The University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) is one school offering a specialization in the area of bilingual special education. The degree offered by the UIC College of Education is the Master of Education (M.Ed.) with a certificate available for a bilingual special education specialist. The M.Ed. program is open to students with a baccalaureate degree in any field. Students need not be education majors or have credentials in special education to enter the program. The degree requires 35 credit hours for completion. Students must take additional coursework to receive the bilingual certificate. Areas of study covered by the M.Ed. degree program include assessing students' needs, promoting academic learning, the social and political context of education and characteristics of learning.
University of Illinios--Chicago
College of Education (MC 147)
1040 West Harrison St.
Chicago, IL 60607
312-996-4532
www.uic.edu
A second option for a degree in the area of bilingual special education is through the Department of Education at Portland State University. Similar to the UIC program, the Portland State program is for bilingual students with a bachelor's degree in any field who wish to pursue the M.Ed. degree. Additional requirements beyond the masters degree include an additional nine credit hours in areas such as working with culturally diverse groups of students, This is a highly competitive program that admits only 10 students per year. Once admitted, students receive a substantial stipend of $12,000 per year of academic study. This program is offered as a two-year part-time program that allows students considerable leeway to continue working while attending school.
Portland State University
Department of Education
PO Box 751
Portland OR 97207
503-725-3000
www.pdx.edu
George Washington University (GWU) in Washington, D.C., also offers a masters degree in the field of education with special emphasis given to bilingual special education. GWU offers a certificate in the field as part of the Master of Arts in Education and Human Development as well as a Master of Arts in Bilingual Special Education. The M.A. degree requires 45 credit hours while the graduate certificate requires only six courses for completion. Areas of study include courses such as the immigrant experience, strategies for inclusion, the development of language in young children, teaching culturally and linguistically diverse students with special needs, teaching reading and writing in ESL (English as a second language) and development of children with disabilities.
The George Washington University
2121 Street, NW
Washington, DC 20052
202-994-1000
www.gwu.edu