Academic Catalog 2025-2026

ESP - Education Specialist

ESP 6049S1  Classroom Management Seminar (EdSp Credential Only)  (3 Units)  

This course provides universal classroom management support strategies for Education Specialist pre-service teacher candidates. Candidates will learn to build relationships with students, improve classroom behavior, foster a positive classroom culture, create engaging rules, routines, and procedures to positively impact student learning.

Letter grade.  
ESP 6049S2  Effective Instruction Seminar (EdSp Credential Only)  (3 Units)  

This course provides universal classroom management support strategies for Education Specialist pre-service teacher candidates. Candidates will learn to build relationships with students, improve classroom behavior, foster a positive classroom culture, create engaging rules, routines, and procedures to positively impact student learning.

Letter grade.  
ESP 6049T1  TPA Support (EdSp Credential Only)  (3 Units)  

This course provides support for Education Specialist pre-service candidates to successfully pass Cycle 1 of the California Teacher Preparation Assessment (CALTPA).

Credit/No Credit.  
ESP 6049T2  TPA Support (EdSp Credential Only)  (3 Units)  

This course provides support for Education Specialist pre-service candidates to successfully pass Cycle 1 of the California Teacher Preparation Assessment (CALTPA).

Credit/No Credit.  
ESP 6061  Supportive Environments and Plans for Students with Exceptionalities  (3 Units)  

Candidates will explore historical interactions and contemporary legal, medical, pedagogical, and philosophical models of social responsibility, treatment and education for individuals with disabilities. The course focuses on ensuring candidates effectively provide safe educational environments and practices for all students and families based on individualized and unique needs. These needs will be reviewed as a means to ensure students' overall access to educational environments through collaborative practices highlighting specific student abilities and challenges in areas of communication, learning, social, physical movement, mobility, sensory, emotional supports, and adaptive needs. Field-based experiences are threaded throughout the course where candidates will engage in translating research and theory into practice. Candidates will complete 20-hours of field observations over the 8-week course. Candidates may not begin field observations until they have provided all required pre-requisite documentation and have been cleared by the field coordinator.

Letter grade.  
ESP 6062  Assessments and Case Management  (3 Units)  

Candidates will monitor student progress from eligibility, to placement in LRE using collaboration and appropriate special education supports to help students gain access towards academic content and learning goals. They will explore current knowledge and best practice of content standards through IEP development by applying knowledge of the purposes, characteristics and appropriate uses of different types of assessments including students whose cultural, ethnic, gender, or linguistic differences may be misunderstood or misidentified as manifestations of their disability. Candidates will administer and utilize assessment data to disseminate assessment data at IEPs, and develop appropriate learning goals. Candidates will make use of assessment data to: 1) identify effective intervention and support techniques, 2) develop needed augmentative and alternative systems, 3) implement instruction of communication and social skills, 4) create and facilitate opportunities for interaction; 5) develop communication methods to demonstrate student academic knowledge; and 6) address the unique learning, sensory and access needs of students with physical/orthopedic disabilities, other health impairments, and multiple disabilities. Field-based experiences are threaded throughout the course where candidates will engage in translating research and theory into practice. Candidates will complete 20-hours of field observations over the 8-week course. Candidates may not begin field observations until they have provided all required pre-requisite documentation and have been cleared by the field coordinator.

Letter grade.  
ESP 6063  Self-Determination and Partnerships: Keys to Successful Transitions  (3 Units)  

Candidates will apply knowledge of students, including their experiences, interests, and social-emotional learning needs to develop supports and strategies for positive psychosocial development and self-determined behavior of students with disabilities. They will demonstrate the ability to develop transition plans with students, their families, appropriate school and community service personnel including goals for independent living, post-secondary education, and/or careers, with appropriate connections between the school curriculum and life beyond high school. Candidates will use person-centered/family centered planning processes, and strengths-based, and functional/ecological assessments to develop effective evidence-based instructional supports, support students in assuming increasing responsibility for learning and self-advocacy. Field-based experiences are threaded throughout the course where candidates will engage in translating research and theory into practice. Candidates will complete 20-hours of field observations over the 8-week course. Candidates may not begin field observations until they have provided all required pre-requisite documentation and have been cleared by the field coordinator.

