Blog Post: SELECT Courses for Special Education in Arizona

Are you aware of the Special Education Learning Experiences of Competency in Teaching (SELECT) courses that are available in Arizona? I didn't think so. I am so happy to share with you that this program may be the answer to your concerns about how to become a certified teacher for special education in Arizona.

Quoted from the Institute for Human Development: Arizona University Center on Disabilities:

SELECT, is a federally funded program sponsored by the Arizona Department of Education. The program is addressing the state wide shortages in special education teachers.

SELECT primarily emphasizes coursework to personnel working on emergency special education certification. The classes also meet re-certification requirements for regular and special education teachers and SELECT courses provide special education training to people who want to expand their skills in working with children with disabilities.

SELECT courses are graduate level and are equivalent to courses taught at state colleges and universities. The one valuable difference is that the SELECT program offers these classes outside of a degree program. This means that SELECT allows people who don't have the time or the resources to complete a degree program access to the same classes and the same information state wide.

SELECT classes are online or are taught through Northern Arizona University interactive television. The online courses make it possible for someone in a rural area who has access to a computer, to take these classes without having to leave home or miss a day of teaching to travel to a class. The interactive television classes are much the same as a lecture class but instructor and students may be in different parts of the state. The see and hear each other via a large-screen television. With these new technological teaching methods SELECT is able to make classes available to a wider population of Arizona teachers and others working with children with disabilities.

Sign up now by contacting

Amy Grey, Program Coordinator Amy.Grey@nau.edu