The Undergraduate + 5th Year Master’s Degree program incorporates a Professional Internship Program in Special Education designed to prepare highly skilled special education teachers to support students with a wide range of abilities and needs. The Special Education Professional Internship Program provides coursework and classroom experiences for initial teacher certification/licensure. Through the 5-year program, students will earn a Bachelor of Science in Education and a Master of Science in Teacher Education. Special Education teachers will be licensed with 3 endorsements (Interventionist K-8, TN endorsement code 144; Interventionist 6-12, TN endorsement code 145; and Special Education Comprehensive K-12, TN endorsement code 461).
At a Glance: The Undergraduate and 5th Year/Graduate Professional Internship
- Sophomore Year: Take introductory courses in special education and initial classroom experiences
- Junior Year: Take courses and engage in practicum experiences that prepare teacher candidates with essential knowledge and skills for teaching students with learning disabilities, emotional and behavioral disorders, physical and health disabilities, intellectual disability, autism, and other diverse needs that impact learning.
- Senior Year: Candidates complete practical teaching experiences and seminar coursework to develop skills in planning, teaching, assessing student learning, and developing individualized education programs (IEPs) and behavior intervention plans.
- 5th Year/Master’s Degree Program: Candidates progress to the Professional Internship, which is a year-long capstone experience with an intensive immersion in teaching. Students gain real experience through daily involvement in a classroom setting and take graduate-level professional education courses. The graduate internship provides candidates with an intensive immersion into teaching. Successful completion of the internship year may be counted toward a candidates’ first year of teaching experience in most Tennessee school systems under Tennessee licensure standards.
Post-Baccalaureate and Non-Degree Seeking Students
Interested in a teaching endorsement in Special Education? Visit the TPTE Teacher Licensure page to learn about additional endorsements.
How to Apply Please contact the College of Education, Health and Human Sciences Bailey Graduate School of Education regarding applying for an admission board interview. Special Education is a high need area (most school systems across the nation report a shortage of highly qualified special educators) and admission to the program is competitive. Students who wish to go through the admission board process should consider the following “tips” when applying to the program: To view the course of study
Please follow this link to the UT Catalog.
Tara C. Moore, PhD, BCBA-D
Associate Professor, Department of Theory and Practice in Teacher Education
tara.moore@utk.edu
865-974-6459