Special Education
Special Education
The GSOE offers three graduate programs in the fields of special education
- The Ph.D. Program
- The Master's Program
- The combined Teacher Credential and M.A. Program
Ph.D Program
The doctoral program in special education is designed individually for each student but is designed to take the average full-time student three years to complete. Students with a comparable M.A. usually complete their doctoral degree in two or two-and-a-half years.
Students who complete a Special Education Ph.D. tend to pursue careers in three areas.
- Special education administration
- College education with an emphasis on teacher training and continuing education
- College education with an emphasis on research
Special education course work falls along four broad areas:
- Cognitive disabilities
- Behavioral/emotional disabilities
- Learning disabilities
- Special education issues
Students must complete a research practicum before advancing to candidacy.
Master's Program
The M.A. program plans are individually developed with an advisor and give students the option of completing a thesis or taking a comprehensive written examination after successfully completing course work.
Course work allows the student to emphasize their study to:
- Behavior problems
- Autism
- Severe cognitive disabilities
- Mild cognitive disabilities
- Learning disabilities
Students who wish to pursue a Ph.D. may petition to enter the doctoral program. GSOE faculty and the graduate advisor will review the petition and make a recommendation to the UCR Graduate Division.
Teacher Credential—M.A. Program
The advantage of this program is that up to three courses taken during the credentialing year can be included in the M.A. program plan.
The Faculty
Jan Blacher, Professor
Research Areas
Parents and Families of children with handicaps; Mental retardation and dual diagnosis; early childhood/exceptional children; placement and child policy issues; autism and pervasive development disabilities
Sharon Borthwick-Duffy, Professor
Research Areas
Mental retardation/development disabilities, family and school influences on development, special education issues, quality of life measurement
Rollanda O’Connor, Professor
Research Areas
Learning disability, reading disability, issues in research and schooling for individuals with high incidence disabilities
Lee Swanson, Distinguished Professor
Research Areas
Tests and measurement, intelligence and memory, learning disabilities
For more information, contact:
Vanda Yamaguchi, Director-Graduate Student AffairsGraduate School of Education
Univ. of California, Riverside
1124 Sproul Hall
Riverside, CA 92521-0128
Tel: (951) 827-6362
Fax: (951) 827-3942
E-mail: Vanda Yamaguchi