- Specialist degree
The Specialist degree in the English-speaking world
The Specialist degree is found in some programs of education or psychology and is awarded for study beyond the
Master's degree but below thedoctorate . It is most often referred to as an Ed.S. (Specialist of Education), SSP (Specialist of School Psychology), orPsy.S . (Specialist of Psychology). Schooling usually involves one to three years of coursework and practica, followed by a one yearinternship . Depending on the program offering the degree, aMaster's degree can be conferred during the process once its requirements are met, or the program may require an already completed Master's. An Ed.S. program typically requires about 60-70 semester hours beyond aBachelor's degree , or about 30 hours beyond a Master's (making it approximately the same workload as a second Master's).Ed.S. programs lead to
professional degree s in the application of advanced educational theory but do not typically place an emphasis on conducting original research such as in Ed.D. or Ph.D. programs. The Specialist degree is designed as aterminal degree , and is not designed to be a stepping-stone toward adoctorate , although specialist-level practitioners may pursue a doctorate."
School Psychology " and "Curriculum and Instruction " are two of the most common areas where a specialist degree is found. In the field ofschool psychology , the degree is typically an Ed.S. or SSP. Despite being virtually identical in scope and function, the Ed.S. and SSP both exist within the field of school psychology because training programs can be offered within the departments of psychology or education. They simply designate the type of program from which the degree originated. As another alternative, some programs within psychology departments have begun offering a Psy.S. degree instead of an SSP.In many fields outside of education, the "
postgraduate certificate " fills the same need as a Specialist degree.The Specialist degree in the Commonwealth of Independent States
The specialist degree ( _ru. специалист) was also the only first degree in the former
Soviet Union . In the early 1990s "bakalavr" (Bachelor's) and "magistr" (Master's) degrees were introduced in all the countries of theCommonwealth of Independent States , except inTurkmenistan . However, the specialist degree stayed the most often granted degree inBelarus ,Kazakhstan ,Russia ,Tadschikistan andUkraine up until today. The specialist degrees inArmenia ,Azerbaijan , Georgia,Kyrgyzstan , Moldova, Turkmenistan andUzbekistan were renamed to "diplom " degrees. Actually there are some similarities between the specialist degree in the CIS and the German Diplom degree. The following are the most important specialist degrees in the CIS:
*"specialist - ekonomist" - first degree ineconomy ormanagement (includingengineering management )
*"specialist - inzhener" - theengineer's degree in the CIS
*"specialist - uchitel "- the first degree forteacher s
*"specialist - vrach" this degree type includes the respective degrees ofphysician s,dentist s andveterinarian s in the CIS.
*"specialist - iskusstva" - the first degree inart s
*"specialist - jurist" - the first degree inlaw
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
