Special Education - Fifth Year, Inclusive Early Childhood Education, M.A.T.

The SPED 5 Yr program is no longer available to incoming undergraduates. 

The fifth year MAT program is a continuation of the undergraduate, pre-professional program in Special Education or Inclusive Early Childhood Education.  Candidates completing these professional licensure programs must meet a set of content and endorsement-specific criteria that have been established by the Commonwealth of Virginia.

It is important for candidates to understand that they must meet the requirements for a baccalaureate degree and successfully complete all undergraduate pre-professional courses and experiences prior to being fully admitted to this M.A.T. initial licensure program. Candidates must have successfully completed the special education undergraduate pre-professional program at JMU and demonstrate satisfactory performance at each program evaluation point. This M.A.T. program includes a minimum of 30 credit hours of professional education course work on the graduate level. At least half of a candidate’s program of study must be taken at the 600 level. A comprehensive examination as approved by the graduate program director will be completed as part of this particular M.A.T. program.

Inclusive Early Childhood Education Program

The inclusive early childhood program draws heavily from research and theories in child development, family systems, special education, differentiated teaching and learning. Through course work and extensive field experiences, the teacher candidate is prepared to design activities that have an interdisciplinary focus, reflect an understanding of the individual child’s development and learning, recognize the importance of family and developmental influences, support the young child in constructing knowledge about self and the world, and involve parents in supporting the child’s growth and development.

The Master of Arts in teaching (M.A.T.) program in inclusive early childhood education is a continuation of the undergraduate IECE program. For more information, see http://www.jmu.edu/coe/eere/iecemat.shtml.