Preliminary Education Specialist Credential in Extensive Support Needs (formerly Moderate Severe)

The Education Specialist Credential in Extensive Support Needs (ESN) prepares highly qualified teachers using research-based curricula and pedagogy to provide quality educational services to students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. The program has as its foundation the assumption that educational services for students with disabilities should be implemented in the least restrictive environment; and the goal of those services is to teach skills and arrange educational and social settings to increase the students’ ability to participate fully in school, home, and community environments.

Credential candidates in this program must demonstrate their competence in providing quality educational services to students with extensive support needs including access to standards-based academic curricula and the use of systematic, data-based approaches to instruction and models of curricular adaptation and social belonging. Competencies in supporting students in inclusive settings, interacting effectively with families, and in developing educational goals using a transdisciplinary team approach are also essential components of the teacher preparation program. In addition, a three-semester sequence of supervised fieldwork ensures that teacher candidates are able to apply the knowledge and skills acquired through course content and assignments to the instruction of students with extensive support needs in urban school settings.

Currently, SFSU has two Extensive Support Needs programs that are running concurrently. The credential coursework and program requirements differ for the two ESN programs. The new Extensive Support Needs credential replaces the Moderate to Severe Disabilities credential. The revised 2018 program standards and Teaching Performance Expectations (TPEs) include requirements around clinical practice hours and the requirement of passing a Commission-approved Teaching Performance Assessment (TPA). Students should select the required credential coursework and program which matches the time of their admission (before or after July 1, 2022).