Statewide Iowa — The State Board of Education has approved plans to offer an online accelerated elementary education and special education teacher program from the University of Northern Iowa.UNI’s Director of Education Preparation, Benjamin Forsyth, says courses in this program will be offered in eight-week, eight-credit terms.
You will need an Associate of Arts or Associate of Science Degree and must be employed as a paraeducator or teachers’ aid within a K through sixth-grade school setting to get into the program. Forsyth says surveys on the interest in such a program show it is high.
Iowa and other states have been struggling with teacher shortages, and it’s hoped this will help.
Forsyth says they will slowly get the program rolling.
Those who complete the accelerated program will have a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education and a minor in Special Education with teaching endorsements for a K-6 elementary teacher and K-8 instructional strategist. The State Board of Education approved the plan at their meeting on Thursday.
