Special Education Endorsement

The special education endorsement advances teachers’ abilities to assess special needs children and develop and design appropriate instruction support for these children. Coursework and passage of the required Oregon Teacher Standards and Practices Commission (TSPC) test lead to the Oregon licensure special education endorsement. Candidates may be required to demonstrate prior experiences before enrolling in specific special education endorsement courses.

Special Education Endorsement Learning Outcomes

Special education endorsement program coursework and clinical experiences have been designed for candidates to demonstrate competencies listed in the TSPC standards for the Oregon licensure special education endorsement (OAR 584-420-0460).

1. Learner Development: Understand how exceptionalities may interact with development and learning and use this knowledge to provide meaningful and challenging learning experiences for individuals with exceptionalities.
2. Learning Environments: Ability to create safe, inclusive, culturally responsive learning environments so that individuals with exceptionalities become active and effective learners and develop emotional well-being, positive social interactions, and self-determination
3. Curricular Content Knowledge: Ability to use knowledge of general and specialized curricula to individualize learning for individuals with exceptionalities
4. Assessment: Ability to use multiple methods of assessment and data-sources in making educational decisions.
5. Instructional Planning and Strategies: Ability to select, adapt, and use a repertoire of evidence-based instructional strategies to advance learning of individuals with exceptionalities.
6. Professional Learning and Ethical Practice: Ability to use foundational knowledge of the field and the their professional Ethical Principles and Practice Standards to inform special education practice, to engage in lifelong learning, and to advance the profession.
7. Collaboration: Ability to collaborate with families, other educators, related service providers, individuals with exceptionalities, and personnel from community agencies in culturally responsive ways to address the needs of individuals with exceptionalities across a range of learning experiences.

Oregon special education endorsement standards model the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) standards.