Advance Your Career with a Specialist’s Degree

Distinguish yourself academically and professionally by earning this post-master’s degree. Build your overall curriculum and instruction skills with at least 15 hours of foundational courses and also develop specialty skills by completing at least 15 hours of concentration coursework.

Designed for Arkansas educators, this practitioner-focused program will equip you with the overall skills and knowledge needed to be an instructional leader in various educational settings. It also enables you to gain specific knowledge within your chosen concentration. Choose from four concentrations.

Coursework in the K-12 Online Teaching concentration can be used to earn a graduate certificate in K-12 Online Teaching. Students must apply for both the specialist degree and the graduate certificate at the same time if they seek both credentials. The courses in this concentration are required by the Arkansas Department of Education for a licensure endorsement for K-12 Online Teaching and the licensure endorsement for Program Administrator.

Unlike graduate certificate programs or endorsement plans alone, this specialist program meets financial aid guidelines, allowing students to seek assistance in funding their studies. Consult an academic adviser prior to enrollment in classes to assure requirements are met.

Choose Your Specialty

Choose one of the four concentrations below – 15 credit hours each – to add to your foundational coursework. Align your concentration with your career goal.

• Advanced School-Based Speech-Language Pathology - focusing on assessment and intervention needs of students with communication disorders as well as interprofessional practice in school-based settings
• Education Examiner - involving diagnostic testing, intelligence testing, inclusive education, educational data
• K-12 Online Teaching - centering on educational media, teaching with technology, distance education
• Literacy/Dyslexia - focusing on literacy, language, curriculum development, teaching students with disabilities
• Program Administrator - focusing on school organizations, administration, leadership, decision-making and school improvement

Each student is also required to complete 3 semester hours: CIED 680V Ed.S. Project, which is an investigation or inquiry that demonstrates the capacity to design, implement and evaluate an intervention independently. A grade-point average of 3.25 is required on all graduate hours completed.

Admission Requirements

Admission is based on the student’s profile, educational background and a variety of inputs. You must:

• Have earned a master’s degree from a regionally accredited U.S. institution
• Provide transcripts and a curriculum vita that includes related experience
• Provide GRE exam results IF your G.P.A. is below 3.5 in prior graduate work
• Must apply for a graduate certificate, if desired, at the same time you apply for the Ed.S. in CIED
• Meet Graduate School requirements and provide other documents required by the CIED department and listed in the catalog of studies

More about Licensure Endorsements

The Arkansas Department of Education provides information about teacher endorsements for becoming a teacher or school leader and to plans for additional licensure. The College of Education and Health Professions website also provides links to endorsement information on its Office of Teacher Education page.

Scholarship / Grant

• Arkansas Teacher Opportunity Program