High Point University

University core general education courses and Introduction to Teaching, which includes a field experience component one hour per week in a local school. Adapted curriculum majors also take American Sign Language freshman year. Service-learning courses are also offered, which provide students with additional field work experiences at schools and non-profits in the local community.

Continuation of university core general education courses along with two education content courses in educational psychology and 21st century teaching practices. Students apply to the School of Education during the sophomore year.

During the junior year, educator preparation students have finished university core class requirements, are admitted to the School of Education, and take focused coursework in the area of education, including characteristics of students with disabilities, service delivery models of special education, legal processes and paperwork in special education, methods for teaching students with disabilities, technology, and methods of teaching reading and math. Students are placed with a cooperating teacher during their spring practicum where they spend three hours per week in the classroom working with students and teaching lesson plans they have created in their methods classes.

Seniors engage in a year-long student teaching experience. In the fall, students spend two mornings each week in their student teaching classrooms, transitioning to a full-time placement in that same classroom in the Spring semester. Students prepare their edTPA portfolio during their senior year and take all required licensure tests by semester break of senior year. In terms of coursework, students continue their study of special education policies and procedures, assistive technology, teaching methods, and explore varied student backgrounds in their multicultural coursework.

One of the many distinguishing features of HPU's Special Education program is that students engage in planned field work experiences every semester beginning Spring of freshman year. The number of hours per week the student is engaged in field experience increases from one hour per week during the freshman year, to one or two hours per week in the sophomore year, three hours per week in the junior year, and then a full-time student teaching experience in the senior year. 

We vary the types of schools and settings that students are placed in across the years in order to expose our students to different populations, environments, teaching styles and curriculums. Students spend their first two years of practicums observing, assisting teachers and helping struggling learners with instruction. They extend these experiences during junior and senior year into creating lesson plans and teaching those lesson plans with whole group and small group instruction incorporating the techniques they learn during their methods courses. Coursework is aligned to maximize the field work experience and allow students the opportunity to discuss their observations from field experiences during content courses.

While a special education program naturally prepares candidates to work with students with disabilities, we also ensure that our students learn about a wide range of populations through both experience and coursework. Several courses (Multicultural Education, Nature of the Learner, 21st Century Classroom, Students with Disabilities: Characteristics and Service Delivery Models) contain learning objectives that target understanding of different students.

As students are placed in fieldwork during each of the four years in the program, we are able to design those fieldwork experiences to expose candidates to a variety of student populations, school environments, areas of the local community and types of schools. Students also have the opportunity to participate in our service-learning program, which offers courses that allow students to partner with local nonprofit institutions or schools to work on projects that fit the needs of the organization. Candidates also have the opportunity to work with students from local schools on campus during Lego days, book buddy meetings, and other special events such as the annual student panel where students with disabilities from a local school answer questions from our candidates about their educational experiences. 

Our candidates also have the opportunity to attend special speaker events, such as a talk by the NC Teacher of the Year or the superintendent of the local school system, where they learn about reaching all learners. 

At High Point University, our students are fortunate to benefit from mentorship both within the School of Education and outside of the university with our fieldwork partners. Students are paired with between four and six different cooperating teachers during their tenure at the university. As such, they are exposed to a wide variety of teaching styles and are able to build relationships with employees in the local school system.

Within the School of Education, each practicum and student teaching experience includes mentorship from a caring, qualified faculty member who visits to observe and coach the student while in the field placement. After-school office hours allow pre-service educators to debrief their teaching day with their mentor. 

Faculty also serve as mentors to students doing undergraduate research. Students work alongside faculty on research projects and present their research at the local, state and national levels. Special Education students are also members of the Student Council for Exceptional Children where they work closely with their faculty advisor to plan events for local students with disabilities and attend professional conferences, such as the National Council for Exceptional Children conference.

High Point University is committed to providing students with an extraordinary education and experience during their four years of study. In order to extend the value of the student's educational experience, we host mock interview days with principals and principal panels where they talk with our students about what they are looking for in a teacher and give them perspective about the current culture of education.

We help our students partner with the career center for assistance with resumes and hold education-only job fairs on our campus for the convenience of students. Many of our students remain at HPU for their master's degree as part of our BA to MEd program and begin teaching in the local area. These students serve as resources and mentors for our current students. We continually solicit student input and review data from course evaluations and state and national trends and incorporate these suggestions and material into our coursework to make sure our students are prepared for the education workforce when they graduate.