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The Secondary Dual Educator Program prepares teachers to meet the academic needs of all students in their classroom by integrating the pedagogy of general and special education at the secondary level. After completing this program, middle and high school teachers will be able to use specialized instructional methodology and their content area expertise to differentiate instruction and develop curriculum accommodations. Teachers receiving this dual preparation will be able to give all students fuller access to the content areas of science, mathematics, English, social studies, and other areas taught at the secondary level.
This full-time graduate-level teacher preparation program runs for six terms.
The next cohort begins fall 2011 and culminates spring 2012 in a master's in education degree and dual licensure in a secondary-level content area and in special education.
This program was recently cited as a “promising example” by the Alliance for Excellence in Education in their November 2009, Policy Brief. Read this excerpt, or click on the link below to view the entire report.
Diverse Learners: Portland State University Secondary Dual Educator Program
Some programs are beginning to prepare teacher candidates to address the needs of an increasingly diverse student population. Portland State University in Oregon offers teacher candidates a degree that integrates secondary and special education pedagogy through the Secondary Dual Educator Program (SDEP), and builds the teacher candidate’s ability to teach diverse learners. The program recruits post-baccalaureate candidates with a strong foundation in their content area and provides extensive field experiences in addition to courses taught across the secondary and special education departments. During their six terms, teacher candidates participate in more than eight hundred hours of fieldwork in special and general education. Candidates learn how to differentiate content for a diverse range of learners, accommodate the needs of diverse students within inclusive classrooms, teach literacy skills to struggling readers, and adapt lesson plans and instruction for students with varying cultural, social, and linguistic backgrounds. Two classes of candidates have graduated from the program, and the results are promising. Teachers using the knowledge and skills taught in the program have been able to increase student gains for English language learners, gifted and talented students, and students with disabilities. Additionally, surveys of principals with SDEP teachers indicate that those teachers demonstrate more empathy for students with disabilities, plan with needed accommodations in mind, assess and address learning needs, make data-based decisions, address student needs themselves more frequently (rather than calling a specialist), and have higher expectations for students with disabilities than teachers without the dual degree.