Special Education Degree

If you have an extraordinary amount of patience; creativity and organization; and enjoy helping children succeed; you may be ready for an undergraduate career as a special education teacher. Special education teachers work with disabled children. Although it can be a demanding and stressful job, working with these types of students can result in a rewarding career, and you can get started with just an undergraduate degree in special education. The knowledge and techniques they use to help students learn are taught in a special education program. A special education degree teaches aspiring special education teachers how to work with children who have learning disabilities.

A special education degree can be obtained from many universities in the United States and elsewhere. To teach at elementary schools, a bachelor’s degree is required, as well as completion of a teaching program. Some states require a fifth year of class work so they can develop specialized knowledge in a specific field of study, such as reading disabilities or speech therapy. Some states even require a master’s degree to teach.

A special education degree program teaches students about child development, psychology and special skills used to teach children with learning disabilities. In addition, students learn about rules and policies regarding special education. A special education degree program at the master’s level is very rigorous. Most programs require students to focus on a specific type of disability, such as blindness or speech impairment. There are two types of special education degrees at this level: Master of Education and Master of Arts. Which special education degree you will receive depends on the state’s Department of Education.

You can also earn a special education degree at the doctorate level. This degree is required for research, administration and college-level teaching positions.

If you already have a master’s degree and would like to further your education without studying for a Ph.D., there is the Educational Specialist (EdS) special education degree. This degree helps master’s graduates enhance their teaching skills even further. This special education degree requires up to 45 semester hours, about the same as a master’s degree. However, students who intend to work in a college setting or in a research-based position should choose the doctorate degree.