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Reach the Students Who Need You Most

Online Master of Science in Special Education

As a teacher, you want every child to develop his potential to the fullest. Children with cognitive differences or learning disabilities need specially trained educators in order to thrive. Gwynedd Mercy University offers educators a Master of Science in Special Education (MSSPE).

This fully-online program features an accelerated course format, with classes scheduled one at a time in seven-week blocks. It is designed to help teachers meet the needs of children from pre-Kindergarten through twelfth grade. It integrates theory and research-based understanding with practical knowledge, preparing graduates for special education certification.

Core Special Education Curriculum

The goal of our 36-credit MSSPE program is to produce educators who are:

  • Research-driven: Graduates should understand current research methods and have the independent skills necessary to seek out and evaluate new research on an ongoing basis.
  • Reflective: Graduates should be able to assess the impact of their efforts in relation to a child’s progress and current accepted research or practice.
  • Holistic: Special Education graduates should be capable of choosing strategies that benefit the development of the whole child—academic, social, and spiritual.

Core courses in the online special education master’s program include:

  • Educational Research
  • Effective Communication for Teachers
  • Teaching and Learning Process
  • Multi-cultural & Diversity Issues in Education
  • Special Education Law & Ethics
  • Diagnosis, Assessment, Prescriptive & Intervention Techniques for the Special Learner
  • Research-based Learning Methods & Materials for the Special Learner
  • Seminar on Current Issues in Special Education
  • Behavior Management Skills for the Special Learner
  • Action Research
  • Student Teaching and Professional Seminar

Who Can Apply

Applicants who already have a master’s degree in an education or counseling related field and wish to earn special education certification only may apply to our SPE Certification Only program.

Help Special-Needs Students

If you want to become certified in PreK-12 Special Education, we can help. Contact Gwynedd Mercy University now to learn more about our online master’s degree programs in education.

Licensure: This program was designed to meet the licensure requirements of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. If you reside in a different state, you should carefully review your home state’s licensure requirements prior to enrolling in this program. For more information, please visit out Program Licensure Requirements page.