The program shall include the following:

historical, social, and legal foundations of special education, employment and independence for individuals with disabilities;

characteristics of learners with disabilities;

managing behavior of students with disabilities and promoting development of positive social interaction skills;

participating in collaborative partnerships for the benefit of students with disabilities, including family strengthening partnerships;

assessment, diagnosis, and evaluation of students with disabilities;

curriculum development and research-validated methods of instructing students with disabilities, including methods of teaching reading and mathematics and methods of enrichment and remediation in reading and mathematics;

at least six semester hours of study in teaching the literacy skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing to native English speakers and students who are English language learners. This six-semester-hour requirement may be waived upon a showing of good cause satisfactory to the Commissioner, including but not limited to a showing that the program provides adequate instruction in language acquisition and literacy development through other means;

use of assistive and instructional technology in the teaching of and learning by students with disabilities;

understanding the needs of students with autism, including, but not limited to, the etiology, prevalence, characteristics, and evidence-based instructional methodology for teaching students with autism, instructional design and supports to promote communication and socialization skills and skill generalization and maintenance; positive behavioral supports, functional behavioral assessments and behavioral intervention plans; collaboration between the home, class, school and community to ensure that students are supported in the general education environment; and knowledge of resources such as early childhood supports, respite care, state agencies, transition services and vocational rehabilitation services and parent support networks and associations that are available to support students and families;

planning and managing teaching and learning environments for individuals with disabilities, including planning for and supporting students with disabilities in general education settings; and study of the effects of hearing loss on students’ lives, communication, language development, and learning; and study of American Sign Language, deaf culture, the use of amplification/assistive technologies, and a variety of effective strategies for instructing students who are deaf or hard-of-hearing, such as other sign communication systems, cued speech, speech-reading, and total communication.

At least 100 clock hours of field experiences with students who are deaf or hard-of-hearing related to coursework prior to student teaching or practica; and a college supervised student teaching or practicum experience of at least a full semester of at least 70 school days, or its equivalent, with students who are deaf or hard-of-hearing, and in alignment with the daily schedule and annual calendar of that educational setting; provided that candidates pursuing more than one certificate title may complete placements of at least 35 school days for each certificate title.

The student teaching or practicum must:

address each of the applicable general and program-specific pedagogical core requirements for a deaf or hard-of-hearing education program.

be designed to provide candidates with opportunities to practice teaching skills identified in the New York State Teaching Standards with students who are deaf or hard-of-hearing, co-supervised by a university-based teacher educator and a certified school-based teacher educator.

The combination of clinical experiences must:

meet or exceed the specific requirements for the deaf or hard-of-hearing education certificate and, address the full range of student developmental levels, early childhood, childhood, middle childhood, and adolescence.

Clinical education.

All programs registered under this subdivision shall include clinical education or clinical training that meet the conditions set forth in subdivision (d) of this section and shall include patient care experiences and/or exposures to patients/populations across the lifespan and continuum of care.

This shall include, but not be limited to, experience with:

adult patients in an acute care setting;

pediatric patients;

patients receiving treatment for acute and chronic psychiatric, behavioral, and/or cognitive conditions; and

maternal/newborn, postpartum and/or pregnant patients.

Subject to the approval of the department, a percentage of a program's total number of hours of clinical education may be met through simulation experience within the limits set forth in paragraph (2) of subdivision (d) of this section provided, however, that no patient/population experience required under subparagraph (i) of this paragraph may be met solely through simulation experience.