Letter grade.  
ESP 6064  Multidisciplinary Collaboration and IEP Development  (3 Units)  

In this methodology course candidates will understand the historical and legal aspect of developing, implementing and analyzing assessments for special education supports, how to manage caseloads of diverse special education populations and how to resolve conflicts with all stakeholders. Candidates will monitor student progress from eligibility, to placement in LRE using collaboration and appropriate supports to gain access towards learning goals. They will explore current knowledge and best practice of content standards through IEP development by applying knowledge of the purposes, characteristics and appropriate uses of different types of assessments including students whose cultural, ethnic, gender, or linguistic differences may be misunderstood or misidentified as manifestations of their disability. Candidates will demonstrate knowledge of special education law, including the administration and documentation of assessments and how to hold IEP meetings according to the guidelines established by law. Field-based experiences are threaded throughout the course where candidates will engage in translating research and theory into practice. Candidates will complete 20-hours of field observations over the 8-week course. Candidates may not begin field observations until they have provided all required pre-requisite documentation and have been cleared by the field coordinator.

Letter grade.  
ESP 6065  Social-Emotional, Communicative Strategies, and Behavior Supports  (3 Units)  

This course utilizes evidence-based strategies for promoting social and emotional development and preventing and addressing challenging behaviors. Candidates will demonstrate knowledge of the communicative intent of behavior, implement strategies that support social emotional learning, demonstrate the ability to identify if a student's behavior is a manifestation of his or her disability and, if so, to develop positive behavior intervention plans inclusive of the types of interventions and multi-tiered systems of supports that may be needed to address these behavior issues, implement systems to assess, plan, and provide academic and social skills instruction to support positive behavior in all students, including students who present complex social communication, behavioral and emotional needs, and elicit their ability to provide positive behavioral support, taking advantage of informal and formal opportunities to engage in instruction. Participants will create supportive partnerships with parents, families, teachers and employers to provide instructional, behavioral, social, communication, sensory, and pragmatically appropriate supports to students with mild support to extensive support needs. Field-based experiences are threaded throughout the course where candidates will engage in translating research and theory into practice. Candidates will complete 20-hours of field observations over the 8-week course. Candidates may not begin field observations until they have provided all required pre-requisite documentation and have been cleared by the field coordinator.

Letter grade.  
ESP 6066  High Leverage Practices for Inclusive Environments  (3 Units)  

Candidates will learn methods and strategies that promote diversity and foster inclusion in the classroom and within the school culture. Through collaborative learning experiences and the use of evidence-based inclusive high leverage practices (HLPs), candidates will develop knowledge and skills to better meet the diverse academic and social-emotional needs of students with mild to moderate and extensive support needs. Emphasis will be on the three key areas of support for successful inclusion: curricular adaptations, peer supports, and instructional and assistive technology. Field-based experiences are threaded throughout the course where candidates will engage in translating research and theory into practice. Field-based experiences are threaded throughout the course where candidates will engage in translating research and theory into practice. Candidates will complete 20-hours of field observations over the 8-week course. Candidates may not begin field observations until they have provided all required pre-requisite documentation and have been cleared by the field coordinator.

Letter grade.  
ESP 6070  Education Specialist Clinical Practice I  (4 Units)  

This Clinical Practice experience provides Education Specialist candidates with an opportunity to work directly with exceptional learners with mild to extensive support needs in a university assigned classroom setting with a Cooperating Teacher. Under the guidance of a skilled Cooperating Teacher, candidates learn to plan, deliver, and adapt instruction aligned with the general education curriculum and California standards, ensuring equitable access for all learners. Candidates observe and implement evidence-based instructional strategies, differentiated supports, and assistive technologies that address a wide range of academic, behavioral, communication, and social-emotional needs. The Cooperating Teacher models effective lesson design, positive behavioral supports, universal design for learning (UDL), culturally responsive practices, classroom management, and family collaboration.Over the course of the placement, teaching responsibilities gradually shift from the Cooperating Teacher to the candidate, with a focus on readiness to successfully manage the full-day teaching role. This experience directly supports candidates in demonstrating the knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed to meet the diverse needs of learners and prepares them for successful completion of the California Teaching Performance Assessment (CalTPA) Cycle 1 required for credential completion.

