These individuals are typically identified as having a specific learning disability, mild/moderate mental retardation, or mild/moderate behavioral disorders. At Cleveland State University, students who are working to earn intervention specialist licensure demonstrate diagnostic skills and competencies in the assessment of learners’ academic and social needs. These skills are applied in the development and delivery of instruction in regular and special education classrooms.

Beginning with their initial professional education class, students create and continue to develop professional portfolios. These are used to assess student progress and to demonstrate professional development, eventually becoming a showcase for a student’s teaching competence.

Having met current curriculum guidelines set by the Council for Exceptional Children, the Special Education Program is accredited by the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education
and approved by the Ohio Department of Education.

For 2004-05, the College of Education and Human Services reports a 99 percent passage rate on the national Praxis II qualifying teacher licensure exam for special education. For the same time period, corresponding passage rates on Praxis II Principles of Teaching and Learning Tests for all students in the College ranged from 90 to 100 percent. Moreover, during their initial two years of employment, all program graduates passed the Praxis III Classroom Performance Assessment needed to advance from a two-year provisional to a five-year professional teaching license as a Mild/Moderate Intervention Specialist.