in Special Education