Special Education

The Masters of Education in Special Education (MSPED) prepares leaders in the field of Special Education for Qatar in two specialized areas:

1. Teaching Students with Mild and Moderate Disabilities and
2. Teaching Students with Severe and Profound Disabilities.

The MSPED program is a full-time program of graduate study that uses a final internship, rather than a thesis-based, approach. Instruction is in English. The program has a strong field experience component as a total of 436 hours are required over four courses and the final internship. As is appropriate for the field of special education, students come from a variety of backgrounds—e.g., special education, general education, psychology, audiology, physical therapy, nutrition, public health, and administration—and the program and its faculty are flexible enough to accommodate their professional interests and career goals.

Graduates from the program are prepared to serve as leaders in a variety of settings in Qatar and beyond, including independent schools, special schools, hospital schools, government and private educational agencies, and international organizations.

The MSPED Program is benchmarked to Qatar National Professional Standards for teachers and school leaders and guided by the standards of The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), the largest international professional association in special education.

The following courses will be included in this program:

1. Issues, Policy and Practice in Special Education
2. Inclusive Education for Students with Disabilities
3. Advanced Applied Behavior Analysis
4. Assessment of Students with Disabilities
5. Collaboration with Family of Children with Disabilities
6. Motor Development & Learning
7. Methods of Teaching Learners with Severe/Profound Disabilities
8. Characteristics of Severe/Profound Disabilities
9. Literacy Assessment & Remediation
10. Methods of Teaching Learners with Mild/Moderate Disabilities
11. Characteristics of with Mild/ Moderate Disabilities
12. Educational Research Methodologies

Two internships are also included.

Admission Requirements for the M.Ed. Programs. Completed a Bachelor or a higher level degree with a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.80 out of 4.00 from a university or college accredited by the Ministry of Higher Education or comparable authority in that country may be admitted to the program.

Applicants meeting all other admission requirements with a GPA below 2.8 but not lower than 2.5 may be admitted to the program but must meet the following criteria to remain in the program:

• Attain a GPA of 3.0 or higher in the first semester
• Register for a minimum of two regular courses in the field of study in the first semester.

If a student fails to meet the above criteria, the student will be automatically dismissed from the program.

1. Achieved a minimum score of 520 on the paper-based TOEFL or equivalent test, taken within two years of the start of the intended semester of admission OR earned a previous degree from an accredited institution of higher education in a Program where English was the language of instruction.
2. A satisfactory performance in the personal interview. 
3. Complete online application via www.qu.edu.qa during admission period

The Program Plan consists of (a) Core courses and (b) a set of Concentration courses in one of two concentrations:

1. Mild/Moderate Disabilities Concentration
2. Severe/Profound Disabilities Concentration