Education, Special Education Specialization, MEd

Description of Program

The MEd program is designed for students focused on developing the knowledge, skills, and dispositions required for advance practice and leadership roles within diverse fields such as PK-12 education, higher education, and adult learning environments. In this program, you will critically analyze a broad range of theories, trends, practices, and knowledge specific to your areas of interest represented in a distinct specialization. Your specialization prepares you for making informed, ethical decisions and improvements to current educational, organizational, and societal issues.

Learning Outcomes

• Apply instructional design practices and technology options to lead and educate diverse groups
• Investigate evidence-based solutions for addressing educational, organizational, and community issues
• Explain educational theories, research, and practices to diverse audiences
• Recommend solutions to ethical dilemmas in diverse educational and organizational settings
• Integrate professional standards into practice for leading and educating diverse groups

Basis for Admissions

Admission to an NCU master’s program requires a conferred bachelor’s and/or a conferred master’s or doctoral degree from a regionally or nationally accredited academic institution

Degree Requirements

Graduates of the NCU MEd program must complete 30 credit hours. Students will select a discipline-specific specialization of their interest, which complements the core coursework. The MEd program includes 9 credit hours of foundational courses. The foundational courses are taken by all students regardless of their undergraduate degree to form and strengthen fundamental skills. The next 18 credit hours in the program encapsulate a specialization aligned with a student’s career goals and interests. Specialization courses must be appropriate to the student’s degree program. Students end the program with a 3 credit-hour capstone course. Students who are considering any degree program are strongly encouraged to check specific state requirements carefully to be sure any degree program they consider will be accepted for purposes of certification or recertification, promotion, or advancement on school district salary schedules.

The MEd degree program has the following graduation requirements:

• A minimum of 24 credit hours of graduate instruction must be completed through NCU
• Successful completion of any PK-12 core course signature assignments with a “B” or better
• Official transcripts on file for all transfer credits accepted by the University

The University may accept a maximum of 6 semester credit hours in transfer toward the Master of Education for graduate course work completed at an external accredited college or university with a grade of “B” or better. See the Transfer Credit Policy  for additional information.

Time to Completion

NCU allows 5 years to complete all 30 credit hour master’s programs.

Normal time to completion for this program is 21 months.

Time to completion varies depending upon the pace in which a student completes courses and the number of transfer credits accepted. As most NCU students are working adults balancing educational, professional, and personal commitments, our academic and finance advisors will work with you to develop a program schedule that works best for your needs.

The normal time disclosed above reflects the experience of students who may have entered under different program requirements. In the quest for continuous improvement, academic leadership has revised the program to optimize curriculum and pace, facilitate student learning, and improve chances for success. Therefore, the program is now designed for students enrolling today to take advantage of these revised course structures, lengths, and schedules. New students following the “shortest time to complete” schedule for this program, and applying no transfer credits, can expect to finish in as little as 17 months.

Students who are unable to complete a degree program within the stated time limits are dismissed. If a student believes they have extenuating circumstances they may document the circumstances and send a request for consideration to their respective School Dean or designee. Exceptions to the policy are determined on a case-by-case basis and are granted only once.

Additional MEd Information

• Rio Salado College Post-Baccalaureate Transfer Students
    
• Certification and Licensing 
    
• School of Education Curriculum
    
• State of the Art Content
    

Course Sequence

• EDU-5000 - Foundations for Graduate Study in Education
• Specialization Course 1
• ED-5100 - Scholarly Writing and Using Research
• Specialization Course 2

Choose one of the following ID courses:

• ID-5000 - Fundamentals of Instructional Design  
• ID-5020 - Analyzing Needs, Contexts, and Learners  
• ID-5030 - Assessment of Learning  
• Specialization Course 3
• Specialization Course 4
• Specialization Course 5
• Specialization Course 6
• ED-6500 - MEd Capstone