Credit/No Credit.  
Corequisite(s): EDU 60CP1  
Fee: Course fee applies. See "University Fees" in Financing a PLNU Education.  
ESP 6072  Education Specialist Clinical Practice I (Intern)  (4 Units)  

This Clinical Practice experience provides Education Specialist Intern candidates with the opportunity to work directly with exceptional learners with mild to extensive support needs as teacher of record. With guidance from a district Cooperating Teacher and a University Supervisor, candidates plan, deliver, and adapt instruction aligned with the general education curriculum and California standards to ensure equitable access for all students. Throughout the experience, candidates develop and demonstrate foundational skills in evidence-based instructional methods, lesson planning, classroom management, integration of technology, and effective communication with families. Collaboration with the Cooperating Teacher and University Supervisor supports candidates in refining their professional practice and meeting the diverse academic, behavioral, and social-emotional needs of learners. This Clinical Practice placement also serves as a key preparation for successful completion of the California Teaching Performance Assessment (CalTPA) Cycle 1 required for credential completion. The Clinical Practice experience contributes to candidates' preparation to complete the California Teaching Performance Assessment (CalTPA) Cycle 1 required for credential completion.

Credit/No Credit.  
Corequisite(s): EDU 60CP1  
Fee: Course fee applies. See "University Fees" in Financing a PLNU Education.  
ESP 6074  Education Specialist Clinical Practice II  (4 Units)  

In the second Clinical Practice experience, Education Specialist candidates deepen their expertise in instructional strategies for exceptional learners with mild to extensive support needs. Candidates are placed in a different content area, grade level, or education service setting from their first placement, working with an approved Cooperating Teacher. Under the guidance of the Cooperating Teacher, candidates observe, plan, and deliver instruction that meets the diverse academic, behavioral, and social-emotional needs of learners with disabilities. The Cooperating Teacher models effective teaching methods, lesson design, classroom management, technology integration, and family communication. Teaching responsibilities gradually transition from the Cooperating Teacher to the candidate, with close attention to readiness for full-day instruction. This placement also serves as preparation for successful completion of the California Teaching Performance Assessment (CalTPA) Cycle 2 required for credential completion.

Credit/No Credit.  
Prerequisite(s): Successful completion of ESP 6070 and completion of all Teacher Education admission requirements.  
Corequisite(s): EDU 60CP2  
Fee: Course fee applies. See "University Fees" in Financing a PLNU Education.  
ESP 6076  Education Specialist Clinical Practice II (Intern)  (4 Units)  

In this second Clinical Practice experience, Education Specialist Intern candidates continue developing their skills in planning, delivering, and assessing instruction for learners with mild to extensive support needs. Interns complete their supervised teaching in the grade level and content area of their current placement as the "Teacher of Record," with guidance from both a district Cooperating Teacher and a University Supervisor. Throughout the placement, candidates refine their use of evidence-based instructional strategies, lesson design, classroom management, technology integration, and family communication. Professional responsibilities gradually expand as candidates strengthen their ability to meet diverse academic, behavioral, communication, and social-emotional needs. This experience also prepares candidates for successful completion of the California Teaching Performance Assessment (CalTPA) Cycle 2, required for credential completion.

Credit/No Credit.  
Prerequisite(s): Approval for Intern Clinical Practice II and completion of all Teacher Education admission requirements.  
Corequisite(s): EDU 60CP2  
Fee: Course fee applies. See "University Fees" in Financing a PLNU Education.  
ESP 6091  Independent Study (EdSp Credential Only)  (1-3 Units)  

This course provides an opportunity for an intensive study of a special topic in Mild/Moderate and Extensive Support Needs, involving support for further exploration of the action research topic or special studies.

Credit/No Credit.  
Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor.