U of A Special Education Program Delivered Online Ranks No. 10

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Faculty and students in the U of A special education program include, back row, Peggy Schaefer Whitby, Marcia Imbeau, Kathleen Collins, Elizabeth Lorah, Aleza Greene and Debi Smith; front row, Renee Speight, Tom Smith, Barbara Gartin, Elizabeth Jordan and Alison Karnes.

The graduate degree in special education delivered online by the University of Arkansas is ranked at No. 10 in the nation by The Best Schools website.

The website recently announced the 30 best online master’s degree programs in special education.

Barbara Gartin, University Professor of special education, said the special education program in the College of Education and Health Professions initially offered only an additional licensure plan that could be completed online.

“We decided to offer an online master’s degree in special education because of the scarcity of special education teachers in Arkansas,” Gartin said. “We needed to offer a high-quality program in the Delta region of the state to help with this shortage. Then, we discovered that other educators preferred online instruction. People who live in Fayetteville and Springdale were asking for online programs. As a result, we put the rest of our programs online.”

Marcia Imbeau, professor of special education, serves as interim coordinator of the special education program. She said the program has outstanding faculty who have worked tirelessly to establish a quality online program and have used Quality Matters guidelines to ensure that courses offered meet or exceed those design standards.

“Students in our online program also like that there are different options or areas of concentration they might choose to match professional interest or employment demands, particularly in the areas of working with students with autism spectrum disorders and using Applied Behavioral Analysis,” Imbeau said.

TheBestSchools.org ranked U of A’s master’s degree in special education at No. 10, based on the quality of the program, types of courses provided, faculty strength as well as school awards, rankings and reputation, according to the site. TheBestSchools.org is an independent organization that offers information about both on-campus and online education.

U of A students can earn an endorsement in gifted and talented education, a graduate certificate in autism spectrum disorders or a graduate certificate in Applied Behavior Analysis with the M.Ed. in special education. Both the graduate certificates in ASD and Applied Behavior Analysis can be embedded into an on-campus Ph.D. program.

U of A online students have access to tutoring, advising, career support, libraries, writing assistance and technology assistance. The Global Campus provides support to colleges and schools in the development and delivery of online and distance education offerings. The master’s degree in special education is one of more than 30 programs offered completely or primarily online by the University of Arkansas.

The U of A special education program will offer an undergraduate degree in special education beginning in the fall of 2015. The undergraduate degree program will be offered on campus.

“The program looks forward to providing quality services to those at the undergraduate and graduate level,” said Peggy Schaefer Whitby, associate professor of special education.