About Educational Psychology and Special Education

Winner of the 1998 University System of Georgia Excellence in Teaching Award

We invite you to join us as a student in one of the most dynamic departments at Georgia State and in Georgia. We provide our students with excellent preparation for many careers in education. We strive to build constructive and professional relationships with our students whom we consider to be future colleagues in the educational enterprises so important to our society.

The Department of Educational Psychology and Special Education (EPSE) employs a sophisticated process to advise students, which includes an initial meetings at which students receive a detailed Student Handbook. The handbook covers the steps in acquiring a degree or certification in specific programs. An EPSE faculty member provides and overview of the program requirements and answers questions. Each student then meets individually with a faculty advisor and plans a program of study, which is signed by the student, the faculty advisor, and the department chairperson. The Georgia Professional Standards Commission was so impressed with the Planned Program Form for our teacher preparation that it has used it as a model and recommended it for adoption at the other teacher training programs in the state of Georgia. Students also receive support and encouragement for professional development from our faculty. It is not unusual for students to present papers with faculty members at national and state professional meetings. In addition, many post-masters students have co-authored research studies with faculty that have been published in prominent journals.

Our faculty members are involved in a broad range of activities including:

The Center for the Study of Adult Literacy is currently conducting a large NIH funded research project on different approaches to teaching adult learners how to read better.
The Bureau for Students with Multiple and Severe Disabilities, which consults with school systems.
A research project funded by the Office of Special Education and March of Dimes, which investigates vocabulary growth of deaf children enrolled in schools throughout the metropolitan Atlanta area.
The Georgia Deafblind Project provides technical assistance to children and youth with deafblindness from birth through 21 years of age and to their families and service providers.
Project SCEIs: Skilled Credential Early Interventionists. This project funded by The Georgia Department of Human Resources provides training throughout Georgia to those who serve infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families.
Ongoing Assessments of Professional Development Opportunities for Teachers in Arts Integration with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Alliance Theatre Institute for Educators.
The Office for Direct Instruction, which consults with school systems in reading instruction.
The Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic, which provides clinical services to the university and public community.
The Bureau of Students with Physical and Health Impairments provides technical assistance to school age children and youth with orthopedic impairments, and their teachers, service providers, and families.
Two assistive technology labs, with one assistive technology lab specializing in Physical and Learning Impairments and the second lab specializing in Sensory Impairments, Augmentative Communication, and Daily Living Skills.
The Universal Newborn Hearing Screening and Intervention Project to train personnel in the 19 health districts to respond to the needs of parents whose infants have been identified as having a hearing loss.
The Center for Collaborative Education provides model schools, technical assistance and training for the inclusion of students with disabilities.
The School-Wide Discipline Project implements models for effective discipline programs in public schools in Georgia.
The Juvenile Justice Teacher Project is investigating issues related to juvenile justice teacher attrition and retention in Georgia. Two central questions are being addressed. The first question is related to the current status of juvenile justice teacher attrition and retention in Georgia. The second question focuses on the impact of reform on teacher attrition and retention in Georgia.

Application or admission questions should be directed to the Office of Academic Assistance for the College of Education at 404-413-8000, OR the departmental student intake specialist, Sandy Vaughn-Williams (svaughn@gsu.edu) or 404-413-8318.