Kathy Said:

what is the cheapest...accredidated Master's Degree online program to get my Master's in Special Education?

We Answered:

Here is a link for you

http://www.mission2educate.org

They have multiple online school research tools that helps you to find the right school.

Marilyn Said:

What degrees must I earn to become a special education teacher?

We Answered:

You should major in special education -- they have a degree solely for special education. If you want to work with individuals with severe/profound disabilities, there are a few schools that offer a special education degree for severe/profound. In addition, some schools offer specialities in hearing impairment as well. I know Ball State University has a severe/profound special education major. You'll get your bachelor's degree in Special Education, and then (if you choose to), you can continue on to get your Master's degree.

Lynn Said:

Online schools offering bachelor degrees in special education?

We Answered:

Glad you have already done some research.
Now you may realize that there is a long list of colleges offering a bachelor degree is special education. So what do you do about it?
There are three things you can do to cut down that list and make the best choice.
1-Check the accreditation of the colleges. If a college is not accredited, dont bother. Enrolling in an unaccredited college means wasting your money and time since the degree has no value and recognition. diploma/degree mills will lure you into join them by charging low fees and easy course content. Beware!
2- Do a background research on the faculty. Check their qualification and experience. A good faculty certainly offers a quality degree.
3- Ask students enrolled in those online colleges for their opinion. They could reveal what the college may be trying to hide.
Here are two universities that you may want to check out.
* Walden University
*George Washington University

Here is an article on online degrees in special education.
http://onlinedegreetalk.org/special-educ…

Hope that helps.
Kevin
Am I going to watch 10 points swim into my account? =)

Sean Said:

What is the best accredited online school to go for elementary special education?

We Answered:

Socially Awkward (and many others) is very wrong on this one - we're talking public school employers here and they could care less where you went to college as long as you have a teaching certificate from your state. That's all that most care about at all when hiring new teachers. If you have a clear and full teaching certificate to be considered "highly qualified teacher" then you'll be treated as is everyone else with the same certificate.

Your state will be particular about where you go to college though. Make sure it's properly accredited and approved by your state for teacher certification.

Western Governors is pretty well respected and regionally accredited. They are also NCATE accredited and used to working with many states. They offer a BA in Early Education and a BA in K-12 Special Ed. (and many other areas for teacher certification). You'll be expected to do student teaching wherever it is you live. Be sure you really mean "Early Education" (preK-3) and not "Elementary Education" (K-8)

http://www.wgu.edu/degrees_and_programs

Western Governor's is the only NCATE teacher certification wholly online in the US. Don't expect it to be easy - they're pretty serious about what they do there.

Understand, Chicago presently has an overage of teaching candidates - if you plan to stay there then you might want to consider other possible careers.

Add: PE2008 apparently doesn't hire teachers. Call your local school district and see what they tell you. That's what matters, not whether I or anyone else thinks they're any good. Western Governors is placing teachers in some of the best schools in the country and in some DoD schools - not easy jobs to get.

Present academic research from USDoE doesn't support the presumption that "You will also probably not be as well-educated in general." The research says you'll be better educated - people that spent too much time in a classroom aren't liking hearing that. Wonder why? Read this one: http://www.ed.gov/rschstat/eval/tech/evi… and leave what those of us on YA! have to say as "opinion" - USDoE is a pretty serious organization to disagree with.

It's not CoachT's 'opinion' here. The United States Department of Education concluded that "Students who took all or part of their class online performed better, on average, than those taking the same course through traditional face-to-face instruction."

Those people that disagree may want to reconsider their opinion of online education - it would appear that it is the "way of the future". Traditionalists can fight it all they want to but the reality is that online learners are outperforming the classroom and HR people have started noticing that. "Old School" is "old hat".

It's ok if some people want to stay in 1981, the rest of us don't have to. ?

Add again: PE, that study is citing research from 2002,2003,2005 - in the world of technology (and DL), that's "forever". Look at some new studies and see what you find. Yes, there is still some negative impression. It has gone down a lot in recent years. But this question is about one particular industry (public schools) that doesn't operate as does corporate America. The OP didn't ask about entry level positions in the areas you're citing. Show us something about public school teachers.

We can quote from that study though "they did not view the online degree as a hindrance to a recipient’s chances for employment." and "most of the respondents made no distinction between an online degree and a traditional degree when considering applicants in the hiring process." Those are significant findings too. And those are from your citation.

I can show you some research that tells us people will never want a computer in their home too - it's not valid anymore. ?

Becky Said:

Special education?

We Answered:

I am not aware of any university in the USA that will enable you to get both your degree and credential to be a special education teacher in this country exclusively online. There may be online universities in other countries. There may be in the USA later too; however, part of the process is actually teaching with real students, so some elements are contrary to the online experience.