Innovations in Course Integration and Decision-Making in a Redesign of Preservice Special Education Coursework

This design case describes our faculty redesign effort in the College of Education’s Special Education Department at Towson University. We redesigned two key junior-year courses, Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Curriculum and Methods for Instruction in Special Education, to improve coherence, strengthen field connections, and model collaborative practice. We reviewed both syllabi, identified essential content, and aligned major assignments and shared case studies to create a unified learning experience. We used faculty pairings to model co-planning and co-teaching, while practice-based teacher education (PBTE) pedagogies and structured school visits provided authentic opportunities to apply course concepts. Ongoing feedback from teacher candidates informed our iterative refinements. This redesign effort, as documented in this design case, highlights the decisions, challenges, and lessons we learned in developing a more connected, practice-centered approach to special education teacher preparation.