Special Education, M.A.T. (Resident Teacher Program)
With this program, NLU partners with the Academy for Urban School Leadership (AUSL) to deliver the M.A.T. Special Education program in a model which integrates a ten-month teaching residency and 12 months of graduate level coursework.
Program participants spend one year working full-time in Chicago Public Schools classrooms with mentor teachers. While gaining classroom experience, participants take coursework that allows them to earn Masters of Arts in Teaching degrees from NLU.
Graduates will be eligible for an Illinois Professional Educator License endorsed for LBS I (preK to age 21). Visit Licensure and Endorsements at NLU for more details.
In addition to National College of Education Graduate Admissions Requirements, applicants must:
Program Details:
- Requires 45 SH for completion
- Please note, any candidate who wishes to teach in a preK special education setting must have completed SPE 510, SPE 532, SPE 533 and SPE 534
- Requires practicum
Required Courses
MAT Core - 7 SH
| EPS 511 | Human Learning and Development in Instructional Contexts | 2 OR 3 |
| ESR 514 | Research in Action: Becoming Practitioner Researchers | 3 |
| FND 510 | Social Justice Perspectives on the History and Philosophy ofAmerican Education | 1 TO 3 |
Program Requirements - 38 SH
| SPE 500 | Introduction to and Methods of Teaching Students with Disabilities | 3 |
| SPE 501 | Educational and Diagnostic Assessment of Exceptional Children and Adolescents | 3 |
| SPE 506 | Frameworks, Perspectives, and Collaboration in Special Education | 3 |
| SPE 507 | Methods of Social/Emotional Support | 3 |
| SPE 508 | Literacy Across the Curriculum for Students with Disabilities | 3 |
| SPE 509 | Literacy Instruction for Diverse Learners | 3 |
| SPE 523 | Teaching Students with Math Disabilities | 3 |
| SPE 572 | Practicum I | 2 OR 3 |
| SPE 573 | Differentiated and Inclusive Curriculum & Instruction I | 3 |
| SPE 576 | Practicum II: Curricular Content Strategies for the Inclusive Classroom | 3 |
| SPE 587 | Seminar/Teaching Children and Adolescents with Special Needs | .5 TO 6 |
| SPE 502 | Language Development and Challenges in Children and Adolescents | 2 |
| or | |
| SPE 526 | Expressive Language Difficulties: Impact on Academic Learning | 2 |
Notes: SPE 572 must be taken for 3 semester hours. SPE 587 must be taken for a total of 6 semester hours. SPE 500 may be waived per advisor if SPE 500 or its equivalent has been previously taken.
Special Education Practicum/Student Teaching Enrollment Requirements
Admission to and continuance in student teaching are contingent on the following actions.
Candidates must:
- Be accepted into the graduate program of National College of Education
- File, by the designated deadline, the application form for student teaching
- Submit to their advisor a report of a TB test taken within 90 days of the student teaching placement, results of criminal background check and acknowledgement of Mandated Reporter status form
- Turn in a signed log of all the pre-clinical hours specified in their pre-clinical hours required for the program
- Pass the LBSI (155) and Special Education General Curriculum (163) Content Tests before student teaching/practicum
- Complete all of their licensure courses except for SPE 592C
- Pass all methods courses at National Louis University with a grade no lower than a B
- Participate in faculty assessment and receive approval of his or her portfolio (Livetext)
- Provide evidence of emotional stability, adequate personality adjustment and competency as indicated by licensure coursework and departmental assessments