Master of Education in Reading and English as a Second Language/Master of Education in Special Education

DUAL DEGREE

Master of Education in Reading and English as a Second Language/Master of Education in Special Education

The dual master’s program in reading and English as a second language (ESL) and special education is a 60-credit hour non-thesis program that prepares teacher candidates who wish to develop strong theoretical and experiential knowledge as well as effective skills and certification in reading, ESL, and special education. Upon program completion, teacher candidates will receive a Master of Education in Reading and English as a Second Language and a Master of Education in Special Education, along with preparation that can lead to certification as a Reading Specialist, Master Reading Teacher, English as a Second Language specialist, and Special Education specialist.

The dual master’s program in Reading and English as a Second Language/Special Education offers two tracks that students may pursue:

• Master of Education in Reading and English as a Second Language/Master of Education in Special Education

• Master of Education in Reading and English as a Second Language/Master of Education in Special Education with Diagnostician Specialization

ADMISSION

In order to pursue a Dual Master’s Degree program, the applicant must apply to, meet the existing admission requirements for, and be accepted into each of the master’s degrees which comprise the dual degree program.

PREREQUISITES   

Entrance requirements for both degree programs must be met, including having at least two years of acceptable teaching experience at an accredited public or private school by the time the candidate has completed the necessary coursework and is ready to take the appropriate certification examinations. A copy of the teacher candidate’s service record will be required to substantiate the teaching experience requirement prior to recommending the teacher candidate to register for the state certification examinations.

PROGRAM CONTINUANCE

Continuance in the MED in Reading and English as a Second Language and MED in Special Education programs past the first 12 hours is pending submission of a satisfactory score on the Miller Analogies Test (MAT) or Graduate Record Examinations® (GRE®). 

A waiver of the GRE or MAT requirement may be considered if the student meets one of the following conditions:

• earns an “A-“ or higher in each of the first four courses (12 hours) of graduate coursework in the DBU College of Education, or

• holds a Bachelor’s degree from the DBU College of Education earned within the past five years with a cumulative GPA of 3.25 or higher, or

• holds a Master’s degree from DBU.

MED IN READING AND ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE REQUIRED CURRICULUM - 30 hours (excluding prerequisites)

MED IN SPECIAL EDUCATION REQUIRED CURRICULUM - 30 hours (excluding prerequisites)

*(S-L) = Course(s) with field-based service-learning component.

**Required for students seeking State Certification in ESL

***Required for Master Reading Teacher

MASTER OF EDUCATION IN READING AND ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE (ESL)/MASTER OF EDUCATION IN SPECIAL EDUCATION WITH DIAGNOSTICIAN SPECIALIZATION

The dual master’s program in reading and English as a second language (ESL) and special education with educational diagnostician specialization is a 60-credit hour non-thesis program that prepares teacher candidates who wish to develop strong theoretical and experiential knowledge as well as effective skills and certification in the areas of reading, ESL, special education, and educational diagnostician. Students must also provide a service record documenting three years of teaching experience in an approved and accredited school and be currently certified in a content area per national accreditation criteria (Council for Exceptional Children).  Upon program completion, teacher candidates will receive a Master of Education in Special Education with Educational Diagnostician Specialization and a Master of Education in Reading and English as a Second Language, along with preparation that can lead to certification as a Reading Specialist, Master Reading Teacher, English as a Second Language specialist, and Educational Diagnostician.

MED IN READING AND ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE REQUIRED CURRICULUM - 30 hours (excluding prerequisites)

MED IN SPECIAL EDUCATION REQUIRED CURRICULUM - 30 hours (excluding prerequisites)

Refer to individual course descriptions for course requisites.

*(S-L) = Course(s) with field-based service-learning component.

  **Required for students seeking State Certification in ESL

***Required for Master Reading Teacher

Special Notice for Dual Master’s Degree Students:

College of Education graduate students who are in a dual master’s degree program where a state certification exam is required should meet with their Program Advisor prior to registering for their first exam in order to determine which exam should be taken first. Students will be authorized only to take one TExES exam at a time. The first exam taken must be passed before permission to register for a second (different) exam will be given.

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION GRADUATE DEFENSE OF DEGREE

Because of Dallas Baptist University’s quest for meaningful assessment of graduate candidates, a defense of degree is required in all College of Education Graduate Programs. The defense of degree is a capstone collection of signature assessments and artifacts with reflections that demonstrate a candidate’s personal growth, development, and acquisition of knowledge, skills, and dispositions.

A digital format will be utilized by the candidate to enhance the presentation and to justify why the degree should be awarded to the candidate. The candidate’s formal defense will be presented to members of the Educator Preparation Board and will take place on the main campus each semester.

It is recommended that candidates attend a Defense of Degree workshop held each semester. It is also the candidate’s responsibility to schedule a meeting with their designated Program Director who will provide additional information regarding objectives, service-learning, artifacts, reflections, presentation format, and evaluative criteria and scoring.

Candidates must register for the Defense of Degree course as prescribed in their degree plan during the semester in which they will present their defense of degree to the Educator Preparation Board. The EPB is a group of experienced and widely successful educators from Dallas Baptist University and the Metroplex. Practicing teachers, administrators, consultants, superintendents, guidance directors, personnel directors, and Educational Region Service Center personnel, as well as DBU professors and administrators, volunteer their time for this highly selective process. The Educator Preparation Board serves as the College of Education Graduate Programs’ advisory board and meets three times a year to assess graduate candidates’ defense of degrees.

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION GRADUATE E-PORTFOLIO

Dallas Baptist University’s educator preparation programs strive to provide a quality learning experience that enables all candidates to impact EC-12 learning. The E-Portfolio is designed to be an individualized collection of documents to prepare the candidate for future positions; demonstrate the candidate’s ongoing knowledge, skills, experiences, and dispositions; and provide the candidate with the opportunity for self-reflection. All graduate candidates are required to compile and maintain an electronic, developmental E-Portfolio. There are three types of documents that must be included in the E-Portfolio: required documents, foundational elements, and competency artifacts. Throughout the program, the candidate will collect these documents and upload them to their designed TaskStream account.

The organization of E-Portfolio is governed by the State Board of Educator Certification standards and competencies, DBU/InTASC competencies, and DBU’s Educator Preparation Provider competencies in addition to specific field of study competencies.

The E-Portfolio will be used to assess your development as you proceed through your designated program. Candidates who do not have all required documents and “signature assessments” uploaded into TaskStream will not be allowed to proceed to the next level as designed by these Transition Points:

• Transition Point One: Requirements for Program Admission

• Transition Point Two: Requirements for Program Entrance

• Transition Point Three: Requirements for Program Continuance

• Transition Point Four: Requirements for Program Completion

• Transition Point Five: Requirements for Program Evaluation

It is the candidates’ responsibility to meet with their designed program director and/or advisor to discuss the E-Portfolio required documents, checkpoint scoring, foundational elements rubric, and the competency artifacts rubric.

Refer to individual course descriptions for course requisites.

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

Find course descriptions by category under the Graduate Course Descriptions section in the navigation panel.