Doctoral Program Emphasis in Special Education
This campus-based program will prepare you to become a professional educator who provides leadership in the field of special education or disability services through practice, research, service, and advocacy. This advanced graduate program prepares future leaders to influence public policy and serve as stewards of the discipline. (More about the program's mission)
The Doctoral Program Emphsis in Special Education at WVU offers you two program options:
- Personnel Preparation in Special Education leading to a career as a faculty member at a college or university 72 credits minimum; and
- School Leadership in Special Education leading to a career as an administrator or supervisor in a local, state, regional or national education ot human services agency 72 credits minimum.
This program is available ONLY at the WVU campus in Morgantown, WV.
The requirements for the Ed.D. in Education in the College of Human Resources and Education are 72 credit minimum beyond the undergraduate degree. Courses completed during the master’s degree may be counted for some requirements at the discretion of the doctoral student’s committee but the student must earn 42 credits minimum beyond the master's degree. The requirements for any doctoral degree program at WVU include at least one (1) year in residency through enrollment in a minimum of nine (9) credits in two (2) successive semesters.
This doctoral program is based upon the recommendations of the Higher Education Consortium in Special Education (HECSE), an organization of all doctoral leadership programs in this discipline. HECSE membership requirements specify that at least 18 hours of any doctoral program must be in special education and at least six (6) faculty members with terminal degrees in special education must work with students for a program to be considered a special education leadership program. In addition, in 2005, HECSE participated in developing standards set by the Blue Ribbon Panel on Doctoral Training for the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) in the U. S. Department of Education. This expert group produced a formal report that outlines specific knowledge and skills that leadership programs must prepare doctoral program graduates to demonstrate; the Doctoral Program Emphasis in Special Education at WVU is fully in compliance with these guidelines.
WVU is fully accredited by the North Central Association, while the program is accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) and meets professional standards of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC).