Early Childhood Intervention Specialist Education Requirements
Curriculum Details
33 total credits required
The early childhood intervention degree requirements include 33 credit hours. Students must complete 9 credit hours of prerequisite courses, including 3 credit hours to fulfill the degree. Prerequisites can be taken at the undergraduate level, but only graduate credit may count for the degree.
Prerequisites (only 3 credit hours count toward degree)
This course examines developmentally appropriate methods in screening and assessing the development of young children. Students will develop skills to interpret and share assessment results with families and initiate the referral process. Students will learn methods and strategies of effective communication to ensure curriculum accommodations for the best interest of a young child’s development. Methods and materials for prescribing instruction are utilized.
Core Curriculum (9 hours)
In this course, students will explore theories regarding innovation and the challenges associated with innovating in an educational culture. Students will examine aspects of an innovator’s mindset, as well as behaviors and practices conducive to the effecting and sustaining of innovations.
This course is designed to provide an overview of education from historical, philosophical, and sociological perspectives. Students will expand on their understanding of contemporary education through an investigation of the changing role of educators in current social, political, and economic times using current peer reviewed articles and other open educational resources (OER).
This course is designed to engage practitioners in the collection, evaluation, and interpretation of educational research for use in a variety of educational practices. The student will investigate the basis of educational research, along with pertinent methods of data collection and analysis of both quantitative and qualitative research results. Emphasis will be placed on research problems, designs, and findings in the student’s selected area of concentration. Students will be expected to demonstrate their ability to narrow a research topic, complete accepted scholarly search strategies, identify and synthesize research articles, and correctly format a literature review using established APA guidelines.
Major Courses (21 hours)
In this course, Early Intervention Specialist candidates will learn the characteristics and strategies for working with families of infants and young children with deaf/hard of hearing impairments. Candidates will review the implications of hearing loss on perceptual development, developmental milestones, physiological and psychological development. Family centered assessment and resources emphasize careful consideration of the parents’ priorities in making decisions for their child regarding assistive hearing devices, medical interventions, and oral and total means of communication. American Sign Language and the Deaf Culture will be introduced. An emphasis will be placed on the significance of interdisciplinary teamwork, clinical observation, working with medical and auditory health care professionals, and in the establishment of meaningful and collaborative parent-teacher and inter-agency partnerships. Candidates will also explore current research-based program designs for children with deaf/hard of hearing impairments, and will learn to evaluate and match evidence-based practices and methodologies with specific profiles of children with deaf/hard of hearing impairment.
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