Master of Education in Special Education

• 36 credit hours
• 12 months or longer depending on your timeline
• Accredited by the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) in 2024. The first college or university to receive this distinction.
• Accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP)
• Additional certification available in Elementary and Secondary Education, and Administration and Supervision

In addition to the University-wide graduate admissions requirements, applicants to the M.Ed. program must submit:

• Graduate application
• Professional résumé
• Proof of a bachelor’s degree with a minimum 2.75 GPA or 3.25 in the last 60 credit hours, or 3.0 in the endorsement area
• 2 recommendations that speak directly to academic and interpersonal skills
• Submission of all undergraduate transcripts
• Passing scores for math competency (Common math competencies include SAT/ACT/GRE scores, Praxis math scores or college-level math classes).
• For questions on any of the competency requirements, please reach out to an Education faculty member or feel free to contact us.

ED 509: Special Education — Foundations and Characteristics of Exceptional Learners

This course is designed for students to become knowledgeable in the foundations of special education in relation to students with federally recognized disabilities labels. This includes historical perspectives, legal aspects, regulatory requirements, models, theories, philosophies, ethical issues, and trends that provide the basis for educational implications in school and home settings. The course also covers developmental characteristics of individuals with high-incidence disabilities, including but not limited to cognitive, linguistic, physical, psychomotor, social, medical, and emotional development.

ED 523: Diagnostic and Corrective Literacy Instruction

This course teaches students who are preparing to be special education teachers about language acquisition and the causes of literacy and reading disabilities. Also addressed are ways to prevent reading failure and strategies for the collection and analysis of reading behavior. Students will learn the process of developing instructional reading programs for individualized correction.

ED 545: Transition and Family Issues for Individuals with Disabilities

Designed to provide educators with a broad overview of the rationale for career and transition programming critical to the development of children and youth with disabilities and to present the various program options that are currently available. The knowledge and understanding of the importance of counseling and working with families of students with disabilities will be explored. The availability of community resources to assist both parents and children with disabilities will also be discussed.

Marymount’s Special Education degree program fully prepares you to teach in preschools, elementary, and secondary schools as a K–12 special education teacher in Virginia. Marymount’s Special Education master’s program also qualifies you for employment in a variety of careers throughout Maryland, Virginia, and the Washington, D.C., area. These include:

• Assistive technology specialist
• Curriculum specialist
• Special education attorney or advocate
• Central office administrator

The job outlook for special education professionals is especially strong. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects an 8% job growth rate for special education teachers between now and 2029. The special education profession should see 14,300 new special education jobs in that time frame.

We are thrilled to welcome you to Marymount University’s School of Education, where our mission is to empower those who are committed to making a positive impact in schools, families, communities, and organizations. Are you eager to learn with purpose? Are you driven to educate with purpose? Are you ready to lead with purpose? If so, you’ve found the right place!

Our School is a vibrant community of dedicated teacher-scholars who are not only experts in their fields but also passionate and innovative educators. We create learning experiences that ensure all students succeed. For decades, our faculty and staff have advised, nurtured, and inspired students, all while remaining deeply committed to our mission of Preparing Educational Leaders for Diverse Learning Communities. Through transformative experiences, we aim to deepen your knowledge and skills, empowering you to enact positive change as critical thinkers and compassionate practitioners. Our programs are renowned for their small class sizes and the personalized attention students receive from our expert faculty. Graduates of our programs leave with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed to make a difference, not only locally but across the nation and the world.

Dr. Jessica Marotta
School Director

Learn more about our faculty

“Marymount’s Special Education teacher education program gave me the confidence, knowledge, and strategies to truly make a difference in the classroom. I love the School of Education faculty, and their passion for the field is contagious. I had the opportunity to learn and grow in a variety of classroom field experiences from almost day 1. The offerings of experiential learning, workshops, peer mentoring summits, and global experiences in Jamaica have changed my life!” – Keri M., M.Ed., Class of 2022