Courses for MAT in Special Education and Elementary Education

Internship 1 (First Field Experience)

EDUC 694 is for full time students and students who are currently not working in a school setting. 

Students registered for EDUC 694 should expect to be in the field initially for several half days/week and then towards the end of the semester, for five full days. There is also a seminar that meets on a weekly basis in conjunction with this course.  Instructors for EDUC 694 will arrange for the field placement that so students who are registered for it are not required to submit a STEP application.

SPED 691 is for students who are currently working in a school setting.

This internship enables students who are working in an instructional setting to complete this internship “on the job.” In order to register for SPED 691, the placement has to meet certain criteria:

• The setting has to be a school, not a hospital or an out patient program.
• The setting has to be an elementary school: K through 5
• The school should have students with disabilities as a part of the setting.
• The school should be willing to assign a mentor who can observe the graduate student and provide feedback on teaching.
• The school should provide opportunities for students to plan and execute small group and large group lessons.

All students applying for SPED 691 have to fill out the STEP application. SPED 691 is offered in the Fall and Summer semesters ONLY.

Internship II (Student Teaching)

SPED 695 is for all students enrolled in the Master of Arts in Teaching program. 

This is a full-time, full semester experience for which students design and execute lessons for a variety of subject areas. It also requires that students eventually take over all of the instruction and planning for the class.

• Because this program culminates in certification in elementary and special education, Internship II must be completed in an inclusive elementary setting.

• Students are required to have completed all other coursework before enrolling in Internship II. In some cases, students might be allowed to take one additional course along with student teaching.

• If students are employed as an aide in a special education class and wish to complete student teaching in the building in which students work, students need to first discuss  plans to do so with the administration of the school district. The job responsibilities of a teaching assistant may conflict with the responsibilities of student teaching. students need to discuss each situation with the district to make sure they will permit students to complete student teaching. Some students have resolved this by taking a leave of absence from their job.

Applying for Student Teaching

In order to apply for student teaching, students must fill out an application through the STEP office and provide supporting documents.  Refer to the STEP application process for details.

Assignments to Be Completed During Student Teaching

The State of New Jersey has enacted new regulations that will impact a teacher candidate’s eligibility for New Jersey State certifications.  All teacher candidates applying for an initial certification after September 1, 2017 will be required to take the EdTPA. This will apply to students enrolled in SPED 695 in fall 2017 and onwards.  The EdTPA is a new student teacher performance assessment that has been developed by the Stanford Center for Assessment Learning and Equity (SCALE). It has been piloted in 30 states. Passing scores on the EdTPA will be required by the State of New Jersey in order for a candidate to be deemed eligible for initial teaching certification (NJ has not yet announced the passing score it will use). Your seminar instructor and supervisors will provide you with more detailed information on the EdTPA.

Praxis Exam Information

All students enrolled in this program are required to take the Elementary Education Multiple Subjects Praxis Exam. It is recommended that the exam be taken in the middle or towards the end of the program, often the summer before student teaching. See important praxis updates.

» Visit ETS Praxis site 

Comprehensive Exams

The MAT program includes a comprehensive exam. The course prefix is SPED 700.

» Visit the Comprehensive Exams page

Applying for Graduation

You must apply for graduation and submit the Conferment of Degree form. There are three graduation times each school year: May, August and December. May applications are due in January, August applications are due in February and December applications are due in September. The graduation application fee is $75.00. Students who apply after the application deadline will be charged a $35.00 late fee. 

Certification Requirements for Instructional Certificates

Visit Certification for details on certification requirements.