JMU is a member of Virginia’s Adapted Curriculum Consortium. The consortium’s primary goal is to prepare teachers across the state to be highly skilled at working with learners with severe disabilities and/or autism. The program is designed to increase the number of fully endorsed teachers by providing training to new full-time preservice personnel and to accelerate the training for those already teaching on provisional licenses. Students enroll and complete the course requirements at JMU, but some courses are taught online through the consortium.
The Consortium has been supported by grants from the Virginia Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Education. Every semester, the Consortium awards a limited number of tuition stipends to qualified applicants. Special Education Adapted Curriculum coursework includes:
- Characteristics of students with disabilities (K-12) on the adapted curriculum,
- Language acquisition,
- Individualized support and specialized care,
- Reading instruction,
- Assessment and program planning,
- Curriculum and instructional methods for the adapted curriculum,
- Classroom and behavior management,
- Collaboration, and
- Transition
Field experiences provide students with the opportunity to learn and practice skills in working with learners with disabilities and their families in a diverse educational setting across grade levels.
Students accepted into Post Bachelor Degree M.A.T. have an earned bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university and meet all admissions requirements for the Graduate School. Completion of the post bachelor degree M.A.T. program requires a minimum of 30 credit hours and prepares students for initial licensure. In addition to the required graduate coursework, students may be required to complete co/prerequisite coursework, depending on their prior academic preparation, in order to meet licensure requirements.
The application will open January 15. Priority review of applications begins March 1. Completed applications should be received at least 6 weeks prior to the start of the fall semester. For more information regarding the application process please visit The Graduate School’s website.
