The School of Education and Human Services is on track to launch an Education Specialist Program in Early Education and Intervention next fall. The program has been fully developed and reviewed within SEHS and now awaits final approval by the Oakland University Senate, the all-university governance body responsible for recommending new degree programs to the president and board.
Consisting of 36 credits, the post-masters program was designed by a team of Early Education and Special Education faculty members to offer a broad perspective. The degree will include a cognate that can be used in the Early Childhood doctoral program for students who wish to continue.
“This course is the result of a needs-assessment survey we conducted some time ago,” says Julie Ricks-Doneen, Ph.D., assistant professor and director of Lowry Center for Early Childhood Education. “It is really designed to fit an emerging need in the education field for people who have a background that combines both areas of study.”
She says components of the program will include theory, typical and atypical child development, curriculum, assessment, educational practices, collaboration strategies and review of policies.
