Written by Maria Frontera, 2025
Edited by Alyssa Alayon, 2027
Photography by Sammi McGiveron, 2027
In alignment with the New York State Department of Education and Standards for teaching, ʹڲַ has developed a new program in which students will be eligible for certification PreK through 12th grade in Special Education. While all institutions in New York State with schools of education are required to transition to this new certification, Dr. Salmon and Dr. Urso have gone a step further by enhancing the program. Through the Ella Cline Shear School of Education at ʹڲַ, incoming students can now elect to be a part of the new dual certification program which is in alignment with the changing NYS requirements, and includes the additional bonus of childhood 1-6 general education certification.
We spoke with Dr. Susan Salmon and Dr. Annmarie Urso regarding their contributions to this new program. Both Dr. Salmon and Dr. Urso have been at ʹڲַ for over 10 years, working within the Ella Cline Shear School of Education, specifically teaching courses for Special Education and Childhood Education majors. Although their journeys to ʹڲַ differ, both are deeply committed to their extensive teaching careers and share a passion for understanding the unique demands of classrooms serving students with special needs. Dr. Salmon explained that, “when you think about teaching special education, it's like a puzzle. You know that you have to put the pieces together, but for each kid, you're going to put them together in just a little bit different way.” This mindset set the foundation for developing the new Special Education program at ʹڲַ. Dr. Salmon’s hope for this program is that “new classes help our students to really think about working with individuals and what they can do for individuals.” Every special education student has different needs both in and outside the classroom. Dr. Urso explained, “We can teach skills, but if you don't have the passion for teaching and the love of children, it's going to be really, really difficult.” The need for passionate students with comprehensive backgrounds in working with children of all ages sets the foundation for the requirements of the new program.
Ella Cline Shear School of Education received the news from New York State regarding the change in certification in September of 2022. From then on, faculty and staff at ʹڲַ have been working to organize all of the pieces so that students entering in spring 2024 were able to begin this new major. Additionally, there was a heavy push for current students in the original special education program, or in childhood education grades 1-6 to switch into the new program. The overarching goals aim to meet the requirements presented by New York State as well as make students more marketable for future career opportunities. There was a lot of heavy lifting involved which included countless meetings, spreadsheets, and emails. The process of creating a new education major requires communication between all departments on campus, to ensure there are no scheduling hiccups for students. Furthermore, developing a certification that covers all grade levels requires the combination of a variety of standards. Dr. Salmon and Dr. Urso worked to develop a standards map aligned with course assessments and key assignments for ʹڲַ courses. In this way, they were able to address several sets of standards that students should master, and assess for that mastery through assignments in various contexts at ʹڲַ.
This new program is revolutionary due to the combination of requirements in a meticulous way that allows for a dual-certification within one major. Not only does this give students a well rounded education at ʹڲַ with field experience as early as sophomore year, it also drastically increases student marketability within the workplace. Entering a district with a special education certification in PreK through 12th grade allows you to help students across an entire district. You have the ability to be a lead classroom teacher in a general education setting, teach a resource room, provide support as a consultant teacher by pushing into classrooms, or work within a self-contained setting, among other roles. Additionally, the combination of both special education and childhood education in this major aims to address the shortage of Special Ed teachers in the state.
Dr. Urso commented that her motivation for teaching in higher education is to “train teachers to be better than I was by providing candidates with the tools, skill, and knowledge they need to be effective teachers of children with special needs.” This ideal was at the forefront of developing the courses and block scheduling used for the new program. Dr. Urso explained that they were thoughtful in designing the courses so that students could gain experience with a range of individuals. The program also includes 150 hours of field experience in a variety of classrooms, allowing students to work with diverse populations before student teaching in their senior year. Some of the class requirements include a low-incidence disabilities course and a high-incidence methods course. The goal of the block scheduling for this major was to “strategically place the courses so that the students could apply that information in a seamless way across all the classes,” as Dr. Urso explained. Since the certification covers such a broad range of students and ages, it is important to have a complex background of knowledge relevant to each kind of student you may encounter in the classroom.
Unlike previous education majors at ʹڲַ, this program only has one concentration, recognized as “liberal arts.” Normally, students would be required to complete a set number of credits in one of 16 available concentrations to meet their requirements. For the new program, students are required to take two courses in Math, two in Science, two in English, and two in History. As Dr. Urso explained, “special educators are not, by nature, deep content specialists. What they specialize in is methods to accommodate content, remove barriers to access, how different disabilities may impact behavior, social emotional learning, and how students approach education and academic learning.” This is where the crossover comes into play with the childhood education requirements. Those few liberal arts courses prepare ʹڲַ students with foundational knowledge for both general and special education classrooms. However, the course load prioritizes a variety of special education-focused classes that allow teacher candidates to deeply understand the students they will have in their classrooms and how to meet their individual needs.
In terms of student teaching placements, students will have more opportunities to choose their desired path based on their experiences within the first 3 years in the program. Students will be assigned a placement within childhood general education grades 1-6, but they will have the choice of what grades they would prefer to student teach in for the special education placement based on their earlier field experiences. Beyond the scope of ʹڲַ, the new program better prepares students to take their Teaching Certification Exams as one of the exams involves Special Education PreK - 12th grade which students did not previously have experience in.
Both Dr. Salmon and Dr. Urso, along with many other members of the School of Education, have dedicated countless hours and effort to the development of this program. The overall goal is to better prepare prospective teacher candidates for the workplace and equip them with all the skills they may need in the classroom. In wrapping up, we discussed the ongoing need for passionate students to continue entering the field of education. The faculty within the School of Education are excited to welcome new students into this program and to help nurture their skills and passion for teaching. The implementation of the new Special Education program and the accompaniment of the childhood certification is a demonstration of ʹڲַ professors dedication to their students and community. The increased knowledge, practice, and experience put forth by this program not only aims to make students more marketable, but it also ensures that students gain the skills necessary to take on a career in education. Teachers play a huge role in building future generations and societies; this program is one piece of the bigger puzzle in preparing educators to give their students all of the tools they need to be successful and positively contribute to these goals.