Return to: 4160 Department of Learning Sciences
The Special Education program a teaching certification sequence in special education for certification in Special Education General Curriculum. This is a non-degree, initial certification program for students who already hold an undergraduate degree from an accredited college or university. Students seeking admission to this initial certification program must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.5 and have passing scores on the GACE Program Admission Assessment or be exempt based on equivalent SAT, ACT or GRE scores, and complete the Georgia Educator Ethics - Program Entry (350) Assessment.
Pre-Service Certificate: Upon admission to a teacher education program, students will be contacted by the Office of Field Placements and Certification office with instructions to claim enrollment in their program and submit a GaPSC Pre-Service Certificate Application. The pre-service certificate is required for placement in required field experiences or clinical practice.
Certification: Students must post passing scores on the GACE Content Assessment and Georgia Educator Ethics - Program Exit (360) Assessment in order to be recommended by Georgia State University for clear, renewable certification.
For Georgia Professional Standards Commission (GaPSC) certification, students must earn a grade of “B” or higher in EXC 4020 Characteristics and Instructional Strategies for Students with Disabilities.
Program Academic Regulations
Students must earn a grade of “B” or higher in each course in the program. If the student earns a grade below “B” in a course, s/he must repeat that course. Students will be allowed to repeat a course in this manner one time. Students who fail to earn a grade of “B” or higher after taking the course a second time will be scholastically excluded from this program. Students must earn a grade of “B-” or higher in courses outside of the special education program.
Students may not transfer any core special education coursework into the certification program. Students may be given credit for EPY 2050 if prior appropriate coursework can be documented.
Students in all Special Education fields must take the courses for the Georgia Professional Standards Commission Reading Endorsement if they have not completed 15 hours of a content concentration based on previous coursework in language arts, mathematics, science, or social studies. Successful completion of EXC 7010 , EXC 7190 , and EXC 7650 qualifies an individual for the Reading Endorsement.
Evaluation of a student’s performance is continuous and involves consideration of each student’s performance in all academic settings. Inappropriate or unprofessional conduct by any student may result in the student being dropped from a course or program. If such removal from a course is necessary, the student will receive the grade of “F” and may be judged ineligible to re-enroll in the course. Georgia State University will only recommend an individual for their certification who has completed a program approved by the College of Education’s Professional Education Faculty and developed under the guidance of a faculty advisor.
