K305: Teaching Exceptional Learners in Elementary School
Fall 2025 Syllabus (section 26812)

Course Description & Overview

In today’s schools, general education classrooms comprise of a diversity of learners, including: students with a formal label of exceptionality (e.g., learning disability, autism, giftedness); informal label (e.g., at-risk for a disability); and students with unique challenges, strengths, or experiences. Therefore, as a future general education teacher, you will be assuming responsibility for meeting the educational and behavioral needs of students with a variety of learning needs. While teachers typically identify students with disabilities as their greatest challenges, these students are often their greatest rewards. In this course, you will study and implement a variety of instructional practices that will enhance the learning of all students, but especially students with disabilities in your future classroom. In particular, you will learn how to design learning experiences that incorporate the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), how to differentiate instruction, use explicit instruction, and incorporate multi-sensory instructional strategies in your teaching.

This is a 16-week online course (3 credits) for students enrolled in the Teacher Education Program (TEP). The course is 100% asynchronous, which means that throughout the semester you will work through modules of interactive activities in Canvas with your classmates and me. All office hours and scheduled one-on-one meetings will be scheduled on Zoom.

Course Objectives

At the end of this course, you will be able to:

1. Identify the laws, key provisions, and guidelines that govern special education and explain how they influence educational practice for students with exceptionalities.
2. Describe the responsibilities you will have as a classroom teacher for students with exceptionalities and the types of practices and adaptations you need to implement.
3. Provide a rationale for the importance of implementing Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) or Response to Intervention (RtI) in schools and describe their components and implementation process.
4. Describe skills and strategies necessary to communicate effectively with professional colleagues and families.
5. Discuss learner characteristics of students with exceptionalities and their implications for development, teaching, and learning.
6. Discuss and apply the principles of effective instruction used in teaching and adapting instruction for students with exceptionalities, including: UDL, differentiated instruction, explicit instruction, and multi-sensory instructional strategies.

Grading Scale

Course Weekly Schedule

Below is an outline of the course modules and assignments in the order they will be covered. Refer to the Canvas modules site for detailed information on objectives, readings, activities, assignments, and assessments for each module.

Orientation Module (8/25-8/26)

Module 1: Universal Design for Learning (8/27-9/2)

• Submit Response Assignment (9/2)
• Submit Exit Ticket (9/2)

Module 2: Differentiated Instruction (9/3-9/16)

• Post Padlet Reading Discussion post (9/12) and two reply posts to your peers (9/16)
• Complete IRIS Module Differentiated Instruction: Maximizing the Learning of All Students and submit Response Assignment (9/16)
• Submit Exit Ticket (9/16)

Module 3: Teaching Exceptional Learners (9/17-9/23)

• Post Padlet Reading Discussion Post (9/21) and two reply posts to your peers (9/23)
• Submit Differentiated Whole Class Lesson Plan Draft (9/21)
• A Focus on Dyslexia (9/23)
• Submit Exit Ticket (9/23)

Module 4: Responsibilities of Classroom Teachers (9/24-10/7)

• Submit Differentiated Lesson Plan (9/30)
• Discussion forum posts (10/3 and 10/7)
• Submit content quiz (9/30)
• Submit Exit Ticket (10/7)

Module 5: Response to Intervention/ Multi-tiered systems of support (10/8-10/19)

• Complete IRIS Module, RTI (Part 1): An Overview and submit Response Assignment (10/14)
• View Progress Monitoring video lecture and submit knowledge check assignment (10/19)
• Submit EIP Part A (10/22)
• Submit Exit Ticket (10/19)

Module 6: Collaborating with Families and Other Professionals (10/22-11/4)

• Post Padlet Reading Discussion Post (10/31) and two reply posts to your peers (11/4)
• Submit EIP Part B (11/4)
• Submit Exit Ticket (11/4)

Module 7: Explicit Instruction (11/5-11/18)

• Read chapters 1 & 2 of Explicit Instruction: Effective and Efficient Teaching and respond in Actively Learn (11/14)
• Submit draft of Explicit Instruction Lesson Plan (EIP Part C) (11/18)
• Submit Exit Ticket (11/18)

Module 8: Instructional Strategies for Students with Disabilities (11/19-12/2)

• Submit final Explicit Instruction Lesson Plan (EIP Part C) (Nov 26)
• Post Padlet Reading Discussion Post (11/26) and two reply posts to your peers (12/2)
• Read "An Introduction to Multisensory Teaching" and respond in Actively Learn (12/2)
• Submit Exit Ticket (12/2)

Module 9: Course Wrap-up & EIP Presentations (12/3-12/12)

• Post Elementary Inclusion Project Presentation (EIP Part D; 12/9) and peer responses to EIP presentations (12/2)
• Submit Explicit Instruction Lesson Reflection (12/2)