Master of Science in Deaf Education

Admission Requirements

The student must apply to and meet all criteria for admission to the Graduate School. In addition, applicants for the Master of Science in Deaf Education degree must meet all college requirements for admission and retention.

Admission requirements for individuals applying to the Master of Science in Deaf Education:

• Bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited college or university in the United States or its equivalent from a school in another country.
• Submit three letters of recommendation.

In that the mission of the Deaf Education program is to prepare individuals to become certified teachers of the Deaf, preference is given to individuals who have an undergraduate elementary, secondary, or special education major and who have American Sign Language skills. However, individuals without this background should consider applying after consulting their respective state department of education for details regarding teacher of the Deaf certification/licensure.

General Requirements

Students completing a Master of Science in Deaf Education must complete a minimum of 33 semester credit hours. Students seeking Idaho certification in the area of their training must meet the Idaho State Board of Education requirements for certification/licensure. Students seeking certification in their area of training from another state must meet the requirements of that state.

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
Required Core Professional Studies
EDUC 6601	Research and Writing	3
EDUC 6610	Applied Educational Statistics	3
Specialty Deaf Education Studies
EDHH 5556	Psychosocial Aspects of Deafness	3
EDHH 6609	Teaching Internship in Deaf Education	3
EDHH 6627	Literacy Curriculum in Deaf Education	3
EDHH 6628	Curriculum Organization in Deaf Education	3
EDHH 6637	Foundations of Deaf Education	2
EDHH 6658	Teaching Language to the Deaf	3
EDHH 6659	Teaching Academic Subjects to the Deaf	3
Integrative Field Research Studies
EDHH 6651	Field Project or Case Study in Deaf Education	3
Electives		3
Total Credits		32

 Elective credits to total a minimum of 33 credits hours for the master’s degree must be taken from relevant graduate-level courses. Elective credits must be approved in advance by the student’s major advisor. In certain situations a student’s program of study might exceed 33 credits. The three most common situations are:

1. Applicants will be evaluated as to their teaching experience with Deaf/hard of hearing children:
   1. those with three or more years of such teaching experience will be able to waive EDHH 6609 Teaching Internship in Deaf Education (3 credits), but will need to take added electives;
   2. those who do not meet the three years teaching experience will need to take EDHH 6609 (3 credits).
2. Applicants who do not meet American Sign Language proficiency will need to complete appropriate coursework; verification can be established through various sign language quality assurance examinations (e;g, RID, NAD, or EIPA [3.5 or above] certification), or transcript verification.
3. Applicants who do not have appropriate coursework in communication sciences/disorders and audiology will be advised to take appropriate courses in order to meet teacher of the Deaf and hard of hearing standards as identified in state certification/licensing documents. A thorough examination of each applicant’s transcript will be completed to determine what coursework the student has completed and what coursework is needed to complete the Master of Science in Deaf Education, as well as state certification/licensure requirements to become a teacher of the Deaf/hard of hearing.