Winthrop OKs merging 2 special education focuses to make students more marketable

The Winthrop University Board of Trustees approved a resolution Saturday that leaders say will help special education majors become more efficient in the classroom and marketable in the job hunt.

The board passed a measure that will help combine two existing concentrations into a single focus that they say will prepare candidates to teach students across all backgrounds and disabilities.

Currently, Winthrop offers a degree program in special education that leads to a certification in either learning and emotional disabilities or mental and severe disabilities.

By merging the two into a program that specifies a “multi-categorical” teacher certification, Associate Professor Dr. Debra Leach says teachers can be prepared for all classrooms.

“There were a lot of students going into the field and having to go back to school and get a master’s degree to be able to work in a certain place,” said Leach. “We want special education teachers to be able to teach all things.”

The program will prepare candidates to teach students with learning disabilities, emotional and behavior disabilities, intellectual disabilities, autism spectrum disorders and severe disabilities in inclusive classrooms and special settings.

The board passed the resolution unanimously in the Gold Room of the DiGiorgio Campus Center.

The decision will next move to the S.C. Commission on Higher Education and the Commission on Colleges of the South Association of Colleges and Schools for final approval, according to Debra Boyd, Winthrop’s provost.

The move was originally brought up and approved by the faculty, Boyd said.

This story was originally published November 7, 2016 at 3:56 PM with the headline "Winthrop OKs merging 2 special education focuses to make students more marketable."