Undergraduate students at RU seeking certification to teach students with mental retardation pursue a major in Interdisciplinary Studies. This major provides breadth, through fifty (50) hours of General Education courses and an Interdisciplinary Core of nineteen (19) hours, and depth by requiring concentrations in Special Education and one other academic area (English, Social Sciences, Math, Science, or Foreign Language).
Within the mental retardation program, students complete twenty-four (24) hours of coursework in special education, eleven hours (11) of other education coursework, and fifteen (15) hours of field experience across two semesters. These field experiences include one semester of early field experience in an elementary classroom (the "block") and a semester of student teaching, half in special education at the elementary level, and half in special education at the middle or high school level. All students are placed in Montgomery County Schools for the block and student teaching to maximize our candidates’ involvement in the nationally recognized inclusive educational opportunities offered by that school district. Our students have the opportunity to work with and learn from the very best special and general educators who have trained people around the world in best practice in supporting students with disabilities in the general education classroom.
During the semester for the early field experience, candidates are assigned to a special education cohort of approximately 10-12 students. These students and a team of special education faculty meet together for classes and seminars throughout the blocking and student teaching semester.
In September 2003 we received notice from NCATE/CEC that the undergraduate program in Mental Retardation at Radford University had been approved as meeting the CEC/NCATE Specialty Guidelines for Special Education. All Common Core Standards and Mental Retardation/Developmental Disabilities Standards were met. The use of assessment in our decision-making process was cited as a strength. The active use of technology beyond data gathering and reporting was cited as an area to be explored by the program. Faculty were commended for developing a concise document that clearly delineated our special education program.
In 2002 we began the process of major revision to the IDMR program. The need to change the program was made apparent by several factors. One, we were exceeding the maximum number of allowable credit hours in professional education coursework per State Department of Education regulations. Two, we felt strongly that cutting out coursework would compromise what has always been a strong undergraduate program. Three, we recognized that students in our program were already spending the better part of a fifth year (or several summers) completing all the requirements for the 126-hour program. Fourth, Radford University has been dealing with severe budget constraints and has asked departments to begin the process of aligning the required credit hours in our programs at or near the 120-hour minimum for undergraduate programs and 30-hour minimum for master’s programs. Fifth, the need for students endorsed only in mental retardation has been declining. School districts are looking to hire special education teachers who can work with all students with high incidence disabilities, and who have certification in all three areas.
Given this need for program change, the Special Education department developed a comprehensive package of curriculum revision, additions and deletions. During the 2002-2003 academic year, we successfully completed all steps at the college-level and university-level to revise our undergraduate program options within the Interdisciplinary Studies major (IDMR) and graduate program options. We will now be offering a 4-year, pre-professional course of study leading to a 120-semester hour B.S. within the Interdisciplinary Studies major. The program option has been renamed the Interdisciplinary Studies-High Incidence Disabilities (IDHI) option. Students in this option will take an additional 30 credit hours of professional education courses and practica during a 5th year Master of Science program option. Taken in totality, this 5-year program will lead to licensure in Special Education: High Incidence Disabilities (emotional/behavioral disorders [E/BD], learning disabilities [LD], and mental retardation [MR], K-12). To enter the graduate portion of the program, students must complete all requirements for admission to the College of Graduate and Extended Education. The Department is currently seeking state approval of the 5-year program.