Regarding Competencies for Endorsement Areas: Special Education General Curriculum K-12

The faculty and staff of the Teacher Education Program at Virginia Wesleyan College are hesitant to support the proposed revisions to 8VAC20-542-80 that require "one area of specialization in English, history and social sciences, mathematics, or science.” This revision essentially requires candidates seeking endorsement in Special Educaiton General Curriculum K-12 to pursue an additional 2 to 3 courses (half to a full semester in the 4-credit curriculum at VWC) in addition to their liberal studies major, college/university general studies program requirements and other graduation requirements, plus the required professional studies coursework, to which potentially one course has been added.  The hesitancy stems from the fact that it would seem to counter the revisions in 8VAC20-542-20 to support the achievement of requirements for recommendation for a teaching license within a baccalaureate program. The additional coursework likely will cause candidates in our program to extend their program to a 9th semester.  This revision would more or less require potential Special Education General Curriculm K-12 candidates to decide to be teachers within the first semester of college.  Such requirements would also severely impact the ability of education candidates in undergraduate institutions to pursue study abroad opportunities.    Please note that on the whole, we strongly support making sure that potential speical education teachers are knowledgeable across all discipline areas, but the specification in one area might actually limit the ability to achieve that goal.